I smoke, is there anything I can do to get affordable Life Insurance?

Answer:
If you’re a smoker, you might think that you can’t get affordable life insurance.

Nearly one quarter of the U.S. population smokes which is a huge market for life insurance companies. In general, smokers pay more than non-smokers but that doesn’t mean you can’t find an affordable policy.

Many insurance companies differentiate smokers based on their tobacco usage and charge moderate users a lower fee than heavy tobacco users. In addition, some companies classify smokers as “standard” tobacco users or “preferred” tobacco users. Preferred users may smoke but are considered healthy in other areas such as their weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure.

Some insurance companies lump all smokers into one category without distinguishing between a casual smoker and a heavy smoker. If you smoke the occasional cigar, you could be penalized just as if you smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. Shop around for life insurance in this case because each company uses their own specific criteria when setting rates. You may find dramatic price differences from company to company.

If you quit, your life insurance company may let you pay non-smoker rates after a set amount of time or the company may put you on a sliding scale with lower rates based on how long you remain tobacco-free.


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