Do Men Pay More For Life Insurance?

UPDATE 3/26/2012 - Men are still paying more for life insurance than women, but a recent European court ruling has mandated that insurance companies will no longer be able to use gender when determining life insurance quotes.  This will be in effect in Europe by December 2012.  It will be interesting to see if this trend eventually comes to the United States.

In general, men do end up paying more for term and whole life insurance.  There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line is that life insurance companies see men as a higher risk and believe they will be more likely to pay a death benefit to men.

Not only to men die at a younger age than women, but they tend to live riskier lives.  They can partake in riskier activities such as racing, sky diving, and other adventure sports.  This isn't to say that women do not participate in these activities, but it is more often men.

Men are also more likely to have heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.  Part of this is due to the fact that they are less likely to see the doctor on a regular basis.  Men also are more likely to drink and smoke, causing higher life insurance rates for the gender overall.

Just because on average men pay more for life insurance than women, doesn't mean a man can't find a great deal.  If you don't partake in risky behavior and have relatively good health with a good family health history you can take comfort knowing there is a very good chance you'll get an excellent rate on life insurance.  You can obtain more life insurance information on LifeInsurance.org and get multiple quotes to compare instantly.