By Michael Horbal – updated on – 08/15/2022
Are you a police officer?
To protect yourself and your family if something were to happen to you, getting life insurance is essential.
In my experience, too many officers depend solely on the life insurance offered by their police department.
While there is nothing wrong with the product itself, it doesn’t provide enough life insurance to your family if your dead.
And if you think that life insurance is not available to you due to the risks of being a police officer, I’m here to tell you that not only is life insurance available to you, most companies do not penalize you for protecting the public.
This life insurance guide gives you everything you need to make a great choice for you and your family.
Table of Contents
Is Life Insurance More Expensive for Police Officers?
No, life insurance is not more expensive for police officers.
The vast majority of officers receive the same life insurance rates as everyone else.
We even have some companies that will offer you $500k – $3 million with no medical exam.
Now, there may be some situations where life insurers may charge more, but underwriters really do try to give you the best rates available based on your health.
So even if you are part of the S.W.A.T. unit, participate in undercover operations, diffuse bombs, etc. we have life insurance companies available for you.
What is the Best Life Insurance for Police Officers?
For most police officers, term life insurance is the best option as it provides the coverage you need at the lowest possible rate.
The only time we look at universal life insurance or whole life insurance for police officers is when the officer considers taking the maximum pension benefit.
A pension maximization plan gives you a larger monthly pension, but your spouse gets nothing when you die.
A universal life insurance policy provides your spouse with a death benefit to compensate for the loss of the pension.
Is Your Group Police Officer’s Life Insurance Enough?
Your police department probably gives you a group life insurance policy as part of your benefits package.
The problem is that the amount of coverage provided in collective bargaining agreements is discouraging.
Some examples we discovered:
- Denver, Colorado – 1.5x base pay
- Chicago, Illinois – $75,000
- Orlando, Florida – 100% of the base salary
- San Francisco, California – $50,000
- Sarasota, Florida – $25,000
- Las Vegas, Nevada – $25,000
- Minneapolis, Minnesota Lesser of 1x base salary or $50,000
- Omaha, Nebraska – $40,000
It’s not a knock on any of the above cities. Instead, it’s to point out that the benefits package offered by work is not enough!
Take a look at our life insurance needs analysis to see how much coverage you need.
What Choice Do You Have?
You have three choices:
- Buy an individual life insurance policy
- Get supplemental coverage through work
- Do nothing
While the only choice is #1 or #2, we’ve all seen too many GoFundMe campaigns for families whose breadwinner chose #3.
The most important thing to do is get enough life insurance, whether it’s supplemental through work or an individual policy.
Individual Life Insurance Policies
- Offer better pricing
- You own and control the policy.
- If you leave your job, you don’t lose coverage.
- You choose the term length needed.
- Conversion options are better than group life.
Supplemental Life Insurance Policies:
- More expensive over time
- It’s simple to get in most cases
- You can pay for coverage through payroll deductions
- You don’t want to be hassled by the application process and a paramed exam may not be required.
When considering supplemental coverage, ask your HR department to provide you with the chart showing future costs as well as portability options should you leave your position.
Conclusion
Life insurance for police officers and their families is more affordable than ever.
The best advice we can give you is to get a No-Pressure, No-Obligation life insurance quote today.
We’ll give you the information you need to make an informed decision about your life insurance. Should you change your mind at any time, simply tell us to close your file.