The big city folks can’t possibly understand what you do on a daily basis. I’m sure hearing the complaints of the typical white collar worker can be laughable at times. That’s because your work is anything but stroking away at a computer in a well air conditioned room. You’re out there doing the work that is not only taken for granted by most people, but it’s also difficult, and most of all, dangerous.
Agriculture is no joke and that is why farming consistently lands on the list of the most dangerous job annually. The fatality rate is 26 per 100,000 workers and more than half of the 335,000 workplace deaths from around the world take place in agriculture. Most of these dangers come from the long hours and dangerous machinery that surrounds a harsh working environment. In short, it takes heart to do what you do.
Now here is the surprise. Despite all of these facts, life insurance companies do not hold this against you. You can still qualify for a traditional life insurance policy at the same rate of your typical civilian. The rate you get will depend on your health, lifestyle and the company you apply with. Not all companies are created equal so it’s important to work with an agent who know which company will provide the most favorable outcome for your dangerous job.
How Much Coverage Do I Need?
The amount of coverage will depend on your assets, liabilities, income, and financial responsibilities. The simplified version is to multiply your income by 10 to 20 times but that is usually far to simple. You can use our “Life Insurance Needs Calculator” or speak to an agent in the chat below. What you want to do to get a good idea is to factor in what your family will need to go on if something were to happen to you. The median annual salary for a farmer/rancher is around $70,000. If you’re in that range, it’s easy to see that your family will have a hard time going forward if something were to happen to you. Factor in things like mortgage, college education, final expenses, your debts and income replacement for enough years that your family can re-adjust.
Now if you own a farm of your own, things can get a little more complex than simply being an employee. For this we recommend talking with an agent to go over all the specific details of the land that you own, profits, expenses and what you would need to keep it going if you were to pass. Just keep in mind to also include all the things mentioned above as well.
Should I Get Term Life Insurance or Permanent Life Insurance?
The type of life insurance you need will depend on just that, your needs. Term life insurance is a temporary solution for temporary financial responsibilities. Permanent life insurance is a permanent solution for, you guessed it, permanent financial responsibilities.
Term Life
Term insurance is there for a set period of time. If you buy a 20-year term policy your premium will be locked in for 20 years and won’t go up or down. This is often called a level term life insurance policy. After the 20 years is up you no longer have coverage in place unless you choose to convert it. This is an option all good term life insurance policies come with which allow you to turn your term policy to a permanent one on a guaranteed basis. This means that you even if you get an illness during your term, you can convert at the healthy rating you got initially at the inception of the policy. The only adjustment to your rate will be your new age. You will also be able to lower the coverage amount without proof of insurability.
A term life insurance policy is good for things like a temporary mortgage payment, income replacement during the working years, and paying off your kid’s college education until they’re all grown up and on their own two feet.
Permanent Life Insurance
This usually comes in two forms of its own, cash value and pure protection. Cash value plans come with an investment aspect that makes the policy much more expensive than a pure protection policy. This is because most of the premium goes to pay for the investment. I discuss why I prefer pure protection here. Pure protection permanent life insurance is often referred to as Permanent Term or Guaranteed Universal Life Insurance. This is a permanent life insurance policy with level premium throughout the length of the entire policy. Depending on the product and the company these can range from age 90 to age 121. If you live beyond that, congratulations, you’re breaking records.
Permanent life insurance coverage may not always be necessary depending on your assets, estate planning needs, or legacy desires. Most of the time you get permanent life insurance to help cover costs associated with death. These include funeral costs, hospital bills and legal fees.
Simplified Issue
If you’re like most farmers, you’re pretty healthy due to your active lifestyle. This can let you qualify for a no medical exam life insurance plan. These plans skip the medical exam that come with a traditional policy. With traditional coverage a nurse will come to your home, take your blood pressure, blood/urine sample and ask you a few questions. Then it takes up to 8 weeks for underwriters to make a decision. With a simplified issue policy, you bypass the exam and can get approved within hours or days. The downfall its slightly higher in cost and is capped on coverage usually between $400,000 to $1,000,000.
The Process
The process is a fairly simple one, after you compare rates, you will weigh your options and apply with the company that best fits your life insurance goals. After the application you will schedule an exam, and the underwriting process will begin. Let’s go over those steps in a little detail.
1. Application – this will include some basic questions about your health history and personal information like your driver’s license number and address. You will also be able to set up your beneficiaries and schedule your medical exam. This can all be done over the phone so no need to have the agent drive out to your farm.
2. Medical exam – the medical exam will take place at a time and location of your choice. It runs like a typical physical along with a blood and urine sample. The nurse will ask you a few questions and be on her way. The process will take no longer than 15 to 30 minutes. Make sure to stay healthy a few days before the exam, your agent can further advise you on this.
3. Underwriting – this is the part where you don’t have to lift a finger or have a thought. The life insurance company will look at your application, medical exam results, and medical records. This will include your past medical history and a background check. Once they review all of this, you can expect to be given your approval after 6 to 8 weeks.
That’s the process in a nutshell, for a detailed version read this article.
Start Here
The life insurance process can be hectic and finding a good agent to work with can be near impossible because not all of them are independent and not all independent agents know what they’re doing. The good news is you’re at the right place. We work with all of the “A” rated life insurance companies on the market and know exactly which ones will provide the best result for farmers. Some companies see the occupation as dangerous while others will give you great rates. Let us do the work for you, at no extra cost to you! If you have any questions give us a call at 888-492-1967 or hit the chat button below. Welcome to InsureChance!
