You can have more than one life insurance policy, but your total allowed coverage amount is limited by your income and a-sets.
Amanda Shih is a licensed life, disability, and health insurance expert and a former editor at Policygenius, where she covered life insurance and disability insurance. Her expertise has appeared in Slate, Lifehacker, Little Spoon, and J.D. Power.
Meredith Hoffman is a senior editor at Policygenius, where she covers life insurance. Previously, she was a news and advice reporter for Bankrate, CreditCards.com, and To Her Credit, where she covered personal finance and gender-based financial discrimination.
It’s possible and legal to have multiple life insurance policies depending on the options available to you and your specific coverage needs. For example, many people have life insurance through their employer — usually known as group life insurance — in addition to a personal policy they purchased on their own.
The only time you can’t buy more than one life insurance policy is when you’re trying to get more coverage than you qualify for — most people can only qualify for up to 15 times their annual income in total life insurance coverage.
Otherwise, you can have multiple life insurance policies and they can be a combination of term or permanent depending on your situation. Term life insurance is the most popular coverage option because it’s affordable, straightforward, and only lasts for as long as you need it. Permanent life insurance, on the other hand, doesn’t expire, is usually more expensive, and is best suited for high-net-worth individuals or people with long-term financial obligations.