Millennials May Be Losing Life Insurance Knowledge

News April 30, 2024 at 02:20 PM
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A large, serious crowd

The slump in traditional media and skepticism about social media may be hurting life insurers' ability to reach millennials.

Managers of the latest 2024 Insurance Barometer Study by Life Happens and LIMRA found that, even though the oldest millennials are turning 44 and the youngest are already 28, millennials' knowledge about life insurance is getting worse.

The survey team asked participants to estimate the annual cost of term life for a healthy 30-year-old. They also included a similar question in a survey conducted in 2019. The actual average cost increased to $200 this year, from $160 five years ago.

The percentage of millennials who gave an estimate in the correct category — $100 to $299 — held steady at 23%, according to detailed survey results shared with ThinkAdvisor.

The percentage who suggested that the term life coverage would cost $1,000 or more climbed to 46%, from 42%.

What it means: Millennials now dominate the market for life insurance, and they think life insurance is much more expensive than it is.

The survey: The survey was organized by LIMRA and Life Happens, a National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors affiliate that runs insurance consumer education and awareness campaigns.

The survey team polled 4,934 U.S. adults through an online system in January.

The participants were ages 18 to 75 when they answered the questions, and all said they made or helped to make financial decisions for their households.

LIMRA and Life Happens are making the full results available only to their member companies.

Millennials: LIMRA and Life Happens define the term "millennial" to refer to people born from 1981 through 1996.

Rough 72 million of the 342 million U.S. residents, or 21%, are millennials.

The millennial market is the biggest U.S. adult market segment under age 76.

Here's how many people in each generation were ages 25 through 75 in January, when the survey took place:

  • Generation Z (1997-2012): 41 million
  • Millennial (1981-1996): 72 million
  • Generation X (1965-1980): 66 million
  • Baby boom (1946-1964): 68 million

Millennials' sources of information: Millennials were more likely than other participants to say they got their ideas about life insurance prices from conversations with financial professionals.

About 11% said they had talked to advisors, compared with 7% of all participants and 6% of the Gen X participants.

But 47% of the millennials said they based their estimates on a wild guess or a gut feeling; only 8% said they based their estimates on knowledge of their own life insurance policies.

About 13% of the Gen X participants reported basing their cost estimates on knowledge of their own coverage.

Credit: Thinkstock

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