2024 LIFE INSURANCE FACT SHEET

I am sharing with you some of the information the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association (LIMRA) provides annually.

In January 2024 51% of consumers reported owning life insurance (for example, individual, employer-sponsored, etc.), which is down significantly from 63% in 2011. Of those with life insurance, 55% say they have only individual coverage, coverage that was purchased in the retail market, 25% indicate they exclusively have workplace coverage, coverage that was obtained as a benefit of employment, and 19% say they have both.  A record-high number of American adults (42%) — representing 102 million people — say they need (or need more) life insurance.

The number one reason consumers give for not purchasing life insurance, or purchasing additional life insurance is that it’s too expensive. Yet, since the first annual Insurance Barometer Study was conducted in 2011, consumers have consistently overestimated the cost of life insurance. The most recent study shows about three quarters (72%) of Americans overestimate the true cost of a basic term life insurance policy.  When asked how people come up with their life insurance cost estimate, more than half (54%) said it was based on “gut instinct” or a “wild guess.”

Women are less likely than men to own life insurance. Just 46% of women own life insurance, compared with 57% of men. This gender gap has persisted over the 14 years of the Barometer study and the 11-point difference is the largest it has ever been.  In 2024, 45% percent of women, representing 56 million people, acknowledged they had a coverage gap, and almost 4 in 10 (37%) said they planned to buy coverage within the year.  Among life insurance owners, a slightly higher percentage of men (46%) say they own life insurance obtained through an employer than women (43%).

Here at Virtus Wealth Management we have experienced, licensed advisors, independently representing the largest companies in the life insurance business.  We can also help eliminate the “gut instinct” and “wild guess” out of the cost estimate and the comfortable amount of coverage.  We are here to help, and if you are afraid of having to buy life insurance should you come see us, we have a licensed Life Insurance Counselor on staff who can explain and analyze coverages on a fee basis. Feel free to give a call at 817-717-3812 or schedule a consultation to come see us.