QUESTION: "How much life insurance covers the lives of American
Insureds who are age 65, or older?"

COMMENT:  The 12/31/2002 report of the AMERICAN COUNCIL OF LIFE
INSURERS states that the GRAND TOTAL of all life insurance was $16.346
trillion. See link at:
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104590.html

morris57 --

You have asked a very specific question, and I am pleased to be able
to give you a very specific and prompt answer.

According to an article in the May 15, 2002 Wall Street Journal,
"[i]ndividuals age 65 and over have a total of $492 billion of life
insurance in force."


What Matters For Life: Selling Your Life Insurance: Good Policy?, by
Lynn Asinov, Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2002.
http://www.whatmattersforlife.com/WSJ.pdf


The primary source for the Wall Street Journal's information is a
study by Conning & Co.


Conning & Co. is a preeminent asset manager for fixed income
securities for large institutional investors, and is also a large
provider of proprietary insurance-related research.  Here is a link to
its website:

Conning & Co.
http://www.conning.com/


Further testimony to the reliability and currency of the information
is that the figure is also cited at the website of Elder Life
Planning, a prominent source of support for caregivers to the elderly.
 Here are links to the quote on that cite and to the "About Us" page
of the organization:

Elder Life Planning: About Us
http://www.elderlifeplanning.com/aboutus.html



"Currently, there is approximately $492 billion of life insurance in
force for people over 65 years of age. Nearly one quarter, or $108
billion, is available for life settlements."

Elder Life Planning: "New Value NOW in Old Policies"
http://www.elderlifeplanning.com/lifesettlement.htm
  


Search Strategy:


I used a a variety of Google searches in seeking the information. The
following search terms were successful in finding it for you and
giving me confidence that there is no contrary online information.

"life insurance" policies "in force" 65 total million
://www.google.com/search?q=%22life+insurance%22+policies+%22in+force%22+65+total+million&hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLB,GGLB:1969-53,GGLB:en&start=10&sa=N



Based on the specificity and clarity of your question, I am confident
that this is exactly the information you are seeking.  If anything is
unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.


markj-ga

Thank you for your immediate reponse. Your information is the same as
mine, from the December 1999 report by Conning & Company, stating that
some $492 billion of life insurance is held by individuals 65 and
older. I submitted this question to GOOGLE ANSWERS in the hopes that
somebody could find newer numbers, perhaps from Conning & Company's
2003 Update. Apparently, no other company has done any substantive
research beyond Conning. What these numbers mean is that people 65 and
older own less than 4% of all life insurance in America, yet that
group comprises some 74% of all deaths.  Wonder why Snoopy smiles?

morris57 --

Obviously, if I had known you were aware of the Conner study, I
wouldn't have relied on it for an answer.  However, I think you can
take some comfort from the fact that this is likely to be the most
current published information available on this specific statistic.

markj-ga