Term insurance in USA - risk factors

Here are the risk factors used to price term insurance rates in the USA

* if you are overweight by 20%, you pay a 15% to 35% more in premium
* if you are a smoker, you pay 100% more in premium
* if you quit smoking for more than 5 years, you enjoy the non-smoker rate
* if you quit smoking for 1 year, you pay 15% to 50% more in premium
* if a family member had cancer or depression, you pay 30% to 50% more in premium
* if a family member had heart disease or stroke, you pay 100% more in premium

You enjoy the lowest premium if:

* you are within the standard weight
* you are a non-smoker or quit more than 5 yers ago
* a family member did not die from cancer, depression or heart disease

If you have the risk factors, your premium can go up by 100%. The actual increase differ from one company to another. You can get a lower loading, if you shop around.