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Forethought Life Insurance Company

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Insurance Quotes 2 Day Team

Written By Doug Mitchell

Doug Mitchell, CLU holds a BA degree in Finance from Auburn University, a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College in Bryn Mahr, PA and Top of the Table member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT). Doug has spent close to 30 years in the insurance and financial planning industry and has held licenses to sell securities, long-term care insurance, health.  Doug is also a financial blogger addressing the topics of life insurance, annuities and retirement income planning.

Holly Mitchell  &

Holly Mitchell’s background in life insurance insurance goes back to 1985 when she worked for her father who was a New York Life agent. Holly has a marketing degree from Auburn University and has had a life insurance license since 2008. In addition to advising life insurance for customers all around the country, Holly is our website fact checker.

Rob Pinner   &

Rob Pinner is the founder and CEO of Pinner Financial Services servicing all 50 states. Rob started his insurance career in 2002.

Louis LaBash

Results-driven and innovative life insurance professional with 30 plus years of life insurance industry sales and marketing experience. Recognized as a pioneer in the field, leveraging phone and internet channels to exceed personal sales of over $100 million during the first decade of the 21st century. Creator of a highly effective intuitive IUL life insurance sales software that facilitated the sale of millions of dollars of indexed universal policies by numerous life insurance agents. Proven track record as a Managing General Agent (MGA), Life Agent, IUL Life Insurance Sales Software developer, and leading-edge creator of insurance marketing tools, educational content, and delivery systems.

 5 minute read

When shopping for life insurance, a lot of people say that the only thing more challenging about life insurance products is the number of companies out there selling them.

When you consider that a life insurance policy is a promise to pay a death benefit in exchange for a premium, it’s important to know as much as possible about the company you’ll be placing your trust in. After all, that promise must likely be kept for decades.

As part of our continuing series on life insurance company reviews, here is our review of Forethought Life Insurance Company.

NOTE: We are not Forethought Life Insurance Company. If you need to contact them, you can call them at (877) 462-8992 or contact them by email at ask.us@gafg.com.

Forethought Life Insurance Company
4 World Trade Center, 51st Floor
150 Greenwhich Street
New York, NY 10007

About Forethought Life Insurance Company

 

Forethought, a subsidiary of Global Atlantic Financial Group, was originally established in 1985 as a subsidiary of Hillenbrand Industries.

As the name implies, Forethought’s primary market segment is consumers who are concerned about final expenses and funeral and burial insurance.

As the company’s footprint grew across the U.S., Forethought began offering annuity products to help hard-working families save for retirement.

After being purchased by Global Atlantic, Forethought continued to grow its book of business and has amassed over $20 billion in assets. Not too shabby for a company just 35 years old and in an extremely competitive industry.

Forethought’s Financial Stability

 

As we mentioned in our introduction, the insurance company you select must be in a position to keep its promise to pay for decades. One very good way to determine if Forethought can keep its promises to review its financial ratings from the national rating services. Here’s what we found:

Rating CompanyCurrent Rating
A.M. BestA
Fitch RatingsA
Moody's Investors ServiceA3
Standard & Poor'sA-
Comdex Score73 out of 100

These ratings and the Comdex score demonstrate that Forethought’s business strategy has made in very successful in an industry that thrives on competition.

Forethought Life Insurance Products

 

Forethought, like many other successful life insurers, offers a product selection that targets its market niche which is middle America and Seniors. Believe it or not, this section of Americana has a lot of money and believes in mitigating everyday risks.

With more than 40% of America being uninsured, Forethought focuses on hard-working or retired individuals who prefer not to leave the bill for their funeral to their surviving loved ones.

Pre-Need Life Insurance

 

This product was designed to cover final expenses like funeral and burial costs. It’s typically purchased through a funeral home and is the funding vehicle that individuals and families use to pay the eventual expenses that everyone leaves when they pass away.

Along with a guaranteed death benefit, Forethought assists in your pre-need planning by offering tools like Simply Speaking Funeral Planning and Simply Speaking Creation. Forethought policyholders will also receive the Forethought Planning Guide which assists with all of the many tasks involved with funeral planning and final wishes.

 

TrustGuard Gold

 

The TrustGuard Gold plan offered by Forethought combines life insurance with an Estate Planning Trust or a Funeral Expense Trust.

When the policyholder combines their final expense life insurance with a Trust, there are explicit instructions provided for how the death benefit is to be used and an additional layer of protection so that the funds will not be directed toward creditors.

By implementing TrustGuard Gold, the policyholder is rewarded with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that loved ones will not be burdened with the tasks or costs that are normally associated with funeral planning and the last wishes of the beloved deceased.

 

Indexed Universal Life Insurance

 

Indexed Universal Life Insurance is similar to traditional Universal Life Insurance but with a greater focus on wealth accumulation.

Instead of your cash value growing as a result of interest tied to the insurance company’s investment performance, your cash value account is linked to market indices which allows the policyholder to earn interest based on the stock market.

Along with earning tax-deferred interest based on the performance of market indices, Indexed Universal Life (IUL) policies contain a FLOOR protection which insulates your cash account when the market loses money.  There are other substantial benefits when you purchase IUL insurance as an investment product:

  • A tax-free death benefit paid to your beneficiaries
  • Interest is earned on a tax-deferred basis
  • The insurer guarantees a minimum interest rate
  • An option to select fixed-rate crediting
  • Multiple indexed crediting options
  • Flexible insurance coverage (premiums and death benefit)

Life insurance products are designed to accommodate various needs and as such, Forethought offers multiple policy types to meet those needs:

 

Lifetime Builder ELITE

 

Forethought’s Lifetime Builder ELITE policy is built to accommodate the policyholder’s financial needs for life. Along with a guaranteed tax-free death benefit, Lifetime Builder ELITE accumulates significant cash over the life of the policy that can be converted to an income stream for retirement. This policy brings a lot of options to the table:

  • Multiple death benefit options
  • Multiple policy loan options for cash withdrawals
  • Multiple interest crediting strategies that offer significant wealth accumulation

Lifetime Foundation ELITE

 

Forethought’s Lifetime Foundation ELITE is all about the guaranteed death benefit. The policy was designed with the beneficiary in mind and can be purchased with a guaranteed death benefit up to age 90. Although coverage can remain in force for a longer period, you’ll know that your beneficiaries will be protected until you reach age 90 no matter what (as long as premiums are paid).

At the end of the guaranteed period, your non-guaranteed death benefit is kept in force using the cash value in the policy (up to age 121).

This policy also earns significant cash over time while linked to market indices but is protected because of the FLOOR rate built into the policy.

 

Investment Products from Forethought

 

For individuals and families who want to plan for the future, Forethought offers a comprehensive portfolio of annuity products:

  • Fixed Annuities – for investors looking for a low-risk investment product with predictable earnings
  • Fixed Index Annuities – a solid investment product for consumers who want to earn higher interest but without the risk of market volatility
  • Income Annuities – Income annuities are designed to provide immediate income after a lump sum investment and offer an income stream you can rely on
  • Variable Annuities – while fixed income offers interest earnings on a fixed basis, the variable annuity offers investment flexibility that can generate higher rates of return based on the underlying investments that you’ve chosen

 

Final Thoughts about Forethought

 

Whether you are shopping for final expense insurance, traditional term life insurance, or life insurance with a cash accumulation component, Forethought offers a solid section of life insurance and annuity products that allow individuals and families to plan for the future.

We consider them a great resource for our clients when their products can accommodate the circumstances and budget of our clients and prospective clients.

Frequently asked Questions

Who owns Forethought Life Insurance

question mark icon

Forethought is a subsidiary of Global Atlantic Financial Group a well established holding company in the U.S.

Does Forethought have good financial ratings?

Forethought has always maintained very high financialty ratings and continue to rate very high after becoming a subsidiary of Global Atlantic Financial Group

Does Forthought offer final expense insurance?

guaranteed universal life insurance

Forethought offers final expense insurance through its pre-need insurance plan and the TrustGuard Gold Plans.

author avatar
Doug Mitchell, CLU Independant Advisor
Doug Mitchell, CLU holds a BA degree in Finance from Auburn University as well as having obtained a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation from The American College in Bryn Mahr, PA. Doug has spent almost 30 years in the life insurance industry and has also held licenses to sell securities, long-term care insurance and home and auto insurance. Doug is a Top of the Table Million Dollar Round Table member (MDRT).  MDRT is a global, independent association of the world's leading life insurance advisors.  For two years, Doug served as President of the Auburn Opelika Association of Financial Advisors and has been a member of the Million Dollar Round Table. He obtained Life Millionaire status at Horace Mann Insurance Company and was awarded the Life Agent of the Year Award. Later in his career with New York Life he was an Executive Council Member. Doug currently serves as President of Ogletree Financial, a managing general agency serving life insurance agents and clients in all parts of the United States. Today, Doug’s main focus is servicing 1000s of policyholders and growing the agency through the reach of  insurancequotes2day.com.

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