Who shops for life insurance?

Who buys life insurance in Canada and what are they buying?

Canadians recognize the importance and value of life insurance. This is clearly evident by the fact that, according to the Canadian Life and Health Association, approximately 17.5 million Canadians own a life insurance policy. Given there’s almost 32 million people living in Canada, this represents almost 55% of Canadians. So who are all of these Canadians buying life insurance? Recently kanetix.ca asked this question. kanetix offers free comparison insurance quotes, including life insurance, so they were able to look at the group of insurance shoppers as a whole. In so doing, they garnered some insight into the group interested in buying life insurance in Canada, and what they are buying. Let’s take a look!

Who buys life insurance in Canada?

The average age of a shopper looking to buy life insurance at comparative insurance website, kanetix.ca, is 42 years old. Of the people looking for single coverage life insurance, men were the most frequent shoppers at 67% of the online life insurance quotes. What about couples versus singles? When asked to specify if they were looking for single or joint coverage quotes, 61% of the shoppers were interested in quotes for individuals, whereas only 39% were interested in quotes for couples.

How much life insurance do Canadians typically buy?

Across the board, individuals getting online quotes for themselves typically were interested in policies worth $100,000. This was true for the Term 10 (10-year policy), Term 20 (20-year policy), and the Term to 100 which offers protection until a person reaches the age of, you guessed it, 100. Couples seeking joint coverage were just as consistent as their single counterparts. For both Term 10 and Term 20 joint policies, the most popular amount quoted online was $500,000.

What form of life insurance do Canadians typically buy?

According to the insurance shoppers at kanetix.ca, the most popular life insurance products quoted online were (in order of popularity):

• Single coverage Term 10
• Single coverage Term 20
• Joint coverage Term 20
• Joint coverage Term 10
• Term to 100

Is life insurance right for you?

What if you don’t fit the profile of the average life insurance buyer mentioned above? Not to worry. You may still need life insurance and here is how you can tell. If you fall into one of the following categories, then you should consider buying life insurance:

• You have debts like car loans or credit cards which would be a financial burden to your survivors if they didn’t receive financial support
• You’re married
• You have children
• You have parents and/or other family members who depend on your income
• You have a mortgage
• Your retirement savings or other accounts won’t adequately support your loved ones
• You are self-employed