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
Table of Contents
Toggle
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 Company | Current Rating |
---|---|
A.M. Best | A |
Fitch Ratings | A |
Moody's Investors Service | A3 |
Standard & Poor's | A- |
Comdex Score | 73 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
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?
Forethought offers final expense insurance through its pre-need insurance plan and the TrustGuard Gold Plans.