June 2026

What Consumers Want (and Need): Education, Customization and Professional Advice

The Insurance Barometer Study, now in its 16^th year, tracks consumers’ perception about life insurance and related products. More than a decade and a half of data helps paint a picture of what products consumers think they have, what they are interested in buying and what might be stopping them from doing so.

Life insurance ownership (reported as what consumers say they have) has stayed steady for a number of years at about half of adults (52%). Additionally, there is a consistent number of those who don’t have it, but recognize they need it (29%), and those who have life insurance and say they need more (9%). This gives the industry 99 million adults who could use help getting coverage.

Life Insurance Ownership

Gen Z 44% 44%
Millennials 50% 50%
Gen X 58% 58%

And why is that? It may be a mix of factors, starting with lack of knowledge. Education is key to changing minds and habits, and 4 in 10 adults say they are only somewhat or not at all knowledgeable about life insurance.

Then we can add in the steady-state reasons people have given over the years for not having coverage: perceived cost (45%), other financial priorities (35%), confusion over what kind or how to buy (23%) and procrastination (23%). These numbers are much more elevated with the younger generations. (See chart.) While we may not be able to directly address “other financial priorities,” the other three reasons are straightforward to educate people and motivate them to purchase coverage.

4%

of consumers 30 and younger correctly priced a basic life insurance policy.

Reasons Gen Z and Millennials don’t own life insurance:

	Gen Z	Millennials
Not sure how much I need or what type to buy	33%	28%
Haven’t gotten around to it	33%	31%

LTCI and DI Misconceptions

Misunderstanding about products also extends into disability insurance (DI) and long-term care insurance (LTCI) as well.

This year’s survey asked a series of true/false questions on disability insurance, which reveal lack of knowledge in large segments of the market:

52% don’t think they can get DI outside of their employer
40% believe they need full medical underwriting to get short-term DI
27% think long-term DI pays their full salary until they return to work

And when it came to long-term care coverage, there are also large knowledge gaps, including:

58% erroneously believe LTCI requires policyholders to “use it or lose it”
57% think LTCI is more expensive than the average cost of care
71% think LTCI is too expensive

Help Is on the Way

People do want help from an insurance agent or financial professional, despite the proliferation of things like AI tools and simplified issue to reduce friction in getting coverage. In fact, 45% say they already work with a professional, and 26% say they are currently looking for one to work with.

The survey asked respondents who have or are seeking a financial professional which contact method they prefer when they have an insurance, investment, or savings question. The top response (31%) across the generations was “in person,” and interestingly 29% for Millennials and Gen Z. Looking further, if you add telephone and video chat in to the “in person” response, 53% prefer speaking to a financial professional to other options.

Yet, we can’t discount what is also happening on social media, as 62% of adults say they use social media when seeking information on insurance and financial products and services, and 46% of those people say that keeping in touch with a financial professional on social media is important.

31%

of consumers prefer in-person conversations.

What Will Motivate Them to Buy?

What product enhancements would entice consumers to get coverage? When asked about features or add-ons to life insurance that would make it more appealing (keeping in mind some of these currently exist, while others don’t/may never), people said things they can leverage in the here-and-now, like income during retirement and long-term care and critical illness coverage. They also responded favorably to the ability to customize a policy/plan.

The survey also showed that many consumers would respond to things like a term-to-permanent conversion policy where they as the policyholder can initiate the changes, or a long-term care rider that can be added or added to in the future.

Gen Z

Millennials

A policy that allows benefits to be used for critical illness if necessary

70% 70%
78% 78%

A policy that allows benefits to be used for long-term care services if necessary

72% 72%
76% 76%

Having health screenings to lower the cost of coverage

68% 68%
71% 71%

Taking health courses to lower the cost of coverage

62% 62%
69% 69%

Sharing fitness/wellness data with your insurer to lower the cost of coverage

58% 58%
64% 64%

Financial Woes, but We Have Solutions

The Barometer Study also asks questions about people’s general financial well-being. Over the years, participants have expressed the same group of top financial concerns: having enough money for a comfortable retirement, being able to save for an emergency fund, supporting themselves through a disability and paying for long-term care services.

The good news is that our industry is uniquely poised with products and services to help them with three of those four concerns.

Additionally, around half of people said they would feel the financial impact of the “loss” of the primary wage earner due to disability (51%) or death (46%) within six months.

The industry has work to do, but it has the products and the expertise to help consumers solve these concerns.

Gen X

Millennials

Gen Z

Comfortable retirement

48% 48%
45% 45%
43% 43%

Emergency funds

38% 38%
40% 40%
41% 41%

Supporting self through disability

40% 40%
39% 39%
37% 37%

Long-term care services

39% 39%
35% 35%
30% 30%

Please source all statistics cited: 2026 Insurance Barometer Study, Life Happens and LIMRA

The full 2026 Insurance Barometer Study is available to Life Happens partner companies and can be accessed here. If you have issues accessing it, please contact partnerships@lifehappens.org. For media inquiries, contact mleyes@lifehappens.org.

Discover more

For more information on this study and its methodology, view our press release.