How long should my term life insurance last?
Match the term to the years the obligation actually lasts, then check the price of that term against the shorter one. A shorter term costs less now and more later, because you will be renewing or reapplying at an older age. For most households the deciding numbers are the years left on the mortgage and the age the youngest child becomes independent, whichever runs longer. Roughly, a youngest child under five or a mortgage over 20 years points to a 25 or 30 year term, a child in school usually fits 20 years, and children nearly independent with under ten years of mortgage points to 10 to 15 years. A 10-year term bought at 42 renews at 52 at a substantially higher price, and the cheap years plus the expensive ones often cost more than a 20-year term. A convertible policy softens the cost of choosing short.
What to know at a glance
- The term with the lowest monthly cost and the term with the lowest total cost are usually not the same term.
- A 10-year term bought in your forties will renew in your fifties at a substantially higher price.
- Two obligations with different end dates can be covered by two policies rather than one compromise.
- Buying a term that ends before the need does is the most common and most expensive mistake here.
On this page
How long do you need protection?
Start with the need you want your life insurance to cover.
Protection for a defined period. Check the policy’s renewal and conversion options.
Protection designed to last your lifetime, provided the policy stays in force.
Conceptual illustration, not a price comparison or a guarantee of benefits. Policy terms apply. Source: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.
Start with the end date, not the price
The question is not which term is best value. It is when the problem you are solving stops being a problem.
Two dates usually decide it:
The mortgage. Take the remaining amortisation. A household 22 years from being mortgage-free has a 22-year obligation, which points at a 20 or 25 year term rather than a 10.
The youngest child. Count the years until they finish education and support themselves. For a four-year-old, that is somewhere around 18 to 21 years.
Take whichever runs longer. That is your minimum. Then look at what it costs, and only then consider trimming.
Set against each other, the three standard lengths look like this:
| 10-year term | 20-year term | 30-year term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typically suits | A defined obligation with a fixed end date, the last stretch of a nearly paid-off mortgage, or children nearly independent with under 10 years of mortgage left | A youngest child in school and a mortgage of 12 to 20 years | A youngest child under 5 or a mortgage over 20 years, such as a young family with a newborn and a fresh mortgage |
| Monthly cost now | Lowest of the three at any given age | Higher than a 10-year term | Highest of the three, though the gap over a 20-year term is usually modest in your thirties and widens a great deal by 50 |
| Price stays fixed for | 10 years | 20 years | 30 years |
| Total cost over a 20-year need | Frequently more than a 20-year term once the renewal years are added | One fixed price for the whole need | Covers years after the need has ended |
| What happens at the end | Renew at a price based on the age you have reached, apply fresh with new underwriting, or go without | The same three choices, arriving 10 years later | The same three choices, arriving after the longest stretch |
| Renewal age exposure | Highest: bought in your forties, it renews in your fifties at a substantially higher price | Lower: bought at 42, the price is fixed until 62 | Lowest: a 33-year-old locks in their price for the entire stretch of the obligation |
| Risk of ending mid-need | Highest, since short terms have a way of ending in the middle of the need | Lower when matched to the end date | Lowest for a long obligation |
| How much a conversion right matters | Most, because the term is shortest | Somewhat | Least of the three |
Why the lowest monthly cost is often the most expensive choice
A 10-year term is the lowest monthly cost at any given age. It is also the shortest, and short terms have a way of ending in the middle of the need.
Consider someone aged 42 with 20 years of mortgage left. They can buy a 20-year term now at a price fixed until 62. Or they can buy a 10-year term at a lower price, and then deal with year 11.
At year 11 they are 52 and have three options. Let the policy renew, which costs considerably more because renewal pricing is based on the age you have reached rather than the age you bought at. Apply for a fresh policy, which means new underwriting at 52 with whatever their health is by then. Or go without.
Add the ten cheap years to the ten expensive ones and the 10-year route frequently costs more in total than the 20-year term would have, and it carries the risk of a health change in the middle. The cheaper monthly figure is real. It is just not the number that decides the outcome.
When a shorter term is the right call
Short terms are not a trap. They fit specific situations well.
A short obligation with a hard end date, such as a business loan with seven years to run, matches a 10-year term neatly.
Covering the last stretch of a mortgage that is nearly paid off does not need thirty years of coverage.
A tight budget, where a 20-year term at the amount actually needed is not affordable but a 10-year term at that amount is, is a real trade. Underinsuring for twenty years is usually worse than fully insuring for ten. If you take that route, buy a convertible policy and treat the conversion deadline as a date you must act on.
When a longer term earns its cost
Young families are the clearest case. Someone at 33 with a newborn and a fresh mortgage has an obligation running into their fifties. A 30-year term locks a 33-year-old price for that entire stretch, and the price difference against a 20-year term at that age is usually modest, because the risk of dying between 53 and 63 is still relatively low from the insurer’s point of view.
The gap widens with age. At 50, a 30-year term costs a great deal more relative to a 20-year one, because the insurer is now covering years where mortality risk climbs steeply.
Two policies instead of one compromise
Obligations rarely share an end date, and there is no rule saying you need a single policy.
Take a household with a mortgage running 22 more years and children who will be independent in 14. One approach is a single 25-year policy at the full amount, which means paying for the full coverage for eleven years after the childcare need has gone.
The alternative is two policies. A larger one over roughly 15 years covering the income replacement need, and a smaller one over 25 years covering the mortgage. Total coverage is high in the early years when it is needed and steps down when it is not, and the total cost is often lower than a single long policy at the full amount. This is covered in using more than one term policy.
The trade is a little more admin, which is worth it if the saving is meaningful and not worth it if it is small.
The safety valve
Whatever you choose, convertibility matters more the shorter the term. A 10-year term that can be converted to permanent coverage without medical evidence is a very different product from one that cannot. If your health changes during those ten years, the conversion right is what stops the policy ending with nothing.
Find out the deadline on that right when you buy, and put it somewhere you will actually see it. The detail is in converting term to permanent.
A rough guide
- Youngest child under 5, or mortgage over 20 years: look at 25 or 30 years first
- Youngest child in school, mortgage 12 to 20 years: 20 years is usually the fit
- Children nearly independent, mortgage under 10 years: 10 to 15 years
- A defined obligation with a fixed end date: match the term to that date
These are starting points. The combination of your mortgage, your dependants and your age can point somewhere else, and the arithmetic is worth doing on your own numbers rather than a table.
What the answer depends on
Life insurance decisions are made case by case. These are the factors that usually move the outcome:
- Years remaining on your mortgage or other amortising debt
- The age at which your youngest dependant becomes financially independent
- Your current age, since longer terms cost proportionately more as you get older
- Whether you expect your income or obligations to change materially
- Whether the policy is convertible, which softens the consequences of choosing short
Related questions
- Renewing term coverage and why the price jumps
- Using more than one term policy
- How much life insurance coverage to consider
- Mortgage insurance from the bank versus your own term policy
New to this? What term life insurance is covers the ground this page assumes.
Sources
- Life insurance, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.Supports: Term coverage runs either for a fixed period, such as 10 or 20 years, or until a set age such as 65.. Checked August 13, 2026.
- A guide to life insurance, Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association.Supports: The industry association's consumer guide describes term and permanent life insurance, group coverage through an employer and the questions to ask before buying.. Checked September 14, 2026.
Talk it through with a licensed advisor
Reading about how coverage works only gets you so far. What is actually available to you depends on your health, your age and which insurer is looking at your file.
A few questions about you and your health, then a licensed advisor comes back with the options you can actually apply for. No obligation, and a quote is an estimate rather than an offer of coverage.
Send the question you actually have. A licensed advisor replies within one business day. Nothing gets started until you say so.
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