Three agents, three quotes, three different face amounts. It is the most common way people end up with the wrong policy — not because anyone lied, but because the numbers were never comparable in the first place.
This calculator reduces each quote to one figure: the annual cost of every $1,000 of coverage. Enter up to three and it ranks them. That single number is how you find out which quote is genuinely cheaper, rather than which one has the smallest monthly payment.
It also has a limit, and we say it plainly further down the page: price per $1,000 is one factor, and it is not always the deciding one.
annual premium = monthly premium × 12
cost per $1,000 = annual premium ÷ (face amount ÷ 1,000)
Worked through with the first default quote: $48 × 12 = $576 a year, and $576 ÷ ($10,000 ÷ 1,000) = $576 ÷ 10 = $57.60 for each $1,000 of coverage each year. The second: $62 × 12 = $744, then $744 ÷ 15 = $49.60. Lower is cheaper.
Dividing by the face amount is what makes the comparison fair, because it removes the one variable that moves most often between quotes. Nothing here adjusts for your age, health, state or product type — all of that is already baked into the premiums you were quoted, which is exactly why quotes for the same person on the same day can be compared this way and quotes from different years cannot.
| Quote | Arithmetic | Cost per $1,000 a year |
|---|---|---|
| $48 a month for $10,000 | $576 ÷ 10 | $57.60 |
| $62 a month for $15,000 | $744 ÷ 15 | $49.60 |
| $35 a month for $5,000 | $420 ÷ 5 | $84.00 |
What this is and is not. The premiums and face amounts are yours — we supply no rates and quote nobody. There is deliberately no benchmark here for a good cost per $1,000, because it depends entirely on age, sex, health, state and product type; the only honest comparison is between offers made to you. And a lower cost per $1,000 does not make a policy better. A graded benefit, a limited benefit period, or a product you could have improved on by answering a few health questions all matter more than a small difference in price.
An agent quotes you $48 a month. A second quotes $62. The first is cheaper, obviously — except the first was for $10,000 of coverage and the second was for $15,000. Divide both down to a common unit and the picture reverses: the $48 quote costs $57.60 a year for every $1,000 of coverage, while the $62 quote costs $49.60. The more expensive-looking quote is the better buy per dollar of protection.
This is the arithmetic that often does not get done for you, and it is not because anyone is being dishonest. Quotes get built around a monthly figure the customer says they can afford, so face amounts drift apart and the comparison quietly stops being a comparison. Reducing everything to one number puts it back.
Price per $1,000 only means something across quotes that describe the same kind of product for the same person. Before you rank them, check each quote for these:
Our plan comparison walkthrough goes deeper on this, and guaranteed versus simplified issue explains why two quotes for an identical face amount can sit so far apart.
Here is the case where you should ignore this calculator’s ranking. Suppose the cheapest quote per $1,000 is a graded benefit policy and the next one is level from day one. If you are in reasonable health and would be accepted for the level policy, the graded one is not a bargain — it is a policy that may not pay the full amount during the first years, which is precisely the window nobody can control. A few dollars a month is a poor trade for that. Work out what a limited benefit period would actually pay using the graded death benefit calculator before you let price decide.
The reverse case exists too. If health questions would decline you, a guaranteed issue policy at a higher price per $1,000 is not overpriced. It is the only door open, and its price reflects that.
First, total premiums over time. A level premium paid long enough can add up to more than the face amount, particularly if you buy young or live long. That does not make the purchase wrong — you are buying certainty about a date nobody knows — but you should see the figure with your own eyes. Run it through the premiums paid versus payout calculator.
Second, affordability with room to spare. The cheapest policy you cancel is worse than the second-cheapest you keep. If a quote only works while nothing else in your budget changes, size it down rather than talking yourself into it.
Get six things in writing: the face amount, the exact monthly premium including any fee, whether the benefit is level or graded, whether the product is guaranteed or simplified issue, whether the premium can ever change, and whether coverage continues for life or ends at a stated age. If an agent will not put those on paper, that is information too. The full question list and what to expect from the call are worth ten minutes before you dial.
See if you qualify for affordable coverage — it takes less than 60 seconds.
Check If You QualifyThere is no benchmark we can honestly give you, because the figure depends entirely on age, sex, health, state and product type. A price per $1,000 that is unremarkable for a 78-year-old buying guaranteed issue would be poor value for a healthy 58-year-old answering health questions. The comparison that means something is between offers made to you, for the same kind of product, on the same day. Any published good rate quoted without those details is decoration.
No, and this is the main limit of the tool. A graded or limited benefit policy can be cheaper per $1,000 and still return only premiums plus a modest percentage if death from natural causes happens in the first two to three years. If your health would qualify you for a level benefit policy, paying a little more per $1,000 for full coverage from day one is usually the better trade. Check the benefit structure before you rank anything on price.
Usually because they are different products or different underwriting outcomes rather than different prices for the same thing. Guaranteed issue asks no health questions and is normally priced higher than simplified issue for the same person, and age bands, sex, state, tobacco use and any policy fee all move the number as well. Ask each agent which product the quote is for, and whether it reflects the answers you actually gave or an illustration.
Sometimes, because a flat policy fee spread across more coverage works out to less per $1,000, and some products price in bands. That is arithmetic, not a reason to buy more than you need. Decide the amount you actually want covered first, then use this tool to see who sells that amount to you most cheaply.
Compare all quotes on the same payment mode, whichever one you choose. Paying annually is often slightly cheaper than twelve monthly drafts, so a quote presented annually can look better than a monthly one for no real reason. Ask each agent for the monthly figure including any policy fee and the annual figure, then put the same one into all three columns here.