First, if you smoke you may pay 2-3 times more for your life insurance than non-smokers. So, quit smoking and wait about 12 months to purchase life insurance.
Or, you could buy life insurance now, quit smoking, and after being smoke-free for 12 months, contact your life insurance carrier and ask for a re-rate based on non-smoker rates since you would be smoke-free for a year. Most life insurance companies will test you for nicotine and adjust your rate if you have really quit smoking.
If you do smoke you'll want to consider several other tips for saving money on your term life policy:
1. Don't buy more life insurance than you need.
2. Buy the right term of coverage - you can choose from 10, 15, 20 or 30 years of term life insurance protection.
3. Compare rates for your term life policy from several highly-rated insurance carriers as rates vary by company.
4. Pay premiums annually instead of monthly if you can.
5. Buy your life insurance policy more than 6 months before your next birthday, as rates are based on your closest birthday.
Here's how you can learn more about finding an affordable smoker term life insurance policy.