Best Whole Life Insurance Companies — If you’re looking for low risk life insurance with built-in guarantees, whole life insurance can be an attractive choice. The guarantees you can expect with a whole life policy are that annual premiums that won’t change, there’s reliable cash value growth and the death benefit that won’t change.
To help you find the best whole life insurance companies, we’ve evaluated life insurers based on key metrics over time for their whole life insurance policies.
The Best Whole Life Insurance Companies
Here are our top picks for the best whole life insurance policies:
- Northwestern Mutual
- Ohio National
- State Farm
- Penn Mutual
- Guardian
- MassMutual
- New York Life
Northwestern Mutual : Best Whole Life Insurance Companies
Northwestern Mutual provides a superior combination of high ratings for financial strength and good pricing on whole life insurance for many ages and health risks. The company also has whole life insurance policies that can build cash value well in the early years.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Superior financial strength, which indicates an insurer’s ability to pay claims many decades from now.
- Northwestern Mutual’s policy illustrations have a high level of reliability, so you’re less likely to be caught by surprise by changes to projected cash value or policy expenses.
Cons
- The historical performance of Northwestern Mutual’s investments has lagged behind top competitors. This could affect the length of time you will have to pay premiums and/or how much cash value you build over time.
- Internal policy costs tend to be higher than many competitors. High internal costs can result in higher life insurance quotes than competitors and/or eat into your cash value.
Ohio National : Best Whole Life Insurance Companies
Ohio National has had enviable performance from its investments. For whole life insurance customers this can translate to dividends that you can use to pay premiums sooner rather than later. It can also mean better growth of cash value if you choose to apply your dividend money there.
Pros and Cons
- Superior performance of the company’s investments.
- More reliable policy illustrations than many competitors.
Cons
- Internal policy costs aren’t very competitive for certain ages and health issues.
- The company’s financial strength and claims-paying ability ratings have been declining in recent years.
State Farm : Best Whole Life Insurance Companies
State Farm stands out from many competitors for its financial strength, which gives life insurance buyers confidence that the company will be able to meet its obligations many years down the road. Whole life insurance buyers can also benefit from State Farm’s highly reliable policy illustrations and cash value that builds well, even in the early years of the policy.
Pros and Cons
- Superior financial strength.
- Very reliable policy illustrations.
Cons
Not all State Farm whole life policies have low internal costs. This means more of your premiums may be going to policy expenses rather than cash value. Make sure you’re happy with the policy illustration before you buy.
Penn Mutual
Buyers of whole life insurance will appreciate Penn Mutual’s financial strength and its low internal costs, which means more money can go toward your cash value. Penn Mutual has been very good at investing its assets, which can result in better growth of cash value and death benefits and/or lower total premiums over the life of the policy.
Pros and Cons
- Penn Mutual’s term life insurance is guaranteed renewable up to age 98; many competitors cut off at age 90 or 95.
- Term life insurance buyers have a good ability to decrease their Penn Mutual coverage if their life insurance needs change over time.
- The majority of Penn Mutual’s cash value policies are cost competitive, so you can buy a higher death benefit for the premium you’re paying.
- Penn Mutual’s high financial strength and more reliable illustrations mean you’re less likely to have to adjust your estate plan to your life insurance over time.
Cons
Not all Penn Mutual policies build cash value well early on.
Guardian
Guardian life shines when it comes to financial strength, and its whole life insurance policies can build cash value well in the early years.
Pros and Cons
- Superior financial strength means you don’t have to worry about Guardian’s ability to pay future claims.
- Good growth of cash value in the early years of a policy when compared to competitors.
Cons
Very high internal policy costs in its whole life insurance policies compared to competitors.
MassMutual
MassMutual provides a good combination of high ratings for financial strength and cash value that builds well within its whole life insurance policies. Buyers can also benefit from good performance of the investments underlying policy cash values most of the time.
Pros and Cons
- Superior financial strength, which indicates an insurer’s ability to pay claims many decades from now.
- Most of MassMutual’s whole life insurance can build cash value well in the early years when compared to competitors.
- The company’s investments have performed well most of the time.
Cons
- As can be the case with whole life insurance products, the reliability of MassMutual’s policy illustrations is only so-so. This means you should be prepared for the possibility that you may need to pay premiums for more years than originally illustrated. Also possible is that your cash value and death benefit growth may be less than what a policy illustration may show.
- MassMutual’s internal policy costs tend to be higher than many competitors. High internal costs can eat into your cash value and/or premium payments for more years than you originally anticipated.
New York Life
New York Life provides a good combination of top-notch financial strength and whole life insurance policies in which cash value often builds well early. Whole life insurance buyers will also find generally reliable illustrations.
Pros and cons
- Superior financial strength, which indicates an insurer’s ability to pay claims many decades from now.
- Most of New York Life’s whole life insurance policies build cash value well in the early years when compared to competitors.
- New York Life’s policy illustrations are mostly reliable, which reduces the risk that you’ll be caught by surprise down the road with a need to pay premiums for longer or have cash value that’s less than you expected.
Cons
- Internal policy costs tend to be higher than most competitors. High internal costs can eat into your cash value and/or require premium payments for more years.
- The historical performance of New York Life’s investments has lagged behind top competitors. This could affect how long you will have to pay premiums and/or how much cash value you build over time.
Summary: Best Whole Life Insurance Company Ratings
Northwestern Mutual earns the top spot in our ranking of the best whole life insurance companies. Whole life insurance from Ohio National and State Farm also topped our rankings.
