Overweight or Obese? You'll pay more for your Life!

5 years ago I bought a 5 Year Term Life Insurance policy. When I purchased it, it was all I could afford because I was very overweight. What a "coincidence" that it came time to renew after I have lost 100lbs and recently had a clean bill of health from my doctor. So we called my agent and began to discuss my options as far as rates, terms, and coverages. In our discussion, we realized that in comparison to my previous $100K 5 year term policy, I could now afford a $250K 20 year term policy for the same price as what I had been paying.

This really got me thinking about just how much money I am saving by getting my weight under control. So I decided to do the math. This same policy that I have purchased if I was still overweight would have cost me roughly $402.50 a year. I now qualify for a much better rate of $232.50. That is a savings of $170.00 a year. Over the 20 years of the term that's a savings of $3400! And this does not include what I would pay if I had any "extra fees" added on for additional health problems such as cholesterol, high blood pressure, standard obesity charges, etc...

Take a look at this quote from a recent article on Insure.com:

"If you're severely overweight, you'd better budget more money for life insurance.

Steve Zitney, a senior agency consultant with State Farm, says a person can be denied life insurance at his company if the person is "grossly overweight or dramatically obese," even if he does not have any other health problems. The company will also charge higher premiums if your weight is significantly more than it should be in relation to your height.

If a 40-year-old, 6-foot-tall male is 270 pounds, he will have to pay 15 to 20 percent more than a person of ideal weight, Zitney says. If the person weighs 300 pounds or more, Zitney says that figure jumps to 30 to 35 percent.

Many other large life insurers take a similar approach to underwriting. David Potter, a spokesman for The Hartford, says people who are at 150 percent of their desired weight will see an increase in premium. Again, in these cases, the more weight you carry, the more your premium will be. "It's possible to be rejected by weight, but it's rare," Potter says. "Most of the people with weight problems do have other health problems, like high blood pressure and high cholesterol."

Even if you are just moderately overweight, life insurance could still cost more. People who are slightly overweight can be disqualified for a "preferred rate," which is a lower premium that rewards people who are healthy. For example, a person who is 20 to 30 pounds overweight and does not have high blood pressure or diabetes might get a normal rate, but they won't see the preferred rate."

So losing weight for me not only saved my life - it's saving me money too!!