How Long Should I Keep Term Life Insurance? 
My advice is to keep your Term policy until the time when premiums go up -LRB- usually , at the end of the term -RRB- . The exception would be if your health improved , you lost a lot of weight , quit smoking , or something else that would allow you to get a better rate on a new policy . Once the rate jumps up and goes into annually renewable term , the price gets so high that it is unsustainable for long . Some situations that might prompt you to keep it for a while is if you are terminally ill or have a very short need for which buying a new policy would be more of a hassle than it is worth . It is far better to convert the policy before the price jumps up and the conversion privilege ends . You will get a lot more for your money to convert it to permanent than pay the annually renewable rates . As far as dropping your Term policy when the need ends , one need usually replaces another , and when that good rate is gone , it is gone . You will be surprised at how much more it will cost you to get that coverage back just due to being older . If you have been diagnosed with a serious health problem in the meantime -LRB- and is n't that why a lot of people seek life insurance , because they have just been faced with their own mortality -RRB- , you may not be able to get a new Term policy at all . So I would give it a lot of thought before dropping any Term policy unless it is to get a better policy at a lower rate , or to switch it to something permanent . 