Whether anyone depends on you yet
Plenty of people in their twenties rent, live alone or with friends, and support nobody else. If that is you, a large life policy may be money better spent elsewhere. Your parents would face a funeral bill, and that is about it.
Things change fast in this decade. Moving in with a partner, signing a joint tenancy, buying a first flat or having a baby can each create someone who would struggle without your income. That is the moment to look at cover.
Some people in their twenties help parents or younger siblings with money. If you send part of your pay home each month, that support is something your family would lose, and a small policy could replace it.
Your future earnings are your biggest asset
At this age you may have decades of work ahead. A long illness or injury could cost you far more than any single debt. Statutory sick pay is a basic weekly amount for a limited time, and many entry-level jobs pay little more.
Income protection pays a monthly sum if you cannot work because of illness or injury, until you return, recover or the policy ends. For a young person with no dependants, it often does more good than life cover.
Short-term income protection, which pays for a year or two per claim, can be a lower-cost way to start. You can move to longer cover as your pay rises.
Locking in a lower price
Insurers price on age and health. Taking out cover in your twenties, with guaranteed premiums, fixes the cost for the whole term. If your health changes later, you keep the terms you started with.
That is not a reason to buy cover you do not need. It is a reason to buy the cover you do need sooner rather than later, especially if you already plan to buy a home or start a family in the next few years.
Smoking makes a big difference at any age. If you smoke or vape, quitting for a year or more before you apply can lower your premium. Being honest about it on the form protects any future claim.
Debts that do and do not pass on
A student loan in the UK is cancelled when the borrower dies, so it does not pass to your family. Credit cards and personal loans in your sole name are paid from your estate, if there is enough in it. Joint debts are different, because the other person remains liable.
If you co-signed a car finance deal or a joint loan with a partner, a modest policy could clear it.
If you are buying a first flat with a friend or partner, you will both be liable for the whole mortgage. A policy on each of you, paying out to the other, keeps the survivor from facing the full payments alone.
How Hi Tomorrow helps people in their 20s
We will be honest if you do not need life cover yet. We look at what your employer already provides, what you owe and who would be affected, then recommend only what fills a real gap.
If income protection is the better fit, we compare the options on our panel and explain how the waiting period and policy length affect the price.