Your home country's health insurer won't cover you in Lisbon. Your travel insurer stops covering you after 90 days. Here's the stack that actually covers a nomad life.

Why the Policies You Already Have Don't Fit

Regular health insurance is nation-locked. Regular travel insurance has trip-length limits, usually 90 days. Regular life insurance wants domestic residency. Regular professional liability insurance wants a fixed place of practice. None of it was built for someone who doesn't have a home address to insure from.

The Trap of Skipping It

Some nomads skip insurance entirely on the logic that they're young and healthy. The numbers don't cooperate with that logic: a medical air ambulance evacuation can run past $200,000, and a budget nomad-tier plan like SafetyWing caps out well below what a real hospitalization costs. One bad diagnosis or one broken leg in the wrong country is the gap between those two figures, paid out of savings, in a currency you didn't budget for.

Insurance is the least glamorous line item in nomad planning and the one people underweight most. Don't be the exception that proves it.

The Stack, Compared

• International Private Medical Insurance (IPMI)
  What it's for: Real health coverage with no geographic restriction — hospitalisation, outpatient add-ons, prescriptions, often chronic condition management
  Typical cost: USD $3,000–5,000/year at 35, worldwide excluding US; $8,000–15,000+ including US
  Who it suits: Anyone planning to nomad for years, not months

• Medical evacuation
  What it's for: Getting you to adequate care from a remote location
  Typical cost: Often bundled with IPMI
  Who it suits: Nomads in rural or lower-infrastructure locations

• Nomad-tier insurance (SafetyWing, World Nomads)
  What it's for: Budget catastrophic coverage
  Typical cost: Roughly $45/month for SafetyWing's base plan
  Who it suits: Young, healthy nomads on tight budgets — not a substitute for real IPMI

• Life insurance
  What it's for: Income replacement for dependents
  Typical cost: Varies by provider and jurisdiction
  Who it suits: Anyone with dependents — skip only if you genuinely have none

• Professional liability (E&O)
  What it's for: Claims of negligence, missed deadlines, IP disputes
  Typical cost: USD $500–2,000/year
  Who it suits: Coaches, consultants, creators and agencies doing client work

Leading IPMI providers include Cigna Global, Allianz Care, Bupa Global, IMG Global Medical, Aetna International and GeoBlue. For evacuation specifically, Global Rescue and Medjet Assist are the usual names.

Age Changes the Math

IPMI premiums climb steeply with age. What runs roughly $5,000/year at 35 can reach $15,000/year at 55 and $30,000/year at 65+. If you're planning to stay on the nomad path long-term, budget for that curve now rather than discovering it at 55. Some plans lock in your age-band pricing at the age you first subscribe; others reprice every renewal. Know which kind you have before you need to know.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Most IPMI plans exclude pre-existing conditions for the first year or two, though some will cover them after underwriting. If you have an existing condition, shop carefully and disclose it fully — misrepresentation is the one thing that voids coverage outright, and it's rarely worth the risk.

Life and Professional Liability

For life insurance, nomads generally choose between keeping a domestic term policy from their home country (usually still possible), going through an international specialist broker, or picking up a jurisdiction-based policy once they've established residency somewhere. Whichever route, dependents change this from optional to necessary.

Professional liability matters for anyone doing paid client work — it's what stands between a missed deadline or a bad piece of advice and a lawsuit you're financing out of pocket. Hiscox and Berkshire Hathaway both write policies aimed at online-service providers.

Personal property is the weak link in the stack: traditional renters or homeowners insurance doesn't travel with you, and dedicated nomad options are limited. Some IPMI plans include modest baggage or electronics coverage. Beyond that, self-insure by keeping enough in reserve to replace a laptop without blinking.

Get This Checked

If you're not sure your current plan actually covers you where you are right now, tell us your provider and destination and we'll tell you the gap before a hospital bill does it for you.

This article is general information, not a recommendation for your specific circumstances — confirm policy terms directly with the provider or a licensed broker before you rely on them.