illustration

Copyright© Schmied Enterprises LLC, 2025.

Insurance companies, it turns out, are masters of risk assessment. They walk a tightrope between attracting customers and maintaining profitability. "If they overestimate risks, they lose customers. If they underestimate, they can lose money," explains our source, highlighting the delicate balance these companies must strike.

To illustrate this complex process, let's consider a hypothetical life insurance policy priced at $50 per month. "Insurance companies do not make money on a single policy. It's too risky," our expert notes. Instead, they spread the risk across thousands of customers, creating a more stable financial model.

Here's where the math gets interesting. Over a ten-year period, most policyholders will pay 120 monthly premiums of $50 each. With a monthly interest rate of 4%/12=0.33%, this accumulates to a substantial $7,362.50 per customer. For a group of 1,000 customers, that's a whopping $7,362,500 in revenue.

But what happens when a policyholder passes away? The insurance company is on the hook for a $300,000 payout, plus they lose future premium payments. Our source calculates that each death costs the company about $303,681.25. To break even, they need at least 41.25 insured individuals for every death claim.

Crunching the numbers further, our analysis suggests that out of 1,000 policyholders, approximately 24.24 will pass away during the ten-year period. This leads to a surprising conclusion: "My survival ratio is about 97.58%," our source reveals, adding, "This is not so bad actually."

It's important to note that these calculations don't account for extraordinary events like pandemics. Additionally, insurance companies must factor in the lost premiums and interest from deceased policyholders, which requires careful adjustments to their financial models.

For those considering life insurance, our expert advises looking into both general demographic-based policies and individually tailored options. "It is usually a good idea to check whether any offers are public depending on general attributes, or assigned to a specific individual," they conclude, reminding us that in the world of insurance, knowledge truly is power.