I hear it every week, usually from someone between twenty-two and thirty.
"I'm young and healthy. I'll get insurance later."
I understand it. When you're young, insurance feels like something for people with mortgages and children and blood pressure tablets. And I'm not going to pretend everyone in their twenties needs a big policy. Many don't.
But "later" has a cost, and it's rarely the one people expect.
The cost isn't the premium
People assume the problem with waiting is that premiums go up with age. They do. Starting at twenty-five is generally cheaper than starting at thirty-five.
But that's the small cost. The big one is this: insurance is priced on your health, and you don't get to choose when your health changes.
You can be young and healthy today, and next year be someone with a diagnosis. Thyroid. Hypertension. Diabetes. A cyst that turned out to be nothing, but is now on your medical record. An anxiety diagnosis. A mole that got removed.
None of these are rare. Plenty of people in their twenties and thirties have something by the time they finally decide to apply.
And when they apply, the answer often isn't a simple yes. It's a higher premium. Or an exclusion for the very thing you're most worried about. Or a postponement. Or a decline.
"Later" is a bet
When you say "later," what you're actually saying is: I'm betting that nothing will happen to my health between now and then.
Sometimes you win that bet. Many people do. But you can't buy the insurance after you lose it.
That's the part that makes waiting expensive. The people who most need coverage are often the people who can no longer get it on good terms.
When waiting is genuinely fine
I want to be fair here.
If nobody depends on you financially, if you have no debts someone else would inherit, and you have an emergency fund and an HMO, a big life policy may not be your priority yet. Build the emergency fund first.
But even then, it's worth thinking about the coverage that protects you, not just others: critical illness or disability cover, which pays if you get sick or injured and can't work. Those protect the young and single too, because you're the only one paying your rent.
What I'd suggest instead
Start small, start early. A modest policy, bought while you're healthy, locks in your insurability. Many policies can be increased or added to later.
Prioritise the illness and disability cover if no one depends on you yet. Death benefits matter most when someone needs your income. Illness benefits matter to everyone.
Keep the premium comfortable. The worst outcome is buying something you can't sustain and letting it lapse. A small policy you keep is far better than a big one you drop.
Review it as life changes. Marriage, a child, a home loan. Each is a natural point to add more.
The question to ask yourself
Not "do I need insurance right now?"
But: "If I found out next year that I have a condition, would I wish I'd applied this year?"
If the answer is yes, then "later" isn't really a plan. It's a gamble you're taking with your own future, and the house always wins this one eventually.
