As more Americans live past age 100, they are confronting a disappointing realization: Their permanent life insurance gets canceled.
The age limit wasn’t a problem when few people lived past 100, but the U.S. population of centenarians has grown in the past 30 years with advancements in medical care and lifestyle changes. There were an estimated 53,364 centenarians in the U.S. as of 2010, up from 37,306 in 1990 and 32,194 in 1980, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. Census data.
“Since the mid- to late-2000s, the industry has used age 121 as the standard maturity date in new contracts,” the newspaper reported. “But an unknown number of older contracts with the 100-year-old limit remain in consumers’ hands.”
The newspaper profiles a 99-year-old man whose two life insurance policies valued at $3.2 million will be canceled by Transamerica Corp. when he turns 100 in September. His family sued the company, saying he paid more than $1.5 million in premiums over the years. Transamerica, a unit of the Netherlands’s Aegon NV, said it acted properly.
“It is a standard feature of permanent life insurance, a product combining a tax-deferred savings component with a tax-free death-benefit,” according to the WSJ. “The provision calls for the termination of the death benefit and payout of all of the built-up savings when the policyholder reaches the specified age.”
New App for Estate Planning
Tomorrow, a Seattle-based startup that this week received $2.6 million in seed funding from investors, created an app to help users buy life insurance and plan an estate.
The mobile app provides assistance in establishing family roles like guardian, executor, or trustee; create free wills and trusts; list assets; buy life insurance; and more, all from their smartphone. The app is intended to let families prepare themselves for future legal and financial protection, Geekwire reported.
“Ultimately, Tomorrow combines many of the tools used by the wealthy (like Trusts, Wills and insurance), and makes them accessible and affordable for everyday Americans,” Tomorrow founder Dave Hanley told the website.
© 2025 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.