Most agents shop for leads by one number: the price per lead. It is the wrong number. A $35 fresh lead and a $1.50 aged lead can produce the exact same policy — so the only figure that decides whether a lead source is profitable is your cost per acquisition: what you actually pay, in leads, to place one policy.
This guide shows the simple formula behind lead ROI, then walks you through our free Lead Calculator so you can see how far a real budget goes across Final Expense, IUL, Mortgage Protection, and Veteran Protection leads before you spend a dollar.
1Why cost-per-lead is the wrong metric
Cost per lead tells you what a lead costs to buy. It says nothing about what it costs to convert. Two things drive that: how many leads you can actually reach (contact rate), and how many of those conversations become policies (close rate). A cheap lead that you buy in volume gives you far more attempts at bat — and attempts are what produce sales.
That is why a lead that costs 1/20th the price does not need to close at the same rate to win. It only needs to close well enough that the extra volume more than covers the gap. Cost per acquisition is the number that captures all of this in one figure.
2. The lead ROI formula
You only need three short formulas. Every one uses rates you can pull from your own CRM.
The three numbers that matter
Leads per policy = 1 ÷ (contact rate × close rate)
Cost per acquisition = cost per lead × leads per policy
ROI = (commission per policy − cost per acquisition) ÷ cost per acquisition
If you reach 30% of your leads and close 5% of those conversations, you convert 1.5% of leads into policies — about 67 leads per placed policy. At a $1.50 aged Final Expense lead, that is a $100 cost per acquisition. Whether that is a good number depends entirely on your commission, which is why the last formula matters more than the sticker price.
3. Run your budget through the Lead Calculator
Before you model close rates, start with the easy half of the equation: how many leads your money buys. Our Lead Calculator does this instantly. Enter a monthly budget, choose a lead type, and it shows how many aged leads you get versus how many fresh leads the same budget would buy — with your volume discount already applied.
The per-lead prices it uses are the same ones on the order page:
- Final Expense — from $1.50 per lead
- Veteran Protection — from $2.50 per lead
- Indexed Universal Life (IUL) — from $3.00 per lead
- Mortgage Protection — from $3.50 per lead
Fresh, real-time leads in these verticals commonly run $30–$40 apiece, so the calculator uses a $35 average for the comparison. The gap is the whole point: for the same spend, aged leads hand you an order of magnitude more conversations.
4. A worked example: $500 a month
Say you have $500 a month for Final Expense leads. Here is how the two paths compare — using deliberately conservative, illustrative conversion rates. Plug your own CRM numbers into the formulas above; your results will differ.
| For a $500 / month budget | Aged (FEX) | Fresh |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per lead | $1.50 | ~$35 |
| Leads for $500 (incl. volume discount) | ~366 | 14 |
| Conversations at a 30% contact rate | ~110 | ~4 |
| Placed policies (illustrative close rates) | ~4–5 | ~1 |
| Cost per acquisition | ~$110 | ~$500 |
Even if aged leads close at only half the rate of fresh leads, the ~26× jump in volume means far more total policies for the same money — and a much lower cost per acquisition. That is the entire case for aged leads in one table.
A fresh lead you never buy because it was too expensive closes at 0%. Volume you can afford is what puts policies on the books.
5. How volume discounts change the math
Cost per lead drops as you order more, which lowers your cost per acquisition further. Discounts kick in at 150, 200, 300, and 600 leads, and the calculator folds them in automatically — that is why a $500 Final Expense order returns more than a flat $500 ÷ $1.50 would suggest. If you are already committed to a monthly budget, ordering it as one larger batch beats splitting it into small ones.
6. Aged vs. fresh: the honest tradeoff
None of this means fresh leads are bad. Fresh leads reach the prospect while intent is highest and typically close at a higher rate per conversation. The right question is not "which is better," but "which produces a lower cost per acquisition for my process." Agents with disciplined, high-volume follow-up usually win with aged; agents who can only work a handful of leads at a time may prefer fresh. For a deeper breakdown, see aged vs. fresh life insurance leads.
Turn the numbers into policies
A great cost-per-acquisition number on paper only becomes real if the leads get worked. Volume without a follow-up system just produces a bigger pile of un-called records. Once the calculator shows the math works, our guide on how to work aged life insurance leads covers the cadence, scripts, and disposition tracking that convert those extra at-bats into placed policies.
See how far your budget goes
Model your monthly spend in the Lead Calculator, then order OTP-verified aged or semi-fresh leads filtered to your licensed states.
Open the Calculator View Lead OptionsFrequently asked questions
What is a good cost per acquisition for life insurance leads?
A "good" cost per acquisition is any number comfortably below your first-year commission per placed policy. If a Final Expense sale earns you several hundred dollars and your cost per acquisition is around $100, the source is profitable. Because it depends on your commission and close rate, compare cost per acquisition — not price per lead — across sources.
How many aged leads do I need to write one policy?
It depends on your contact and close rates. As a rough planning figure, at a 30% contact rate and a 5% close rate you convert about 1.5% of leads into policies — roughly 67 leads per placed policy. Track your own CRM rates and divide 1 by (contact rate × close rate) to get your personal number.
Are aged life insurance leads cheaper than fresh leads?
Yes. Aged leads start at $1.50 each versus roughly $30–$40 for a fresh, real-time lead — often around 1/20th the price. For the same monthly budget that means an order of magnitude more leads and conversations, which is what drives a lower cost per acquisition.
How do I calculate ROI on life insurance leads?
First find your cost per acquisition: cost per lead ÷ (contact rate × close rate). Then ROI = (commission per placed policy − cost per acquisition) ÷ cost per acquisition. Use our free Lead Calculator to get the leads-per-budget half of the equation, then apply your own conversion rates.
Do aged leads still convert?
Yes — the prospect once asked for life insurance information, and the need often still exists. Aged leads generally close at a lower rate per conversation than fresh leads, but because you can buy so many more for the same budget, they routinely produce a lower cost per acquisition when worked with a consistent follow-up system.
Disclaimer: The conversion rates and dollar figures above are illustrative examples for modeling only — not projections, guarantees, or income claims. Actual contact rates, close rates, commissions, and results vary by agent, product, state, and effort. Agents are responsible for following applicable laws, consent requirements, carrier rules, and licensing requirements.