Sorting through the best life insurance companies for your needs isn’t as easy as choosing the next Netflix series to binge watch. There are a lot of factors people should take into consideration when searching for the ideal policy.
First of all, what type of life insurance do you need? (And if you’re thinking, “Holy moly, there are different types?!” don’t worry, you’re not alone.)
Second, consider your specific conditions and lifestyle choices. Are you a smoker? Do you have a family history of a terminal illness Companies treat people with various habits, conditions and family history differently. You need to make sure you’re being treated fairly and finding the best deal.
Don’t be intimidated by the jargon, the options or the decisions related to your passing away. We’re here to tell you everything you need to know.
The 7 Best Life Insurance Companies for 2024
Company AM Best Rating J.D. Power Ranking Premium Best for…
State Farm | A++ | 843 | Average | Term life insurance |
Northwestern Mutual | A++ | 790 | Low | Whole life insurance |
Protective | A+ | 768 | Low | Universal life insurance |
Mutual of Omaha | A+ | 805 | Average | Burial insurance |
Transamerica | A | 757 | Low | Smokers |
Lincoln | A | 788 | Low | Millennials and Gen Z |
USAA | A++ | N/A | Low | Military |
Best Term Life Insurance Policy: State Farm
- Financial strength: A++ (superior)
- Customer satisfaction: 843 (top rated)
Do you already use State Farm to insure your home, car, business or health? Then you can save money by purchasing your life insurance through them, too. Yep, State Farm rewards you for buying multiple insurance products through them.
However, even if you don’t use State Farm for other types of insurance, it’s still a fantastic choice for term life insurance. J.D. Power has ranked State Farm as the life insurance company with the highest customer satisfaction once again.
You can select a 10-, 20- or 30-year term for $250,000. The policy is renewable up to age 95 and can be converted to a whole life program.
Best Whole Life Insurance Policy: Northwestern Mutual
- Financial strength: A++ (superior)
- Customer satisfaction: 790 (better than most)
My favorite thing about Northwestern Mutual’s whole life insurance? It’s highly customizable. No two people’s needs are the same, so why should everyone have the same plan?
The company has a lot of optional add-ons (called “riders” in the insurance world) for a life insurance policy. For example, a waiver of premium rider is available so that, should you become disabled while you have insurance, Northwestern Mutual no longer requires you to pay the premiums. This is just one of many riders, and Northwestern Mutual offers more riders than most of its competitors.
You also have a number of payment options. You can select a policy in which you pay your premiums until you reach an agreed-upon age. Or you may choose to pay your premiums for a certain number of years until your balance is paid off, ranging from 10 to 30 years.
Best Universal Life Insurance Policy: Protective Life Insurance
- Financial strength: A+ (superior)
- Customer satisfaction: 768 (better than most)
Good news: When it comes to price, Protective Life Insurance is probably your best universal life insurance option.
Protective stands out because it offers something called Custom Choice UL (Universal Life) Insurance. UL insurance is already known for being customizable, but this policy kicks things up a notch.
At first, the Custom Choice UL policy looks like term life insurance. You choose a set amount of time you want your premiums and death benefit to remain stagnant.
When the time frame ends after, say, 30 years, your premiums stay the same. However, your death benefit amount slowly decreases. Once your balance hits the minimum of $10,000, the death benefit stays at that amount and your premiums will start to increase.
Top Burial Insurance Company: Mutual of Omaha
- Financial strength: A+ (superior)
- Customer satisfaction: 805 (one of the top rated)
When you buy burial insurance, the death benefit is specifically intended to help your loved ones pay for funeral and burial costs. (You’d be surprised how much it costs to be put in the ground or cremated!)
There’s an age limit when you’re buying burial insurance. Mutual of Omaha’s minimum age requirement is 45, while many companies’ don’t start until age 50. If you want to get a jump on things, Mutual of Omaha is a great choice.
Because it’s primarily intended for funeral and burial costs, burial insurance death benefits amounts that you may receive are much lower than death benefits for other kinds of life insurance policies. With Mutual of Omaha, you can get coverage up to $25,000.
Best Policy for Smokers: Transamerica
- Financial strength: A (excellent)
- Customer satisfaction: 757 (significantly below average)
If you’re looking for yet another reason to quit smoking, here’s one for you: Life insurance costs substantially more for someone who smokes than for non-smokers. The older you are when you buy life insurance as a smoker, the more shockingly high that price will be.
(Pro tip: If you’re comfortable with waiting to purchase life insurance, quit smoking today and start shopping for insurance next year. Most insurers classify you as a non-smoker if you haven’t smoked for at least 12 months.)
Thinking you can just lie on your application and say you don’t smoke? Well, that’s called insurance fraud, and I don’t recommend it. Plus, many companies require you to take a medical exam before approval, so you could easily be caught.
Thankfully, Transamerica can make things easier for you.
Smokers probably won’t be able to find lower prices anywhere else. Just make sure you’ve been tobacco-free for two years to get the non-smoker rate.
Transamerica has strong financial stability, but its customer satisfaction score has taken a major dip over the last year. If customer service is important to you, you may want to consider another option.
Note: Banner Life Insurance offers competitive prices for smokers along with Transamerica, but it hasn’t been ranked by J.D. Power, so it didn’t make it onto this list. Still, it’s worth getting a life insurance quote from both companies.
Recommended for Millennials and Gen Z: Lincoln Financial Group
- Financial strength: A+ (superior)
- Customer satisfaction: 788 (slightly below average)
You might think it’s unnecessary to get life insurance if you’re in your 20s or 30s. If you don’t have a mortgage, spouse or kids, why bother buying now?
Well, the younger and healthier you are, the lower your premiums will be. If you select 30-year coverage at age 25, you’ll be covered until you’re 55, and there’s a decent chance you’ll get married, have a couple kids or buy a home before age 55. If you purchase life insurance before you think it’s necessary, your payments will be much lower than if you wait.
Lincoln Financial Group is even more affordable than its competitors, with better financial strength (though customer satisfaction could be better). With a policy from Lincoln, the average healthy person can expect to save roughly $1 a month on premiums.
A buck or two may not seem like a notable difference depending on your income. However, if you pay an extra dollar per month for 30 years, you just spent an extra $360.
Best Life Insurance for Military Members: USAA
Financial Strength: A++ (superior)
Customer satisfaction: Not rated
USAA is one of the best financial institutions for everything from bank accounts to loans to insurance. The only problem? It’s not available to most people.
To be eligible for most of USAA’s offerings, you need to be a member of the U.S. military (past or present) or an immediate family member. A major exception to this is life insurance: Anyone — not just active duty members and veterans — can apply.
That said, USAA has some particularly appealing benefits for members who are currently serving their country. For example, the severe injury rider offers $25,000 of coverage if you are injured while performing your military duties.
USAA offers both term and permanent life insurance, with policies starting for as little as $12 a month.
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Types of Life Insurance
Keep in mind that numerous sub-categories exist. However, there are two main types you should know about: term and permanent. Which is best for you?
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Term Life Insurance
If you purchase term life insurance, you’ll only pay premiums for a set term, usually 10 to 30 years. Your primary objective is to ensure that a specific sum of money, the death benefit, will be given to your loved ones should you die during that term.
Pros
It’s your most affordable option. We Penny Hoarders love to save a cent here and there. With term policies, you pay fewer fees and receive fewer benefits than with a permanent policy.
If you want to, policyholders can usually convert your term life insurance policy into a permanent life insurance policy. If money is tight at the moment but you want life insurance, a great option is to buy term insurance now and convert it into permanent later.
Most companies allow conversion within a certain amount of time after buying your insurance, but this time frame differs for each provider.
Cons
A term policy doesn’t have any cash value. You’re only paying for the death benefit, or for the amount of monetary compensation your loved ones will receive once you’re gone. If you opt for a permanent policy over a term policy, you’ll receive more benefits than just the death benefit. That’s a big reason that term life insurance is so affordable, but be aware of what you’re missing if you go with the cheaper option.
If you live past the set term, your family won’t get any payout when you do pass away. Granted, once your term expires, you can always sign up for a new term or switch to permanent.
Many people choose term life insurance so that, should they pass away unexpectedly, their family will have money to take care of expenses. Once your term is over, there’s a good chance you’ll have fewer expenses — you may have paid off your house and car by then, and your kids will have finished college. As you get older, your need for life insurance typically decreases; that’s why a lot of people prefer to opt for term life insurance.
However, that’s not always the case. If you have doubts, it’s time to look into permanent life insurance.
Permanent Life Insurance
Term life insurance is only valid for a set amount of time. Permanent, on the other hand, lasts for your entire life. This means that you’ll pay premiums for the duration of your life. There are two main categories of permanent life insurance: whole and universal.
Whole life insurance provides financial consistency, while universal life insurance provides financial flexibility.
Whole Life Insurance
A whole life policy provides death benefits to your loved ones once you pass away. Unlike term, however, whole life insurance also has cash value.
Pros
You’re set for life. Whether you die at age 30 or age 90, your family will receive death benefits. Whole life insurance doesn’t have the time restraints a term policy does.
These policies also have cash value. You’ll pay your monthly, quarterly or annual premiums, just as you would with term — but a portion of these premiums goes into an investment account that accrues interest. You have a lot of options for how to use this cash value.
At any time, you can trade in your plan and forfeit coverage to receive the cash. You can take out a loan, withdraw a partial amount and even use the cash value to pay your premiums. (That last one is pretty cool!) Oh, and your cash value is tax-deferred.
Cons
The main downfall is the price. Because you’re paying for a longer period of time in addition to paying for cash value, whole life insurance can cost significantly more than term for the same death benefits.
The big question is, “Is the price worth it?” Once again, if you think you’ll have paid off most of the loans on your assets by the time you die, you might want to go with term life insurance. If your financial situation is a bit more up in the air, whole life insurance could be better for your family.
You have to pay fees if you trade in your coverage for the cash value. You knew it had to be too good to be true, didn’t you? You don’t get all the cash you’ve accumulated—you have to pay fees. The amount you’ll pay in fees depends on the company.
Your loved ones won’t see the cash value. This is worth mentioning, because it’s natural to assume your family would receive the cash value that’s accrued when you pass. In reality, if you haven’t spent that money by the time you pass, the insurance company will take it back. Your family still only receives the death benefit.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is very similar to whole, with three key differences: The amount of your premium payments can change over time, you can change how often you pay your premiums and your death benefits can change.
Pros
A universal life policy is a great choice if you think your financial situation could change significantly before you pass. For example, maybe you realize 20 years into your plan that your loved ones will need a little more assistance than you originally thought after you’re gone. You can increase the death benefits.
You can update your plan without having to get a new policy, which is a huge relief. If you have term life insurance, you have to either convert to a permanent policy or buy a new policy once your term expires if you want new terms.
If you have whole, you have the ability to forfeit your coverage for the cash value and sign up for a new policy if you want to. With universal, you can make a ton of changes to your policy without going through the hassle of getting a new plan.
A Con
Keep in mind, universal has most of the same cons as whole life insurance. There is one more main thing to consider, though.
Of the three main types of life insurance, universal has the most variables, making it the most confusing. If you aren’t exactly a pro, this could be intimidating. I definitely recommend seeking advice and opinions from experts such as a life insurance advisor before choosing a universal plan or making any changes to it. It is always a better idea to ask questions early rather than when you need to place a claim.
There isn’t one magical life insurance company that’s best for everyone. (Although that would be amazing, wouldn’t it?)
Different people benefit from certain policies and services. To make things easier for you, we’ve used a simple methodology to find the seven best life insurance companies out there.
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Our Comparison Methodology & Analysis
We took three main factors into account while analyzing the insurers and data to determine the rankings of the best life insurance companies: financial strength, customer satisfaction and premiums.
Financial Strength
Life insurance is a long-term purchase, so you want to be confident that the company you’re buying life insurance from will last longer than you do. Also, it’s vital that they’re financially sound enough to keep their promises to you and your family to provide the coverage you need.
We’ve taken AM Best’s financial strength ratings into account. AM Best is a third-party credit rating company that rates life insurance on a letter grade scale, the highest being A++ (superior).
All of the companies on this list are rated either A, A+ or A++. Ratings of A- and A are considered excellent, while A+ and A++ are superior.
Customer Satisfaction
Financial strength becomes a lot less impressive if other aspects of a company are subpar. That’s why customer service and experience is such an important thing to take into account.
We’ve evaluated these companies’ customer satisfaction and reputation by looking at information such as their J.D. Power ratings. J.D. Power is a marketing research company that surveys customers, then rates insurance companies on a 1,000-point scale based on those survey answers.
After scoring the companies, J.D. Power labels each insurer as “among the best,” “better than most,” “about average” and “the rest.”
Note: J.D. Power does not rank USAA in its life insurance studies. However, the well-known brand has an incredibly high Net Promoter Score, which also measures customer satisfaction. We felt it was important to consider USAA because of its specific benefits for military members.
Premiums
All you Penny Hoarders out there… you knew I’d have to take your personal finances into account, didn’t you?
When it comes down to it, a lot of the largest life insurance companies offer very similar plans. In these cases, some individuals simply choose the option that’s most affordable for them.
This factor was a bit more subjective than the others, because your premium payments can range and depend on a variety of factors—your age when you buy insurance, your health and your habits, just to name a few.
Who knew there was so much to consider when choosing the best life policies?
Thankfully, if you choose one of these seven top life insurance companies, you’ll set yourself, your children and your family up for success.
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