Life insurance
Term life insurance rates by age: the federal charts and the odds
Choose an age, a term and a cover amount to see the chance of a claim and what the two federal rate tables charge for that age.
Independent site, not an insurer or a broker, and not a funeral home or a government agency.
Term life: the chance of a claim and two federal rate tables
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Chance the policy pays out
10%
| Ends with no claim | 90% |
| VGLI, a month at this age | $70.00 |
| VGLI over the whole term, by age band | $33,600 |
| IRS cost of employer cover, a year | $540 |
NCHS US life tables 2024. VGLI is the VA group plan for veterans (rates of 2025-07-01, up to $500,000); the IRS line is Table 2-2. Neither is a market quote.
Term life insurance rates rise with age because the chance of dying within the term rises with it. Insurers do not publish their rates under terms that let a site reprint them, and the “average rate by age” tables found online come from brokers’ own quotes. Two federal rate tables are public. The VA’s Veterans’ Group Life Insurance (VGLI), sold to veterans leaving service, charges by five-year age band: $14.00 a month for $100,000 of cover at ages 40 to 44 and $85.00 at 60 to 64, on rates in force from July 1, 2025. The IRS Table 2-2 in Publication 15-B sets the cost of employer group-term cover above $50,000 for tax purposes. Neither is a quote for a healthy applicant buying a 20-year policy in the market, where rates are lower at young ages, but they are the only published per-age prices. The NCHS life tables give the odds behind them.
Data read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are worked out
VGLI monthly rates by age
Rates in force from July 1, 2025, per $10,000 of cover, and for $100,000 and the maximum of $500,000. The last column is the chance of a man of the first age of the band dying within five years, NCHS 2024.
| Age band | Per $10,000 | $100,000 of cover | $500,000 of cover | 5-year death chance, men |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 and under | $0.60 | $6.00 | $30.00 | 0.92% |
| 30 to 34 | $0.80 | $8.00 | $40.00 | 0.97% |
| 35 to 39 | $1.00 | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.2% |
| 40 to 44 | $1.40 | $14.00 | $70.00 | 1.6% |
| 45 to 49 | $1.90 | $19.00 | $95.00 | 2.0% |
| 50 to 54 | $2.90 | $29.00 | $145.00 | 2.8% |
| 55 to 59 | $5.00 | $50.00 | $250.00 | 4.1% |
| 60 to 64 | $8.50 | $85.00 | $425.00 | 6.2% |
| 65 to 69 | $13.80 | $138.00 | $690.00 | 8.8% |
| 70 to 74 | $21.50 | $215.00 | $1,075.00 | 12% |
| 75 to 79 | $38.50 | $385.00 | $1,925.00 | 18% |
| 80 and over | $44.00 | $440.00 | $2,200.00 | 29% |
VGLI is priced for a whole group, with no health questions for those who apply in time, men and women alike. It is a renewable plan whose premium steps up every five years, not a level 20-year term. That is why it is cheap compared to the risk at older ages and dear at younger ones, where a healthy buyer in the market often pays less.
IRS Table 2-2: the cost of group-term life for tax
When an employer provides group-term life insurance above $50,000, the cost of the excess, from this table, is added to the employee’s wages. Age is the employee’s age on the last day of the tax year.
| Age | Cost per $1,000, a month | $100,000 of excess, a year |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25 | $0.05 | $60.00 |
| 25 to 29 | $0.06 | $72.00 |
| 30 to 34 | $0.08 | $96.00 |
| 35 to 39 | $0.09 | $108.00 |
| 40 to 44 | $0.10 | $120.00 |
| 45 to 49 | $0.15 | $180.00 |
| 50 to 54 | $0.23 | $276.00 |
| 55 to 59 | $0.43 | $516.00 |
| 60 to 64 | $0.66 | $792.00 |
| 65 to 69 | $1.27 | $1,524.00 |
| 70 and over | $2.06 | $2,472.00 |
The table is a tax rule, not a price, but it is a published federal schedule that puts a cost on group cover at each age. The tax page has a calculator for the amount added to your wages.
Reading a market quote against these tables
A level term policy charges the same premium every year of the term. At the start it charges more than the risk of that year, and toward the end less, so the premium reflects the average risk over the whole term, which the payout chance in the calculator sums up. Two policies with the same amount and term can differ a lot in price between insurers and health classes. Ask at least two insurers or an independent agent; this site asks for no contact details and passes none on.
Population life tables include everyone. People who pass an insurer’s health questions tend to live longer, so their odds of a claim are lower than the table, and their premiums lower than a group plan that takes everyone. The DIME calculator gives the amount; the cover after 60 page the odds at older ages.
One more use of the federal tables: a veteran leaving service can compare a market quote with the VGLI rate for the same amount and age band, and an employee can compare a personal policy with the cost of extra group cover at work, which the IRS table approximates. In both cases the federal figure is a benchmark to question a quote against, not a substitute for one.