An unexpected life event in your family can completely change the course of your financial future if you’re caught unprepared. Fortunately, a life insurance policy tailored to your specific needs can soften the financial blow and help you move forward on your terms.
To help you avoid the confusion of trying to choose between countless providers, we’ve done the research and compiled a list of the best life insurance companies, according to what makes them stand out (plus a few honorable mentions).
Table of Contents
7 best life insurance providers
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New York Life: Best overall
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MassMutual: Best for financial stability
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Nationwide: Best for policy flexibility
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Prudential Financial: Best for core products and riders
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Lincoln Financial: Best for claims experience
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State Farm: Best for transparency
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John Hancock: Best for customer experience
1. New York Life: Best overall
Star rating: 4.8 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: Among the life insurance companies we researched and compared, New York Life received top marks across multiple categories, including its core product availability, policy flexibility, and overall financial strength and stability. It also scored well on its application and claims experience criteria, as well as its transparency toward potential customers.
This sets up New York Life as the best-rated insurance provider on our list, as its offerings cover a wide range of specific life insurance needs. And with over 150 years in business, it has the industry know-how and financial reliability to address your insurance concerns and back up its policies.
2. MassMutual: Best for financial stability
Star rating: 4.8 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: MassMutual holds the same high AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A++ (Superior) as New York Life, but it has even fewer complaints, which are two huge reasons we rate it so highly.
In addition, MassMutual offers excellent core product availability and benefits, including guaranteed level premium periods for term life insurance policies. The claims process is a little vague, but we imagine that’s because we don’t have full access to all the details as non-customers.
3. Nationwide: Best for policy flexibility
Star rating: 4.8 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: Nationwide recently marked 100 years in business, which surprisingly makes it younger than many competitors. Still, relatively young age aside, it offers flexible policies and riders that fully compete with the offerings of other top-rated insurers. From a financial backing perspective,
Nationwide receives top marks for its AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior). (AM Best is an independent, global credit rating agency that rates insurers on their financial strength — the higher the rating, the more financially secure the company.)
We also like that you can apply for Nationwide life insurance online and find out your premium during the quote process. Many insurance companies point you directly to an agent, which isn’t always the most favorable experience for every potential customer.
4. Prudential Financial: Best for core products and riders
Star rating: 4.5 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: Prudential Financial, along with New York Life and Nationwide, received perfect scores in our rubric for its core product availability, policy flexibility, and riders. This means it hits all the right notes for what it offers in core life insurance products and riders, including term life insurance, universal life insurance, no-exam policies, and more.
Prudential also provides an easy-to-use online quote tool to view your estimated premium, all without speaking to an agent.
Where does Prudential fall short? The number of complaints: It’s well above the average when compared to other top-rated life insurance providers.
Read more: Your comprehensive guide to life insurance riders
5. Lincoln Financial: Best for claims experience
Star rating: 4.5 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: Lincoln Financial clearly outlines how its claims process works, helping to put your mind at ease if that’s one of your life insurance concerns. There are multiple paths for filing, along with details on special situations.
While we couldn’t find information about publicly disclosed premium costs, Lincoln’s offerings are still worth considering. It scored well on its core product availability and policy flexibility, which make for a nearly complete package when you also consider the details of its claims process.
6. State Farm: Best for transparency
Star rating: 4.4 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: If you want a transparent, online research experience, consider State Farm. With State Farm, you can find sample premium estimates and details about different types of policies, and even get a life insurance quote — all online.
That’s not to say there’s no depth to a company like State Farm. It still has an overall low number of complaints and an A+ (Superior) Financial Strength Rating from AM Best.
However, if you specifically want more coverage period options for term life insurance, you may need to look elsewhere, as State Farm offers a limited number of coverage periods compared to other insurers.
7. John Hancock: Best for customer experience
Star rating: 4.4 out of 5 ⭐
Why we like it: Similar to State Farm, John Hancock offers a modern, online-centric experience for people who prefer researching quotes on their own without an agent. You can get online quotes, review the claims process, and peruse different types of policies at your own pace and leisure.
In addition, John Hancock has a low number of complaints and offers adequate policy and rider options. However, it’s a little unclear whether any policies are available that don’t require a medical exam.
Other life insurance companies to consider
Pacific Life
Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐
What we think: Pacific Life scored well overall, especially with its policy flexibility and availability of riders, but the claims process and guidance for beneficiary claims are somewhat vague, which could be a hindrance for potential customers.
Securian Financial
Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐
What we think: Securian Financial outlines its claims process well and provides a useful online calculator for estimating your life insurance needs. However, its core product availability and policy flexibility slightly underperform those of higher-rated competitors.
Northwestern Mutual
Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐
What we think: Northwestern Mutual has excellent financial strength and stability, a low number of complaints, and over 150 years in the industry. Still, it’s missing (or the information isn’t disclosed) essential riders and term life policy flexibility.
Transamerica
Star rating: 4.3 out of 5 ⭐
What we think: Transmerica has a good lineup of available products and offers high transparency, but there are a few concerns with its overall financial strength and stability. Namely, its AM Best Financial Strength Rating of an A (Excellent), while still good, is lower than that of many other insurers. Also, Transmerica has more complaints than almost every other provider we compared.
Guardian Life
Star rating: 4.1 out of 5 ⭐
What we think: Guardian Life has a low number of complaints and excellent financial stability, but we found it lacking in its core product availability and policy flexibility. Specifically, it doesn’t disclose whether its term life insurance offers different term lengths, and the details for riders and other benefits are few and far between.
How to choose the best life insurance
1. Consider your insurance needs
Life insurance isn’t typically a one-size-fits-all proposition; any policy won’t work for every individual. You have to consider the best policy based on your specific situation.
For example, term life insurance may make sense if:
However, permanent or whole life insurance may make sense if:
Related: Term vs. whole life insurance: Which should you choose?
2. Review riders
Life insurance policy riders are optional add-ons you can use to customize your plan. You may want to consider and review riders to better suit your needs.
Here are examples of common life insurance riders:
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Accelerated death benefit (ADB): If you meet certain conditions, you can claim a portion or all of your death benefit while you’re still alive.
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Accidental death: Can increase your payout if your death results from a covered accident.
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Charitable benefit: Adds an extra amount to your death benefit to be paid to the charity of your choice.
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Child and spouse: Pays out a death benefit if an insured child or spouse passes away during the rider’s term.
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Chronic care: Provides tax-free access to a portion of the death benefit if you become chronically ill.
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Renewable term: Can allow you the option to purchase renewable and convertible level term insurance as a way to increase the death benefit for a limited amount of time.
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Term conversion: Allows you to convert a term life insurance policy to a whole life policy, typically without having to undergo a medical exam.
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Waiver of premium: Can keep paying your premium if you become disabled and are unable to work.
Related: The comprehensive guide to life insurance riders
3. Compare providers
Once you’ve locked in the type of coverage and riders you need, it’s time to compare what different providers are offering. You may already have experience with certain companies from using other types of insurance, like homeowners or car insurance, but that doesn’t mean you should immediately use the same insurer.
If a provider doesn’t offer what you’re looking for, move on to the next.
You can individually research each life insurance company via its website, use an independent agent, or try out a comparison website. There’s generally no wrong approach to this, as long as you end up with a policy you want at a price you’re comfortable with.
Related: How much life insurance do I need? A guide for every life stage.
Life insurance FAQs
What is the best life insurance provider?
The best life insurance providers include:
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New York Life: Best overall
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MassMutual: Best for financial stability
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Nationwide: Best for policy flexibility
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Prudential Financial: Best for core products and riders
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Lincoln Financial: Best for claims experience
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State Farm: Best for transparency
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John Hancock: Best for customer experience
What are the four types of life insurance?
Life insurance categories generally include:
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Term life: Provides coverage for a certain number of years, but will only pay out during the coverage period.
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Whole life: Provides coverage for your whole life, paying out no matter what age you are when you pass away, as long as your premiums are paid.
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Universal life: Also provides coverage for your whole life, but offers more flexibility with your death benefit and premiums.
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Variable life: Typically provides whole life coverage, but there’s also an investment factor that can affect your death benefit and cash value.
What affects the cost of life insurance?
In general, these factors can affect your life insurance premiums:
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Age
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Health
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Family health history
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Gender
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Occupation
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Lifestyle
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Tobacco use
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Coverage limits
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Policy type
What happens if I outlive my term life insurance?
You typically get no benefit from a term life insurance policy if you don’t pass away within the coverage period.
At what point is life insurance not worth it?
Life insurance may not be worth it if you have no need for the death benefit or potential savings tools. For example, if you already have enough savings or investments, or if you have no dependents, you may not need to consider buying a life insurance policy. This could also be the case if you’re already in your retirement years and have no affordable life insurance options.
Methodology
We compiled our list of the best life insurance providers by creating a rubric to compare countrywide life insurance companies. Our selection of providers was based on the 12 highest-ranked NAIC groups and companies that sell individual life insurance directly to consumers.
We did not consider every available life insurance group or company.
We compared the selected providers based on various factors outlined in our rubric, including core product availability, policy flexibility, financial strength and stability, and more. Each provider received scores in each category, which contributed to a final percentage score and an overall star rating.
