Can you get a 50-year term life insurance policy? In the United States, the honest answer is no. No major carrier currently offers a level term policy that guarantees premiums and coverage for a full 50 years. The longest level term available in today’s marketplace is 40 years. That said, the absence of a true 50-year term does not mean you cannot design coverage that effectively protects your family for 50 years or longer. The key is understanding how term life insurance is structured, why carriers cap it at 40 years, and how permanent life insurance can be strategically layered to accomplish the same long-term objective.

At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we structure life insurance planning around time horizons. Some clients need coverage for 10 or 20 years to protect income during their highest earning period. Others want coverage that lasts until retirement. And some — particularly younger applicants in their 20s or early 30s — ask for protection that extends 50 years into the future. When that happens, we compare every available level term option alongside permanent designs that can deliver guaranteed protection well beyond the 40-year maximum. You can explore all current options on our Life Insurance Services page.

Why doesn’t 50-year term life exist? It comes down to risk modeling and pricing stability. Insurance companies price term policies based on actuarial tables that estimate mortality over a defined window of time. The longer that window extends, the higher the probability of a claim. At 40 years, carriers are already pushing the outer limit of affordable, level premium guarantees. Extending that guarantee another decade would dramatically increase premiums, reduce affordability, and limit demand. Most buyers align coverage with specific obligations such as mortgages, dependent children, business loans, or retirement timelines — rarely a full half century. As a result, carriers stop at 40 years.

If your goal is long-duration protection, the longest available options include 30-year, 35-year, and 40-Year Term Life Insurance. A 40-year term purchased at age 30 can protect you until age 70. Purchased at age 35, it protects you until 75. For many families, that effectively covers the majority of income-earning years. However, if you are 25 or 30 and want coverage to age 80 or beyond, we often design a layered solution combining a long term policy with a permanent foundation.

Permanent life insurance differs fundamentally from term. Instead of expiring at the end of a set duration, it is designed to remain in force for life — or for a guaranteed period such as 50 years, 60 years, or to age 100 or 121. Some clients explore indexed universal life designs, including Indexed Universal Life in Qualified Plans, when appropriate. Others prefer guaranteed whole life structures. The objective is simple: lock in premiums that do not increase and secure a death benefit that will not expire.

Another important consideration is flexibility. Many long-term planners ask whether they can start with term and convert later. The answer is yes — if the policy includes a conversion rider. Conversion allows you to exchange some or all of your term coverage for permanent coverage without new medical underwriting. That strategy is helpful if your health changes. For example, individuals with conditions such as atrial fibrillation may review underwriting guidance on Life Insurance for Atrial Fibrillation to understand how future insurability could be impacted.

For high-income professionals, 50-year planning may also intersect with estate considerations. Survivorship policies such as Survivorship Joint Whole Life Insurance can provide guaranteed legacy protection extending decades beyond retirement. Likewise, business owners sometimes coordinate life insurance with buy-sell agreements or succession plans to ensure long-term liquidity.

Some applicants who request 50-year term coverage are actually trying to solve a different problem — permanent financial security. If your objective is ensuring final expenses are covered no matter when death occurs, you may also consider smaller whole life policies like those discussed on our Burial Insurance for Mom and Dad planning guide. While burial insurance is not a replacement for income protection, it highlights the broader principle: permanent coverage never expires.

There are also structural considerations. If you plan to use life insurance in trust planning, you may explore how an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) works. ILIT strategies are often designed with multi-decade horizons — another example where 50-year planning concepts apply even if a 50-year term contract does not exist.

When evaluating whether to stretch for the longest available term or pivot toward permanent coverage, cost matters. A 40-year term will always be less expensive initially than permanent insurance. However, if your goal truly extends 50 years or longer, buying term now and permanent later could be more expensive overall — especially if health changes. Applicants engaged in high-risk activities may review underwriting considerations such as Life Insurance for Extreme Sports before choosing a long-duration strategy.

Ultimately, the question is not whether a 50-year term policy exists — it does not — but whether your coverage timeline can be engineered to achieve the same result. In many cases, the answer is yes. By combining the longest available term (up to 40 years) with a properly structured permanent base, you can lock in affordable protection today while ensuring guarantees that extend 50 years or more into the future. Diversified Insurance Brokers has been structuring long-horizon protection strategies since 1980, comparing carriers, underwriting niches, and design structures to match each client’s timeline and financial objectives.