Get in Shape! How Fitness Affects Life Insurance Premiums

Along with home and car insurance, life insurance is one of your main costs each month. You will be paying it for the foreseeable future and your family can get into serious financial trouble if you unexpectedly pass away without life insurance. It's not something you can do without, so those looking to save money have to be creative about ways to lower their premiums.

Fitness level and health are a major indicator of premiums. If you aren't in good shape, you will probably pay more than someone who is. Being fit isn't just a good way to benefit your body and mind's health, it's a money-saver in several ways. Here's how you can get fit and reduce your life insurance premium.

Don't delay getting life insurance because you're out of shape.

If you wait until you're in good shape before you apply, something could happen to you or you might always keep putting off those gym visits. Instead, get insurance as soon as you can and begin exercising today – not tomorrow, but today. You might start going for a walk around the block each day, or even pick up running again. Whatever fitness actions you take today, make sure you also apply for life insurance today. It will take time to schedule the health exam anyway, so you will have a chance to prove that you're starting to get into shape.

Stop or quit smoking immediately.

Not only does smoking make it harder to get a life insurance policy and harder to exercise so you get cheap life insurance, but you need to have quit smoking for at least a year before you see any benefit to your premiums. Insurers want to make sure you have well and truly quit before they give you a discount, in case you pick it up again. This counts for even the occasional cigarette – a puff on a friend's e-cig a few days ago can show up in their nicotine tests for the health exam days later. Smokers can pay up to double the rate of a non-smoker for life insurance, and it's not worth accidentally being labeled a smoker.

Stop or limit your alcohol consumption.

Another fitness factor is the amount you drink each week. If you have not consumed alcohol in a year, your premiums will be lower. A glass of wine a week isn't a major problem, but a few beers each day can be. Reducing your alcohol intake is also beneficial to your overall health and fitness level, as it will help you lose weight and get energy and motivation to exercise. If you think you have an alcohol addiction, ask your doctor about support groups and ways to become independent – there is no shame in reaching out.

Approach fitness from a “whole body health” perspective.

If you try to get fit only to save money on life insurance or only to lose weight, you are suddenly tied to a bunch of numbers that you can't necessarily control. Everyone's individual natural weight is different, and it might not be practical for you to aim for 160 pounds even if your best friend can easily get to 130 with a bit of willpower. Instead, approach fitness from the perspective of wanting to improve your health overall. Mental and physical health results from being fit, and you will coincidentally improve health factors and drop excess pounds.

Proving to your life insurance provider that you are in good shape can help reduce your life insurance premiums by as much as 25 to 50 percent, depending on what you're doing – stopping smoking is the biggest money-saver, but getting fit and cutting down your alcohol consumption certainly help.

Bio

Laura Ginn struggled to find a cheap life insurance policy until she found uSwitch.com, the top price comparison website in the UK. After visiting the website she compared providers and found herself a great deal!