Your term is ending. What now?

A term policy ending is one of the most consequential moments in a life insurance plan, and one of the least prepared for. Carriers send a notice; most people file it and get surprised later. Here's what you're actually choosing between.

First: do you still need coverage?

Run the same math you ran originally. Is the mortgage paid? Are the children independent? Is your spouse fully provided for by retirement assets?

If the honest answer is yes across the board, letting the policy expire is a legitimate outcome — not a failure. You bought protection for a window, the window closed, and nobody had to claim on it. That's insurance working.

But be careful about one thing people forget: if you have a pension or Social Security that reduces or stops at your death, your spouse may face a real income gap even with the mortgage paid.

Option 1: Let it lapse

Do nothing and coverage ends. Simple, appropriate when the need is genuinely gone. Just make it a decision rather than an accident.

Option 2: Annual renewal — the expensive default

Most level term policies automatically convert to annually renewable term at the end of the level period, with no new underwriting. That sounds generous, and it's a genuine safety net if your health has collapsed. But the price rises every single year and climbs steeply, because the insurer is now pricing your current age with no evidence of health.

Renewal is a bridge, not a plan. It's the right answer only if you're uninsurable and need to hold coverage temporarily.

Option 3: Convert to permanent

If your policy is convertible and you're still inside the window, you can exchange it for permanent coverage without a medical exam. Your premium is set by your age at conversion, but your original health rating carries over.

Option 4: Buy a new policy

If you're still in good health, fresh underwriting on a new term policy is usually cheaper than renewal and often cheaper than conversion. You'll pay more than you did at 35, but a healthy 55-year-old can still get sensible pricing.

Shop this properly — carriers differ enormously at older ages, and one carrier's decline is another's Standard.

The sequence to follow

Start twelve months before expiry, not one:

• Recalculate the need honestly.
• Call the carrier: confirm convertibility, the deadline, and what the renewal rate would be.
• If you need coverage and are healthy, get quotes on a new policy and compare all three numbers.
• If your health has changed, prioritize conversion before that window closes.
• Never cancel the old policy until the new one is issued, delivered, and paid.

That last line matters more than everything above it. Every year people surrender coverage in anticipation of a replacement that then gets rated or declined, leaving them with nothing.