Jeffrey Manola

Founder & Licensed Insurance Agent

Jeffrey Manola is an experienced life insurance agent who founded TopQuoteLifeInsurance.com and NoMedicalExamQuotes.com. His mission when creating these sites was to provide online consumers searching for life insurance with the most affordable term life insurance, permanent life insurance, no medical exam life insurance, and burial insurance. Not only does he strive to provide consumers with t...

Founder & Licensed Insurance Agent

Leslie Kasperowicz

Farmers CSR for 4 Years

Leslie Kasperowicz holds a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Winnipeg. She spent several years as a Farmers Insurance CSR, gaining a solid understanding of insurance products including home, life, auto, and commercial and working directly with insurance customers to understand their needs. She has since used that knowledge in her more than ten years as a writer, largely in the insur...

Farmers CSR for 4 Years

UPDATED: Dec 4, 2023

Advertiser Disclosure

It’s all about you. We want to help you make the right life insurance coverage choices.

Advertiser Disclosure: We strive to help you make confident life insurance decisions. Comparison shopping should be easy. We are not affiliated with any one life insurance provider and cannot guarantee quotes from any single provider.

Our insurance industry partnerships don’t influence our content. Our opinions are our own. To compare quotes from many different life insurance companies please enter your ZIP code on this page to use the free quote tool. The more quotes you compare, the more chances to save.

Editorial Guidelines: We are a free online resource for anyone interested in learning more about life insurance. Our goal is to be an objective, third-party resource for everything life insurance-related. We update our site regularly, and all content is reviewed by life insurance experts.

  • Life insurance quotes can vary from company to company for the same policy type and the coverage amount
  • Comparing quotes from multiple insurance companies can sometimes save you hundreds of dollars per month
  • Online life insurance quote comparison tools can help you quickly compare life insurance policies to avoid overpaying for life insurance

Buying life insurance can be an intimidating process with long-term financial implications. Comparing life insurance policies and prices is an essential step toward getting the best deal and avoiding overpaying on life insurance.

Nobody should overpay for life insurance. An online life insurance quote comparison tool could save you a lot of time and money as opposed to calling agent after agent. This article will break down how to get the best quotes alongside some life insurance basics.

Life Insurance Basics

Life insurance is a valuable insurance product that can help establish financial security for you and your loved ones. There are numerous life insurance policies and policy features that are designed to meet your family’s financial needs.

The first step when shopping for life insurance is to evaluate your financial needs so that you can choose a policy that adequately meets those needs. Some factors that determine your coverage needs include:

  • Outstanding debts
  • Income
  • Dependents
  • Age
  • Health status
  • Occupation
  • Employer-provided life insurance

If you are a single young adult with no children and no major outstanding debts, your life insurance needs would be trivial compared to a married husband or wife that serves as the primary provider for an entire family.

Life insurance is designed to cover the costs of things like a mortgage or car payments when a person dies, regardless of the cause. It is hard enough for loved ones to handle their loss, and inheriting debts can be even more stressful.

With so many different potential situations, life insurance companies have established a multitude of potential policy options, each designed to cover the unique needs of prospective life insurance customers.

If you are entirely unfamiliar with life insurance, it might be worthwhile to learn about life insurance terms and definitions before reading more about the policy types.

Life Insurance Policy Types

There is a handful of primary life insurance policy types. The most popular life insurance policies are term, whole, universal, and final expense life insurance. In more unique circumstances, someone might look for variable universal life insurance or guaranteed issue life insurance.

Below, we have created a chart that simplifies some of the key features of the primary life insurance policy types.

Policy FeaturesTerm Life InsuranceUniversal Life InsuranceWhole Life InsuranceFinal Expense Life Insurance
Affordability$$$$$$$$$$
Issue Ages0-800-850-9045-89
Premium FlexibilityNoneVery FlexibleNoneNone
Protection Period10-40 YearsLifetimeLifetimeLifetime
Cash Value PotentialNoYesYesYes
Compare RatesStart Now →

The best term life insurance companies will offer affordable monthly rates with policy features that make the policy more flexible. For example, a return of premium rider would offer a full or partial refund if you were to outlive your policy.

In short, term life insurance is the only policy that does not accrue cash value and that has an expiration date. Term life insurance tends to be the most affordable, but also does not last forever. While you may have a consistent monthly rate for 20 or 30 years, that rate can increase exponentially if you outlive the policy and buy a new one.

Whole, universal, and final expense life insurance policies are considered permanent life insurance policies because they last a lifetime. These policies also build cash value that works somewhat like a savings account.

There are some notable differences between each of the permanent life insurance policy types. Whole and universal life insurance policies are similar in that they both offer notable death benefits alongside interest-building cash value accruals.

Universal life insurance tends to offer more flexible premiums whereas whole life insurance requires consistent monthly payments. The best whole life insurance companies will also offer dividends from investments. 

Final expense insurance may still build some cash value, but these policies are primarily designed to cover funeral expenses. Resultantly, these policies offer a much smaller death benefit. Due to the smaller death benefit, final expense insurance may be more affordable for some adults.

One major benefit of final expense insurance is that it typically does not require a medical exam. For anyone that has any underlying health concerns, a no medical exam policy will offer coverage, even if you’ve been denied from other policy types.

The best no medical exam life insurance companies will offer different types of policies, sometimes referred to as “guaranteed-issue” policies. These policies tend to be a bit more expensive because the company assumes risk rather than measuring it.

Your one-stop online guide for life insurance quotes. Get free quotes now!

secured lock Secured with SHA-256 Encryption

Finding the Best Life Insurance Quotes

To get started with shopping for life insurance quotes, you will need to know how much life insurance you need. There is no benefit to getting an excess of life insurance coverage and it may be costly.

As noted earlier, your life insurance policy should offer enough coverage to prevent your beneficiaries from being indebted if you pass away. If you are not entirely sure how to measure this, a life insurance calculator could help steer you in the right direction.

Once you establish your coverage needs, then you can compare policy options and different companies to find a product that falls within your budget. As you may have noticed earlier, each policy type offers unique benefits but with different expectations for the monthly cost.

Keep in mind that life insurance rates vary for many reasons. While each policy type can vary in price, identical policy types can vary in price by company, age, gender, and smoking status, amongst other variables.

Sample 20-year, $250,000 Term Life Insurance Rates for Non-smokers
AgeState FarmLiberty MutualJohn HancockMassMutualPrudential
25$23.27$33.30$14.21$15.00$18.16
30$24.59$33.75$14.79$15.23$19.03
35$26.09$39.60$16.86$15.88$19.25
40$33.72$55.13$22.09$20.68$21.00
45$45.47$78.53$31.54$32.40$23.63
50$69.59$144.68$49.24$47.63$31.28
55$105.72$220.95$78.24$73.73$42.88
60$183.79$399.83$116.99$125.73$66.28
Compare RatesStart Now →

Above, you can see how term life insurance rates can vary from one company to the next and as we age. Non-smoking women would typically pay a little less for term life insurance than men, so these rates could be subject to change. Of course, if you get more or less coverage than above ($250,000), you can anticipate price changes.

Whole life insurance rates tend to be a bit more expensive with a death benefit that is similar to a term life insurance policy. Below, you can see a sample of whole life insurance rates for non-smoking adults.

Sample Whole Life Insurance Rates for a $250,000 Policy
AgeMale, ForestersFemale, ForestersMale, State FarmFemale, State Farm
25$178.68$156.80$225.12$203.14
30$216.52$188.96$260.14$234.24
35$267.05$230.52$311.47$273.19
40$326.33$277.99$375.62$321.24
45$401.58$349.30$467.84$381.29
50$499.36$429.14$578.12$470.02
55$629.30$549.89$727.97$598.79
60$802.33$700.83$988.97$769.94
65$1,043.61 $912.58$1,310.87 $1,045.09
Compare RatesStart Now →

Again, the sample rates above would be subject to change for smokers, major health conditions, or even for people with dangerous jobs. You should also note that there is a major difference in price between the two competitors above, exceeding $100 per month for older adults.

Burial or final expense insurance is another option for those looking to secure a small amount of coverage while potentially building cash value. In many cases, these policies can be more affordable for older adults.

Sample $15,000 Final Expense Insurance Rates for Males
AgeAIGFidelityForestersMutual of OmahaTransamericaGerber Life
50$76.89$65.85$46.42$42.13$44.31$65.68
55$84.35$82.65$53.72$52.87$52.21$86.44
60$93.75$100.31$66.20$62.53$63.93$95.38
65$125.23$121.07$82.04$82.04$83.00$127.28
70$146.27$152.12$107.78$108.95$110.20$148.32
75$206.83$184.11$152.46$147.69$148.26$208.82
80$368.66$245.11$218.53$197.38$208.55$370.52
Compare RatesStart Now →

Final expense insurance can be an affordable option that prevents your loved ones from experiencing stress due to the costs of a funeral. Funerals can cost thousands of dollars which might be problematic for some families.

For those around 55 years old, a normal term life insurance policy could cost close to $75 per month while a final expense policy should be closer to $50 per month, assuming you choose the most affordable options for each.

If monthly cost is your bottom line and you do not need a ton of coverage, final expense insurance could be worth looking into. Otherwise, be sure to compare rates across different policy types to ensure you get the best deal. TopQuote offers free quotes from some of the top life insurance companies.

Online Life Insurance Quotes: The Bottom Line

Life insurance rates can vary drastically from one company to the next and via different policies. It’s easy to end up overpaying for life insurance if you aren’t careful.

Using an online life insurance quote comparison tool is a quick and effective way to get a great price on life insurance while meeting your coverage needs.