LIFE INSURANCE MATHEMATICS 11

premiums would rapidly increase, and the need for the protection would rapidly decrease. In consequence, persons at these ages who did not think that the life insurance at the price was a good speculation for their estates, in other words, the hale and vigorous, would drop out, leaving only lives which are not up to the aver-age and are likely soon to fail.

The mortality table was based upon the aver-age at these ages, as well as all others, which means upon a certain proportion of the lives being still healthy, as is always the case in a well-conducted company operating on the level premium plan. But when this condition no longer obtains, this mortality table does not represent the deaths to be expected, and there-fore rates based upon it would not be sufficient.

No company has ever yet been able to apply this method of increasing premiums to cover the increasing hazards at the higher ages, and therefore no mortality experience suitable for such purpose is available. It would probably fix the ultimate limit of life at a very low age, comparatively, such as 75, instead of 96 or 100, because only lives which are practically certain to fail soon would continue the insurance beyond age 70 or thereabouts, when confronted with constantly and very rapidly increasing premiums.

Insurance on the increasing insurance plan