A New Year's resolution: Quitting smoking

The hullabaloo of the holidays has finally settled and many Canadians are now focusing on sticking to their New Year's resolutions. For those of you who resolved to quit smoking, there's good news. Not only will you save money on the cigarettes you no longer buy, but you'll also enjoy savings on your life insurance premiums because life insurers offer lower rates to non-smokers.

Life insurance and smoking-incentive to quit

As a smoker, you may have thought getting life insurance was too expensive. While it's no secret that life insurers provide coverage to smokers at a higher premium than non-smokers, it's likely more affordable than you think. However, there is certainly no denying non-smokers get a premium break on their life insurance rates.

Term 10 $100,000 Annual Premiums
Age	Male smoker	Male non-smoker
25	$163	$121
30	$174	$125
35	$189	$127
40	$253	$151
45	$391	$193
Lowest quote offered online at Kanetix in January, 2011. Premiums shown are the premiums if paid annually.

Term 10 $100,000 Annual Premiums
Age	Female smoker	Female non-smoker
25	$109	$93
30	$119	$99
35	$142	$108
40	$191	$128
45	$255	$152
Lowest quote offered online at Kanetix in January, 2011. Premiums shown are the premiums if paid annually.

For ex-smokers, who resolved to quit New Year's 2010 (that's last year), most life insurance companies consider you a non-smoker once you've been smoke-free for 1 full year. So congratulations, you can now get non-smoker rates!

Compare term life insurance rates today to find low cost life insurance coverage

What to do if you quit last New Year's 2010

If you already have life insurance coverage, then you'll want to speak with your broker or insurance company so they can update your premiums to reflect your new non-smoking status. Once your new premiums are confirmed, you'll still want to make sure you are getting your life insurance coverage at the best price. Just because your current life insurer offered you the most coverage at the best price when you were a smoker, doesn't mean they'll be the best choice for you as a non-smoker. Compare non-smoker life insurance rates online at Kanetix to make sure you're not paying more than you have to for your life insurance protection.

If you don't already have life insurance because you thought that as a smoker the life insurance rates would be too high, then now is an ideal time to get the coverage you need. At Kanetix, you can compare life insurance premiums for Term 10, Term 20, Term 30 or Term to 100 coverage for policies with face values ranging from $50,000 up to $2 million.

Not sure how much, or which type of policy you need?

Kanetix has developed a number of free online tools that will help you decide which term life insurance product is best for you and how much life insurance coverage you should get.

First, try the Term Life Insurance Analyzer. By answering a few simple questions, this tool will assess your needs and let you know what product is most commonly recommended for people in your same situation.

Then, try the Life Insurance Needs Calculator. This tool will help you find out roughly how much life insurance you'll need to have in order to ensure that your family, loved ones and your debts are covered in the event of your death.

Here's to your health and a smoke-free year!