How to use the ladder strategy to save money on life insurance

As you reach major milestones in life, the amount of life insurance you need — and how much it costs — is going to change. We all become more expensive to insure as we age, so applying for a new policy later in life usually means paying more money for less coverage. At the same time, paying off a mortgage and settling other debts and financial obligations often means you don’t need as much coverage. “Laddering” life insurance policies lets you strategically decrease your coverage over time, ensuring you only pay for the coverage you need as your circumstances change.

What is the ladder strategy?

Laddering life insurance means taking out multiple insurance policies with different coverage amounts and term lengths. You can strategically stack these policies so you have the right amount of financial protection across different stages of your life.

The ladder strategy applies only to term life insurance, which is the most popular type of life insurance because it's straightforward, affordable, and lasts only for the time you need it. Permanent life insurance policies cannot be stacked because they don’t expire.

How the life insurance ladder strategy works

At first, you may need a larger death benefit to cover multiple facets of your life, from caring for your children to ensuring your student loan debts don’t fall on loved ones.

But as time goes on and your children grow up or your debts are paid off, you may only need enough coverage to cover a few outstanding expenses, like a mortgage or final medical bills.

The ladder strategy is designed according to this principle: as you get older, pay down bills, and increase your savings, your financial obligations decrease and you don't need as much life insurance. So, you ladder multiple life insurance policies so that they expire at different times. This ensures that you’re only paying for the protection you actually need and not the coverage you needed 10 or 20 years ago.

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How laddering life insurance saves you money

Life insurance policies are priced according to a few major variables:

• How long the policy lasts: A 20-year term policy costs more than a 10-year term policy.

• How much coverage you want: A $750,000 policy costs hundreds more than a $500,000 over the course of the policy.

• Your background: A person with a complicated health history will have a more expensive policy than someone in good health, while younger applicants pay less than older applicants.

The ladder strategy takes advantage of the first two variables by tapering off certain coverages when it's no longer needed. Finally, it also takes advantage of the third variable by locking in low rates for each life insurance policy when you’re young and healthy.

The ladder strategy in action

If you need $1 million in life insurance over your lifetime, that doesn’t mean you need $1 million in coverage at every point in your life. Your expenses are higher when you’re younger and have more financial responsibilities.

By laddering three separate term policies that equate to $1 million now and allowing them to taper off over time, you’re only paying the premiums when you actually need the coverage.

Here’s how it would work if you were a 36-year-old male based on these three policies:

• Policy 1: A 10-year policy of $500,000

• Policy 2: A 20-year policy of $300,000

• Policy 3: A 30-year policy of $200,000

You have a total of $1 million in life insurance now, and as you get older and need less protection, your coverage amount decreases. The images below demonstrate what that means for your finances — and how much you’d end up saving.

How much can you save with a life insurance ladder strategy?

As the image shows, the ladder strategy can save you over 50% on your term life insurance by staggering multiple policies rather than buying one large policy.

This doesn't mean that everyone will save 50% with a ladder strategy — your premiums will vary depending on age, gender, insurer, health, hobbies, and other factors that make up your unique profile. But as you can see from the example above, building a ladder strategy is a very effective way to lower the cost of your life insurance over time if you need a lot of coverage now, but won’t necessarily need it later.

How to pick a life insurance ladder strategy

Each policy comes with administrative fees, so stacking more than two or three policies can become more expensive and cumbersome in the long run. Working with a financial advisor can ensure that you set up a life insurance ladder strategy that saves you money and provides the coverage you need at different stages of your life. 

Once you know the number and type of policies you need, the best way to get the best pricing and most accurate information available across multiple insurers is to work with an independent broker. At Policygenius, our brokers are licensed in all 50 states and can walk you through the entire life insurance buying process while offering transparent, unbiased advice tailored to your personal situation.

Who should use the tiered life insurance strategy?

Laddering life insurance is a good financial strategy if you know what your future expenses entail — from mortgages to how many kids you’ll need to provide for. By laddering life insurance, you can save a lot of money in the long run — if you get a term policy to cover dependent care now and buy a policy with just enough protection to cover small expenses later on, even that smaller amount of coverage will be a lot costlier.

"Financial obligations and situations as a whole can, and often do, change over time. The goal is that over time your assets will increase and debts will decrease,”  says Patrick Hanzel, Advanced Planning Team Lead and certified financial planner at Policygenius. “Laddering is a good solution when there is a clear timeline for these changes. It will both save you premiums and provide the proper amount of coverage when it is needed.”

If, on the other hand, you’re unsure of what your finances are going to look like in the future, getting multiple life insurance policies isn’t a cost-effective financial strategy.

Laddering your life insurance has the potential to save you a lot of money if you can anticipate what your financial future will look like for the next 20 to 30 years. A Policygenius expert can help you evaluate your life insurance needs, design your ladder strategy, or apply for one single life insurance policy to get you and your loved ones enough coverage.

Determine how much life insurance you need

The amount of life insurance you need will depend on several factors, including if you have a spouse and whether or not they work, if you have dependents or plan to have children one day, and if you have any major liabilities (for example, a mortgage or student loans).

Most financial advisors typically recommend anywhere between 10 and 15 times your annual income in coverage. It’s important to consult an insurance or financial professional about your specific situation to get some guidance on what will work best for you.

Review your life insurance coverage over time

Typically, it’s a good idea to review your life insurance coverage at major life milestones such as getting married, having a child, buying a house, or even switching jobs. This way you can ensure that your life insurance is still appropriate for your financial protection needs.