Nathan Spencer

Buying life insurance in Australia

Aug 2026

  1. You can pay for it via super. This means it comes from money you wouldn’t have access to until you retire, so no cost to you in the short term.
  2. Default super-provided life insurance is not fully underwritten. Assessment happens at claim time.
  3. All retail life insurance providers take significant commissions; of ~15% of the policy cost. Except NobleOak. Unfortunately, NobleOak does not let you pay via a standard super fund.
  4. There are some companies which give you a rebate for most of the standard commission, like keepinsuranceco.com.au, which seems like a good option, if you can stomach the greater data security risk.
  5. Most life insurers provide age-stepped vs level premium options. You want the age-stepped option, it’s cheaper upfront, and your opportunity cost is super returns.
  6. You should get life insurance as soon as possible, not just when you have dependents - if you develop a pre-existing medical condition between now and getting dependents you will find it very difficult to insure yourself.
  7. If you work in tech you probably need multiple millions of cover. H/T patio11
  8. You may be tempted to get Income or TPD insurance as well. I don’t understand it, the definition of disability is less clear cut, and it’s not clear that there is value in buying it.