Many factors in a life-insurance quote, such as your age and gender, may not be under your control. However, there are some steps that you can take before signing up for life insurance to make sure that you're getting the best deal possible.

Make Sure You Don't Have Health Risk Factors

Your insurers will look at your overall health habits when determining a rate. Do you smoke or overindulge on alcohol? You might have another great reason to quit: lower life-insurance rates. Since many companies also take weight or BMI into account, this is a great reason to get in shape and then recheck your life-insurance rates.

Closely Evaluate Your Level of Coverage

Another thing that you can do to save money on premiums is to choose a life-insurance policy with the bare amount that your family would need to get by. Take a close look at your finances and see what other assets you will be able to leave to your family.

Consider that your savings and investments will also mature in the time between now and when your life-insurance policy will need to be cashed out. By lowering your insurance payouts, you can significantly reduce your rates and put more money back into your other investments.

Get Quotes from Multiple Companies

Getting an insurance quote from multiple companies makes sense because the greater number of quotes you get, the better the chance that you will find the best deal. When you're conducting your search, make sure that you cast a wide net to find the best deals on life insurance.

Play with the Numbers

For each quote, it helps to do a little bit of rearranging of the numbers. You might get a much better deal by increasing or decreasing certain components of your quote, such as the term or the payout amount.

Remove Add-Ons When Possible

There may be many additional terms that you can add to your life-insurance policy to account for different possibilities. For example, they may offer you an accidental death benefit, where your payout is increased or possibly doubled if your death is accidental.

While these may seem attractive, they're not necessary if you have already carefully calculated the amount of benefits your family needs from the life-insurance policy. And these things often make the premiums much more expensive. It's often best to stick with the basics and consult a knowledgeable life-insurance broker to make sure you choose an adequate base plan.