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Buying life insurance in your 50s costs more than it did a decade ago, but it is still very affordable for healthy applicants. The bigger change at this age is not the price. It is the underwriting. Insurers look harder at your health, your term options narrow, and the type of policy that made sense at 35 may not be the right fit anymore.
For a healthy 50-year-old non-smoker, a $500,000 20-year term policy runs about $85 a month for a man and $68 for a woman in preferred health, per Mozdex’s 2026 tables. At standard health, expect roughly $110 and $88. A second survey (MoneyGeek, average health) puts the same policy at about $137 for men and $102 for women. Simply Insurance’s carrier data for a 50-year-old man in average health shows $222 a month from that particular carrier’s rate sheet, which shows how much quotes vary carrier to carrier.
What actually changes after 50
First, term lengths. Most carriers cap 30-year terms around age 50 to 55. After that, 20-year and 15-year terms are the standard options. A 20-year term bought at 50 runs to age 70, which covers the years when a mortgage or a spouse’s income gap matters most.
Second, the medical picture carries more weight. Blood pressure, cholesterol, A1C, and BMI move more applicants into standard or substandard classes at 50 than at 35. The difference between preferred and standard at this age is meaningful: on a $500,000 policy, roughly $25 more a month for men and $20 for women.
Third, smokers pay a steep penalty. A 55-year-old man who smokes pays roughly $549 a month for a $500,000 20-year term in Canada-side data from PolicyMe, versus $212 as a non-smoker. US pricing follows the same pattern. Quitting for at least a year before applying is one of the highest-value moves a 50-something smoker can make.
How much coverage people buy at this age
Needs usually shrink in the 50s. The mortgage is smaller, the kids may be launched, and retirement savings are bigger. Many buyers drop from $500,000 to $250,000 or $300,000, which cuts the premium roughly in half since term pricing scales close to linearly with face amount. If you bought a policy at 35 and the term is expiring, compare renewing against a fresh policy; renewal rates jump sharply.
If you have a health condition that makes traditional underwriting difficult, simplified-issue and no-exam policies are still available into the 60s and 70s. They cost more per dollar of coverage, but a smaller face amount keeps the monthly bill manageable. Our guide to no-exam policy costs has the numbers.
Term vs permanent at 50
Permanent policies get pitched hard to this age group, and sometimes the pitch is fair. A 50-year-old who wants coverage that never expires, or who wants to leave a guaranteed inheritance, can consider whole life. But the price jump is large: whole life costs roughly 5 to 10 times what term costs at the same face amount. For pure income protection through retirement, term usually wins. Our term vs whole life comparison breaks down when each one fits.
Before applying, it helps to know what underwriters will ask. Our walkthrough of the life insurance underwriting process covers the exam, the records checks, and the timeline so there are no surprises.
