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Maximum no-exam coverage
$1 million
Eligible ages
18-55
Term lengths available
10 & 20 years
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Life insurance sales just hit an all-time high: The total number of policies sold increased 8% in the first six months of 2021 compared to prior year sales. It’s the highest level since 1983, according to LIMRA. Fortunately, life insurers don’t run out of policies.
If you’re among the many life insurance shoppers, you’ll want to examine quotes and coverage. To find the best term life insurance companies, we used data provided by Life Quotes to evaluate companies on rates and coverage features.
$1 million
18-55
10 & 20 years
Very good
Yes
Yes
up to age 105
Transamerica offers very good prices and top-notch term life policy benefits.
Excellent
No
Yes
up to age 95
AIG offers very competitive prices and a good range of policy benefits.
Excellent
No
Yes
up to age 90
Pacific Life offers a combination of very competitive prices and solid policy benefits.
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 94
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 94
John Hancock’s superior term life insurance rates pushed it to a high score
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 95
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 95
Lincoln National combines competitive term life rates with superior coverage features.
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 90
Protective’s good rates boosted its overall score
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 85
SBLI’s competitive rates make it an option to consider
Good
No
Yes
up to age 85
Good
No
Yes
up to age 85
Securian’s term life policy features make it a good choice
Fair
Yes
Yes
up to age 98
Fair
Yes
Yes
up to age 98
Some of North American’s term life policy features make it worth considering
Good
No
Yes, up to age 98
Good
No
Yes, up to age 98
Penn Mutual combines good term life rates with solid policy features
Fair
Yes
Yes
up to age 95
Prudential’s nursing home reimbursement feature makes it worth a look
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 90
Very good
No
Yes
up to age 90
Legal & General tends to have superior term life insurance rates, although it comes at the expense of policy features
Company | Price competitiveness | Policy benefits | Forbes Advisor rating |
---|---|---|---|
Company | Price competitiveness | Policy benefits | Forbes Advisor rating |
Transamerica | Very good | Excellent | |
AIG | Excellent | Good | |
Pacific Life | Excellent | Good | |
John Hancock | Very good | Good | |
Lincoln National | Very good | Good | |
Protective | Very good | Good | |
SBLI | Very good | Good | |
Securian Financial | Good | Very good | |
North American | Fair | Very good | |
Penn Mutual | Good | Good | |
Prudential | Fair | Very good | |
Legal & General America | Very good | Fair | |
American National | Fair | Very good | |
Mutual of Omaha | Fair | Good | |
Principal | Good | Poor |
Compare Policies With 8 Leading Insurers
Term life insurance is a policy where you choose the length of coverage, usually starting at five years. Other choices are 10, 15, 25 and 30 years. A few companies offer 35-year term life policies, and two companies offer 40-year policies: Banner Life and Protective Life.
You will also choose your coverage amount, which can be into the millions of dollars if needed.
When you buy a policy you’ll name at least one beneficiary. If you pass away within the term period of the policy, your beneficiary receives the death benefit.
If you live past the end of the term life insurance policy, it expires and there’s no refund or payout.
Term life is much less expensive than other forms of life insurance, such as whole life insurance.
Another reason that term life is less expensive is that it doesn’t have any cash value. You can’t take money out of the policy through a loan or withdrawal.
A term life insurance purchase will fit people who need life insurance to cover a specific large debt or finite period of time. Term life can be especially appealing to parents with young families who need the financial protection of life insurance while raising children.
People often buy term life insurance for these reasons:
Price will naturally appear to be the most compelling factor when buying term life insurance. But it’s important to also look at features and benefits a policy will give you after you buy it, especially as you approach the end of your initial rate guarantee period. After all, needs can change over time. You might be glad later that you bought a policy that offers the right to convert to permanent insurance or that offers an early payout for long-term care expenses.
Bob Bland, CEO of Life Quotes, says that term life insurance looks and sounds simple, but don’t overlook a policy’s features. His advice is:
We scored life insurance companies based on their term life rates and policy features using data provided by Life Quotes, an online brokerage that represents 40 life insurers and gives instant quotes online for $5,000 to $25 million. Life Quotes does not require personal information in order to get quotes.
Because many term life insurance shoppers focus on price, we gave the majority of weight to rates.
Two-thirds of total score: Term life insurance rates. We scored each company’s rates for 20-year term life insurance coverage for $500,000, $1 million and $2 million, for non-smoking healthy men and women of average height and weight, for ages 30, 40 and 50.
We averaged each company’s life insurance quotes across these coverage levels and ages to determine each company’s price score.
The best term life insurance companies for you will vary based on your health and other factors.
One-third of total score: Policy features. The options available within a term life insurance policy can become critically important years after you buy the policy. Within this category we gave equal scoring weight to:
The following policies were scored for our ratings: AIG Select-a-Term, American National Signature Term, John Hancock JH Term, Legal & General America OPTerm, Lincoln National LifeElements & TermAccel, Mutual of Omaha Term Life Answers, North American ADDvantage Term, Pacific Life Promise Term, Principal’s Principal Term, Protective Classic Choice Term, Prudential Term Essential & Term Elite, SBLI Level Premium Term, Securian Financial Advantage Elite Term, and Transamerica Trendsetter Super & Trendsetter Living Benefits. There are other sellers of term life not included in our rankings.
Compare Policies With 8 Leading Insurers
Term life insurance is generally ideal if you need life insurance to cover a specific time period or need, such as the years you’re paying a mortgage, or the years until your children graduate from college.
Many people buy life insurance after getting married, having a baby or buying a house. Other types of life insurance are available if you need lifelong coverage.
There are increasingly more options available for instant life insurance that is competitively priced with policies that require a medical exam. The older and less healthy you are, the more likely you’ll need to take an exam as part of the application process and to get the best rates.
If you’re taking a life insurance medical exam, there are ways to make sure you get the best results possible. This includes getting a good sleep and avoiding caffeine and rigorous exercise before the exam.
The funds provided by term life can be used by the beneficiary to pay for a funeral and other final expenses. But if you’re looking for only a small policy that will give coverage for your entire life, there are burial insurance options.
I’m the Insurance Analyst for Forbes Advisor. I’ve been writing about insurance for consumers for more than 20 years. Insurance intersects with many parts of our lives, yet it’s tough to untangle, and wrong choices can make a financial mess. I’m here to help you make sense of it. I’m especially interested in how data is affecting the price you pay for all insurance types.