As we grow older, moving into one’s sunset years, thoughts of how to plan financially for one’s last days are sure to come up, Senior life insurance is essentially a life insurance plan that covers the cost of funeral expenses and other possible expenditure when one passes away.

As senior citizens, there are a few types of life insurance policies that are available for consideration.

Term life insurance, as the very name implies are valid for a particular period of time, usually up to 20 years before the policy lapses. Term life insurance policies for seniors start around the US$50,000 mark and require the person applying for insurance coverage to undergo a full battery of tests to ascertain health status. Under the terms of such term life insurance policies for seniors, those who have a better health status may be required to pay out less as premium than those who have some pre-existing health issues.

Whole life insurance policies are generally considered more viable, although they may require higher premiums than term life insurance. They do not have an expiry date and continue to remain valid as long as the premium payments are made. An added benefit to whole life insurance policies for seniors is that they may be treated as assets as they help to build cash value and may also be sold to an investor as a surety for borrowing money if a situation so warrants.

The third kind of life insurance for seniors is known as burial life insurance. The term may sound slightly morbid, but such plans cover the burial expenses of a deceased and are intend to support the deceased’s family in the face of very high prevailing costs of funeral expenses. Usually, these policies accept applicants in any state of health up to the age of 85. Burial life insurance policies carry a relatively lower face value ranging from US$ 5000 to US$ 20,000. An added benefit to burial life insurance for seniors is that they carry a cash benefit so that once the funeral expenses are covered, the remaining money can be used in any way desired by the beneficiary of the policy.