rating on life insurance companies
Posted in Life Insurance Questions over 3 years ago, 21 replies
1- metlife
2- massMutual
3-ING
thanks.
Mark
submitted by Mark in New York, NY
1- metlife
2- massMutual
3-ING
thanks.
Mark
if your interested in sitting with a company that only beleaves in level term life insurance you need to check out Primerica. They not only have great rates but are willing to educate you on the differences.
submitted by willy in miami, florida
@ October 03, 2008 - 11:35 PM
Reply
can anyone tell me is Mass Mutual financial group is a well rated insurance company?
it is rated AA+ or A++ depending on the rating agency, an excellent rating in any case
submitted by WJ in CO
@ July 21, 2011 - 02:04 AM
The strongest rated life insurer is Northwestern Mutual... Triple A by ALL the major rating services. As far as term or whole, it depends on your situation, usually there is a need for both.
I could not disagree more. Northwestern recently terminated my whole life policy after over 40 years of paying premiums. When I tried to reinstate it they told me it would require higher premiums, no Accidental Death Benefit provision, and i would have to pay premiums to age 90 (25 more years).
submitted by G. Keane in Florida
@ June 18, 2010 - 08:55 PM
If you want to learn more about the financial ratings of life insurance companies you may want to visit AM Best which is an independent rating firm that reviews the financial stability of insuranc ecompanies and issue financial strength ratings.
Also, here's a good article that explains life insurance company ratings.
When you request life insurance quotes online you usually get the AM Best rating with your quotes. You can ask your life insurance agent for the current rating as well.
Finally, there is a good article in Smart Money magazine November edition that explains the guaranty fund for life insurance companies and that the limit of coverage is usually around $300,000 per policy in many states.
Also, here's a good article that explains life insurance company ratings.
When you request life insurance quotes online you usually get the AM Best rating with your quotes. You can ask your life insurance agent for the current rating as well.
Finally, there is a good article in Smart Money magazine November edition that explains the guaranty fund for life insurance companies and that the limit of coverage is usually around $300,000 per policy in many states.
By far of the three mentioned Mass Mutual is the strongest. There is a list that comes out every quarter by WEISS an indipendant agency which uses a combination of LIPER S&P and Moodeys to rate all of the life insurance companies. Of the three you provided on the list MASS Mutual is the only one that appears on the stongest list http://www.weissratings.com/HL_Life.asp
regardless of what other people have blogged about on this post neither primerica or northwestern mutual appear in the strongest catagory of the ratings as of march 2009.
regardless of what other people have blogged about on this post neither primerica or northwestern mutual appear in the strongest catagory of the ratings as of march 2009.
Mark: With regards to your question I cant urge you more strongly stay away from PRIMERICA!!! It is safe to compare it to MLM. Of the 3 compainies suggested I would look seriously at Mass Mutual - only if you dont qualify for the Knights of Columbus. If you do they are an excellent choice S&P AAA AM Best A++.
Regards to all
Regards to all
Primerica is owned by citigroup, we all know how great they are doing. primerica is buy term and invest the difference philosophy, all i have to say about that is wow i wonder how that's working out...haha.... in regards to the 3 you are looking at. massmutual is the strongest of those 3.
now regards to Jason from LA: Northwestern Mutual is the only company with the highest ratings from all 4 major ratings companies.
if you are looking for quality and strength NM is the way to go. there isn't a permanent product out there that can out preform NM's whole life, i know this for a fact because i can run any company comparison out there. now if its term you are looking for NM might not have the lowest premium(lowest is not always a good thing) but they are the only company that with a disability waiver of premium on the policy they will not only pay your premium in the even of a long term disability, but they will also convert it to whole life and then pay the premium on that.(not only have coverage but also a cash value that you don't even have to pay into it, now what 401k or retirement plan gives you that option.)
Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) Ratings Overview
Rating Agency
A.M. Best A++ (Superior)
Fitch Ratings AAA (Exceptionally Strong)
Moody’s Aaa (Exceptional)
Standard & Poor’s AAA (Extremely Strong)
MassMutual
A.M. Best Company: A++ (Superior; top category of 15)
Fitch Ratings: AAA (Exceptionally Strong; top category of 21)
Moody's Investors Service: Aa1 (Excellent; second category of 21)
Standard & Poor's: AAA (Extremely Strong; top category of 21)
now regards to Jason from LA: Northwestern Mutual is the only company with the highest ratings from all 4 major ratings companies.
if you are looking for quality and strength NM is the way to go. there isn't a permanent product out there that can out preform NM's whole life, i know this for a fact because i can run any company comparison out there. now if its term you are looking for NM might not have the lowest premium(lowest is not always a good thing) but they are the only company that with a disability waiver of premium on the policy they will not only pay your premium in the even of a long term disability, but they will also convert it to whole life and then pay the premium on that.(not only have coverage but also a cash value that you don't even have to pay into it, now what 401k or retirement plan gives you that option.)
Insurance Financial Strength (IFS) Ratings Overview
Rating Agency
A.M. Best A++ (Superior)
Fitch Ratings AAA (Exceptionally Strong)
Moody’s Aaa (Exceptional)
Standard & Poor’s AAA (Extremely Strong)
MassMutual
A.M. Best Company: A++ (Superior; top category of 15)
Fitch Ratings: AAA (Exceptionally Strong; top category of 21)
Moody's Investors Service: Aa1 (Excellent; second category of 21)
Standard & Poor's: AAA (Extremely Strong; top category of 21)
Northwestern Mutual is a great company and one of one a couple who have received the highest ratings, however, New York Life is on the same level if not higher than NM, and they too have a disability waiver of premium, as opposed to what Austin said about only NWM having that option. Their whole life is phenomenal as well.
Recently, they have been given a negative forcast financially for the future. They are a good institution , but suffer when put under close scrutiny with NothwesternMutual. Northwestern will pay 4.9 Billion in dividends to policy holders this year, next is NY Life 1.2 billion. Good but not great in comparison! Holla!
submitted by Gene in Southern US
@ December 30, 2010 - 11:59 PM
I agree with Brent, New York Life and Northwest Mutual are triple a rated by all of the independant rating agencies. You will not find a better line of insurance products nor will you find better financial services professionals to work with.
My recent experience with Northwestern Mutual would indicate that you would be far better off to avoid them. They terminated my policy after 40 years and refused to reinstate it without higher premiums and no ADB (Accidental Death Benefit) and said the premiums would be required to be paid until age 90.
submitted by G. Keane in Florida
@ June 18, 2010 - 09:01 PM
I'm guessing you had a Universal Life Policy and that it was overperforming in the early years but now with low interest rates it is coming back to haunt you...I can't believe how many people are in these kinds of contracts. They DO have their place but not as a cash value accumulator like straight mutual company whole life through the same company or another like NYL
submitted by Brent in Fargo, ND
@ September 27, 2010 - 03:16 PM
In my experience New York Life is the best company out there. Not only is it triple A rated from all four rating agencies, there are only three companies that have those same ratings, and New York Life is the largest and most financially secure of all of them. My agent told me about something called Non Direct Recognition with my whole life policy. It has to do with when you take money out for supplemental retirement planning, college funding, etc. New York Life will still pay the dividend based on the full cash value that you had in there, as if you did not taken a loan out of your policy. I tried getting a Northwestern mutual agent to show me what it would look like if I wanted to take money out and they wouldn't! if you are comparing life insurance companies, ask them that same question when looking at illustrations. My NYL agent gladly showed me when noone else would.
you are right but you are paying for it because you are getting much less dividends all those years because the company has to pay those who are borrowing so they are paying it from your dividends and thats why you are paying to pop the policy so many years while by direct recognition you are making much more money and pay it off much quicker ,i for myself have bought both companies at the same time its not even a comparison that the direct recognition is better
submitted by b tyberg in ny
@ March 19, 2010 - 01:02 AM
guardian is the best company for true financial planning they have the most flexible products from all other companies
submitted by s feinberg in ny
@ March 19, 2010 - 01:05 AM
Well higher dividends are a nice touch....You can have your 6% to my 5.5% from my indirect recognition company...Either way you look at it you're money ahead of your basis. So if you have $300,000 and I have $250,000 and we each take $100,000 loan you're still happy getting your 6% on $200,000 while I'm still getting my 5.5% on a quarter million. So that would be a dividend of $12,000 for you the next year and $13,750 for me...hmmm so I made roughly $2,000 more on my dividends and we took out the same loan. Oh the torture of having to suffer with a non direct company!! kidding....
Oh say this was a paid up policy, that compounding dividend after ten years would leave my non-direct policy with roughly 427k and the direct recognition with the higher interest rate at 358k....so now my policy is almost $70,000 ahead...dang it's too bad I lost out on that half percent dividend all these years in exchange for non-direct recognition
Oh say this was a paid up policy, that compounding dividend after ten years would leave my non-direct policy with roughly 427k and the direct recognition with the higher interest rate at 358k....so now my policy is almost $70,000 ahead...dang it's too bad I lost out on that half percent dividend all these years in exchange for non-direct recognition
submitted by Brent in Fargo, ND
@ September 27, 2010 - 03:11 PM
No one ever brought up MassMutual for nondirect recognition. Specifically the 10 pay contract, no other company has a whole life contract that you can pay up in 10 years without a MEC. to make it even more efficient you can put a rider on it call additional life insurance rider (ALIR). that is how you make a true bank on yourself policy. Due to Mass's 10 pay and the non direct recognition it should be a clear choice. It is life insurance on steroids.
Sorry Kyle in New York, but you are misguided.
New York Life's Custom Whole Life is GUARANTEED PAID UP with a choice of years to pay beginning at 5 years. Getting ready to write a 5 year CWL (5 X 100k)as we speak. It rocks for retirement funds and DB growth as well.You can add DOT (dividend option term rider) to increase the bucket size so that you can add more OPP (option to purchase paid up additions, (ie. overfunding) for better performance), indirect recognition, and no ones product will match up better for supplemental retirement income or bank-on-whole-life, infinite banking, bank-on-yourself, or whatever you choose to call it.
New York Life's Custom Whole Life is GUARANTEED PAID UP with a choice of years to pay beginning at 5 years. Getting ready to write a 5 year CWL (5 X 100k)as we speak. It rocks for retirement funds and DB growth as well.You can add DOT (dividend option term rider) to increase the bucket size so that you can add more OPP (option to purchase paid up additions, (ie. overfunding) for better performance), indirect recognition, and no ones product will match up better for supplemental retirement income or bank-on-whole-life, infinite banking, bank-on-yourself, or whatever you choose to call it.
submitted by G in Omaha, NE
@ October 18, 2011 - 07:23 PM
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