Here's What Happens When You Apply for Life Insurance as a Smoker

Smoking is a fairly expensive habit to uphold. The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $8, according to World Population Review. If you smoke a pack a day, that means that in the course of a year, you're spending $2,920 on cigarettes -- and that assumes you only smoke one pack daily and that your cigarettes don't cost more.

But smoking may not just wreak havoc on your budget by virtue of the money it costs to purchase cigarettes. It might also result in you paying a lot more for life insurance.

A habit that could cost you

When life insurance companies write their policies, they take on risk -- namely, that the people they're insuring will pass away and they'll need to pay a benefit to those named on their policies. And the more risk an insurer thinks it's taking on, the more it's likely to charge someone seeking out insurance. That's where smoking comes into play.

If you're a smoker, you may be more likely to pass away at a younger age than someone who doesn't smoke. This doesn't mean that you're guaranteed to die earlier. But from a life insurance company's perspective, they're more likely to have to pay out on your policy than for a non-smoker. Because of this, you should expect to be charged more.

In fact, Forbes says that people who smoke can pay nearly four times more for a life insurance policy than those who do not smoke. Plus, you could be denied a policy altogether if you smoke -- especially if you have other conditions that increase the likelihood of your untimely demise.

Of course, whether or not you smoke isn't the only factor that life insurance companies will consider when determining your premium rates. Your costs will also hinge on factors that include:

• Your age
• Other pre-existing conditions
• Your line of work (hazardous jobs can raise your premium rates)
• The amount of coverage you're looking for (a $1 million policy will cost more than a $500,000 policy, all other things being equal)

But as an example, Forbes says that a 30-year-old non-smoking man will pay an average of $303 a year for a $500,000, 20-year term life insurance policy. That same policy would cost a 30-year-old smoking male $828 a year.

It pays to quit before you apply

Quitting smoking is not an easy thing. You most likely won't just snap your fingers and magically stop getting those urges.

However, if you are able to quit smoking before applying for life insurance, you may find that you end up saving a lot of money on your premium costs through the years. Some health insurance companies will cover the cost of a smoking cessation program, and there may be free resources available to you through your state.

Quitting smoking could do a lot more than just make life insurance less expensive for you. It could also extend your lifespan, save you money on healthcare, and free up room in your budget for other things that bring you joy. So all told, quitting has a lot of potential upside.