Life Insurance Quotes

Life Insurance Built for Self-Employed Households (Not Group-Plan Carryovers)

If you ran your own number this morning — what your family would actually need if your income disappeared tomorrow — most self-employed people would land somewhere between $500K and $1.5M of coverage. Most of them are carrying $0 to $250K.

That's not a sales pitch. That's the gap.

Most self-employed and 1099 households fall into one of three buckets:

1. They had a group plan at a previous employer that gave them $50K–$200K of life coverage automatically — when they left, the coverage left with them.
2. They bought a small policy years ago for one specific reason (a mortgage, a baby), never updated it as their family grew, and now it's underbuilt for the household they actually have.
3. They've never bought private life insurance at all.

If you're in any of those buckets, the conversation that follows is for you.

Why "self-employed" changes the life insurance math

A W-2 employee can usually rely on at least some employer-provided life insurance as a backstop. Self-employed people don't have that. If something happens, your family is operating on whatever you bought yourself.

That changes two things about the conversation:

• Coverage amount needs to actually replace your income — not just cover funeral costs
• The policy needs to outlast the years your dependents are dependent on you — not lapse halfway through

A 20-year term that expires the year your youngest starts college is doing exactly nothing.

The four product types we work

Term life

Coverage for a fixed period — 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. If you die during the term, the policy pays the death benefit to your beneficiary. If you don't, the policy ends (or converts to a whole life option, depending on the rider).

Term is the highest coverage per premium dollar. A healthy 35-year-old can usually buy $1M of 20-year term for under $50/month. That's the workhorse for most working-age households with kids at home.

Best fit: Income replacement during the years your family depends on it. Mortgage protection. Years until kids are independent.

Whole life

Permanent coverage — it doesn't expire as long as you pay the premium. Whole life accumulates cash value over time, which can be borrowed against later in life.

Higher premium per dollar of death benefit than term. The case for whole life is usually about long-term planning (estate transfer, legacy, tax-advantaged cash value growth), not raw income replacement.

Best fit: Households with permanent coverage needs (special-needs dependents, estate planning, legacy goals).

Indexed Universal Life (IUL)

Permanent coverage with a cash-value component tied to an index (often the S&P 500) with a floor (you don't lose money in down years) and a cap (you don't get the full upside in up years).

IUL is more flexible than whole life and more complex. The case has to be specific — usually a higher-income self-employed person looking at tax-advantaged growth alongside life coverage. Often oversold by people whose commission depends on selling it. We'll tell you straight if it fits or doesn't.

Final expense

Smaller policy ($5,000–$25,000) designed to cover funeral costs, outstanding medical bills, and immediate end-of-life expenses. Usually purchased by people in their 60s and 70s who don't need full income replacement but want to take that bill off their family's hands.

Often issued with simplified or guaranteed acceptance underwriting (no medical exam) — which makes it accessible to people who'd be declined for traditional term or whole.

Best fit: Adults 55+ who want to leave their family without funeral debt. Not a substitute for term coverage during working years.

The three carriers we work

F&G (Fidelity & Guaranty Life)

Strong on indexed universal life and annuities. Competitive rates on term in many age bands. Good fit when you want both a life policy and a tax-advantaged growth component.

Foresters

Mutual benefit society with a long history. Competitive on term, including a no-medical-exam underwriting path for many healthy applicants. Member benefits on top of the policy (scholarships, community grants) — small but worth knowing about.

Transamerica

Large, well-known carrier with a broad product menu — term, whole, final expense, and supplemental coverage. Often competitive on permanent life coverage and final expense.

We don't pitch one carrier over the others as a default. We look at your age, health, smoker status, coverage need, and budget, and we run quotes against all three. The carrier that wins is the carrier that fits your numbers.

How to pick a coverage amount (the back-of-napkin version)

A common rule of thumb: 10× your annual income for a working-age household with dependents. That's a starting point, not a final answer.

A more honest version: add up the years your dependents would still need your income (kids' age until 22 + spouse's gap if they don't earn equivalent income), multiply by your annual income contribution, add outstanding mortgage and education costs.

You'll usually land somewhere between $500K and $2M for a typical self-employed household with kids at home. We do this math with you on the call — it's not something you have to figure out alone.

A note on tax treatment

Life insurance death benefits are generally received income-tax-free by the beneficiary. Cash value growth on permanent policies is generally tax-deferred while inside the policy. There are nuances — group policies, employer-paid premiums, large estates — that can change the picture.

We're not CPAs. We won't give you tax advice. If a tax angle matters to your decision, we'll flag it and recommend you talk to your accountant before you sign anything.

Underwriting — what to expect

Most term and whole policies require a medical exam (height/weight, blood pressure, basic blood work). Some carriers offer no-exam paths for healthy applicants up to certain coverage amounts.

The underwriter looks at health history, prescription records, MIB (Medical Information Bureau) data, and sometimes motor vehicle records. The decision usually comes back as: standard, preferred, super preferred, table-rated (higher premium for specific health factors), or declined.

If you're declined or table-rated heavily, there are still options — guaranteed-issue final expense, simplified-issue term with a different carrier, or working with the underwriter on a reconsideration. We don't walk away on a first decline.

The 3-minute path

Fill out the intake form. We confirm coverage need, run quotes against all three carriers, and come back with 2–3 options. If a policy fits, we send the application. If your situation calls for waiting (a health issue resolving, a tobacco-cessation window) before you apply, we'll say that.

Talk life insurance

Or call: (989) 365-1641 · +1 (989) 365-1641

FAQ

Q1 · How much coverage do I actually need?

For a working-age household with dependents, a common starting range is 10–15× your annual income, plus outstanding mortgage and projected education costs, minus any existing coverage. For a single self-employed person without dependents, the answer is much smaller — usually just enough to cover final expenses and any business debt with a personal guarantee. We do this math with you before quoting.

Q2 · Term or whole?

For most self-employed households with kids at home, the right starting point is term. It gives you the most coverage per premium dollar during the years your family actually depends on your income. Whole and IUL fit specific situations — permanent coverage needs, estate planning, tax-advantaged cash value goals. We'll tell you straight which fits your situation rather than defaulting to whichever pays a higher commission.

Q3 · Will I need a medical exam?

For most term and whole policies above $250K of coverage, yes. The exam is usually a 20-minute appointment at home or at the carrier's lab — height/weight, blood pressure, blood draw, urine sample. Some carriers offer no-exam paths for healthy applicants under specific coverage limits. Final expense policies often skip the exam entirely. We'll tell you what to expect before you start.

Q4 · What if I have a preexisting condition?

Depends on the condition and how well-managed it is. Diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, and elevated cholesterol — most healthy-with-conditions applicants still get standard or table-rated approvals. More serious conditions (recent cancer, heart disease, certain mental-health histories) require carrier-by-carrier underwriting. We work with the underwriter, and we know which carriers tend to be more lenient on specific conditions.

Q5 · Can I add my spouse and kids to the same policy?

Sometimes. Most life policies are issued on a single life. You can buy two separate term policies (one for each spouse) and stack them, which is usually what we recommend. Some carriers offer child riders that add small amounts of coverage on dependents to a parent's policy — useful for funeral protection on a child, not a substitute for adult coverage.

Life insurance products are issued by F&G (Fidelity & Guaranty Life), Foresters Financial, and Transamerica. Coverage availability, premium rates, riders, and underwriting requirements vary by carrier, state, age, health, and coverage amount. Full Count Insurance is an independent insurance brokerage. Specific product details, riders, and current rates available on request. Coverage subject to underwriting approval.

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