The percentage of people living past the age of 90 is much greater than it was in the neolithic era so the premiums would be priced appropriately. To 'win' all

The percentage of people living past the age of 90 is much greater than it was in the neolithic era so the premiums would be priced appropriately. To 'win' all the insurer needs to do is ensure that payouts never exceed 49% of premiums received. Calculating the premiums payable on a million dollar policy with a cut-off of living beyond the age of 90 is a dark art relegated to the world of Excel tables, COBOL, Fortran and AS400 but gut instinct tells me that the premiums would be at a level that most people with access to a calculator would go ‘ah hell no, I’ll stick my premiums in to a fixed deposit interest bearing account instead’. If you have ever seen life assurance policies that state somewhere in the fine print words to the effect of 'this is a whole of life policy and the premiums paid over the lifetime of this policy may exceed any expected payout' then congrats – You’ve just spotted the ‘gotcha’ of insurance.