Here is our National Life Group review for 2023.
When searching for the most appropriate and beneficial life insurance policy, it’s important that you find adequate coverage at an affordable price.
Other important factors that you want to keep in mind are the life insurance carrier’s financial stability and strength because this demonstrates a company’s ability to pay policyholders claims.
Although many life insurance companies are financially sound, one such insurance company that meets these requirements is the National Life Group.
National Life Group History
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As one of the very first mutual life insurance providers in the U.S., National Life Group has been providing life insurance coverage to consumers for 175 years. Today, the national insurance conglomerate manages more than $41 billion in insurance company assets and is serving 783,062 customers.
The insurance company primarily works to offer regular, hard-working American families financial stability that will carry them through the good times and bad. The mission of National Life Group is to make the world a better place by providing grants from its charitable organization, Life Changer, and by paying its employees to volunteer for nonprofits.
National Life Group operates in several areas around the U.S. while maintaining a campus in Addison, Texas, and Montpelier, Vermont. Located in Boston, Massachusetts is the company’s subsidiary, Sentinel Investments.
National Life Ratings and Better Business Bureau (BBB) Grade
National Life Group has continually earned high ratings from the leading insurance rating agencies due to their financial strength and stability. This includes an “A+” excellent rating from A.M. Best and an “A+” strong rating from Standard & Poor’s. Additionally, even though the company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the carrier still has received an “A+” grade.
National Life Insurance Products Available
Offering products to both companies and individuals, National Life Group has a wide range of life insurance policies to choose from. Included are both permanent and term life insurance options.
Term life insurance provides temporary life insurance and permanent provides a guaranteed death benefit and guaranteed fixed premiums for the insured entire lifetime.
The following are the types of term life and permanent life insurance offered through National Life Group:
National Life Term
The carrier’s convertible term life insurance offers a guaranteed death benefit for a specified term period and their level term life insurance maintains a consistently level premium throughout the policy’s term. The premiums for term life insurance is rather affordable since the policy provides only a death benefit without a cash value. These policies are typically attractive to the younger, healthier applicants that need a large amount of life insurance.
National Life offers term insurance for 10-30 years. They are one of the few that offer an annually renewable term life policy.
Term – 10-G
10 year level term policy. After 10 years the premiums will increase each year until age 95.
Term – 15-G
15 year level term policy. Premiums will start to increase each year after the 15th year until age 95.
Term – 20-G
20 year level term policy. Premiums will increase annually after the 20th year until age 95.
Term – 30-G
A 30 year level term policy. The premiums will increase annually after the 30th year until age 95.
Annual Renewable Term
ART is a policy that has the lowest initial premiums but they increase annually. ART is typically used when life insurance coverage is needed for a very short period of time.
National Life Term Life Riders
- Accelerated Benefits Riders
- Children’s Term Rider
- Waiver of Premium Rider
Whole life Insurance
Primarily for those seeking guaranteed coverage that lasts a lifetime, this form of life insurance affords a guaranteed death benefit with a cash value that grows tax-deferred. Furthermore, the premiums for whole life insurance remain level through the policy lifetime, even with aging and future medical conditions.
National Life TotalSecure
TotalSecure offers the insured guaranteed and the ability to pay for their policy on their own timeline. The minimum face amount is $50,000 and issue ages are 0 to 85.
TotalSecure is a dividend direct recognition policy. Dividends options are:
- Cash
- Applied
- Additions
- Internal Paid-up Insurance
- Held
- Flex Term
TotalSecure whole life also offers the following riders:
- Accelerated Benefits Riders
- Guaranteed Insurability Rider
- Additional Paid-Up Life Insurance Rider
- Beneficiary Insurance Option
- Children’s Term Rider
- Exchange to New Insured
- Flex Term
- Qualified Plan Exchange Privilege
- Term Riders
- Waiver of Premium
As you can see, National Life TotalSecure can be designed to fit the insureds long-term needs.
Fixed Universal Life Insurance
Providing more flexibility than a whole life policy, universal life insurance allows policyholders to adjust their death benefit coverage and premiums, within certain parameters. The cash value inside of this policy is credited with a set interest rate, which allows the cash value to grow and compound.
BasicSecure
The BasicSecure a universal life insurance product available for consumers age 0 to 85. The minimum death benefit for BasicSecure is $50,000. This policy is designed to provide permanent life insurance protection at the lowest cost. BasicSecure is a flexible UL policy allowing the insured to pay more premium, pay less, skip premiums if needed or stop premium payments completely.
Additional riders are available, some for a cost and some are no-cost features. The most popular no-cost feature is the accelerated benefits rider. This rider offers coverage for terminal illness, chronic illness and critical illness. These benefits are paid in cash and will reduce the face amount of the policy.
BasicSecure offers the following riders:
- Accelerated Benefits Riders
- Additional Protection Benefit Rider
- Charitable Matching Gift Rider
- Children’s Term Rider
- Death Benefit Protection Rider
- Guaranteed Insurability Rider
- Overloan Protection Rider
- Premium Deposit Account
- Waiver of Monthly Deduction
- Qualified Plan Exchange Privilege
- Waiver of Specified Premium
National Life Indexed Universal Life Insurance
National Life offers 3 varieties of IUL policies. The FlexLife, PeakLife and SummitLife are all a little different and designed with certain niches in mind. Each of these policies are designed specifically for cash accumulation. The cash within the policy is credited with interest based on the index allocations chosen. In the event that there’s a positive return on the underlying index, the policy’s cash value will be credited. However, if the market index chosen has a negative return, the cash value will be credited 0%.
FlexLife
National Life’s most basic indexed universal life insurance policy. The policy has a minimum death benefit of $50,000 and is available to ages 0 to 85. One of the most popular riders available is the lifetime income benefit rider (LIBR). This rider can be exercised between the ages of 60 and 85 and the policy has a 10 year waiting period before the LIBR can be activated.
National Life FlexLife has many riders available and the more popular are:
- Accelerated Benefits Riders – terminal, chronic, critical illness, critical injury, Alzheimer’s Disease
- Guaranteed Insurability Option Rider
- Lifetime Income Benefit Rider
- Balance Sheet Benefit Rider
- Overloan Protection Rider
- Children’s Term Rider
- Waiver of Monthly Deductions Rider
- Waiver of Specified Premium Rider
PeakLife
PeakLife has a minimum face amount of $1,000,000 and only offered to insureds age 18 to 85. PeakLife is designed for emerging affluent market with the need for over $1,000,000 in life insurance protection. PeakLife offers higher funding limits and is typically used for building wealth to be used in supplemental retirement planning.
PeakLife also offers the lifetime income benefit rider. There are multiple interest crediting strategies available as well as 3 Enhancer bonus options. There is a charge for these enhancers and they may not be changed after the policy is issued.
The riders available for PeakLife are:
• Accelerated Benefits Riders – terminal, chronic, critical illness, critical injury
• Additional Protection Benefit Rider
• Balance Sheet Benefit Rider
• Benefit Distribution Option Rider
• Lifetime Income Benefit Rider
• Overloan Protection Rider
• Qualified Plan Exchange Privilege Rider
• Systematic Allocation Rider
• Waiver of Monthly Deductions Rider
• Waiver of Specified Premium Rider
SummitLife
National Life Summit Life is available to insureds age 0 to 85 and the minimum face amount is $1,000,000. SummitLife is exclusive for the affluent market. The policy is designed to help with wealth transfer planning, living benefits and the potential for guaranteed income for life.
SummitLife has a 10 year declining surrender charge period. The loan options available are:
- Participating Variable
- Participating Fixed
- Standard Loans
The riders available for SummitLife are:
- Accelerated Benefits Riders – terminal, chronic, critical illness, critical injury
- Additional Protection Benefit Rider
- Balance Sheet Benefit Rider
- Benefit Distribution Option Rider
- Death Benefit Protection Rider
- Lifetime Income Benefit Rider
- Overloan Protection Rider
- Qualified Plan Exchange Privilege Rider
- Systematic Allocation Rider
- Waiver of Monthly Deductions Rider
- Waiver of Specified Premium Ride
National Life EZ Underwriting Program
National Life offers an easier way to purchase life insurance through the EZ underwriting program. The program is available for insureds ages 18-65. Applicants that qualify will be able to skip the exam for coverage up to $3,000,000 for permanent products and up to $2,000,000 on term life insurance plans. If the applicant qualifies, the policy will be approved immediately.
Additional Products and Services Offered by National Life
Besides life insurance policies, National Life Group offers other products and services beneficial to consumers, including:
- IRAs (Individual Retirement Accounts) – This individual retirement account helps consumers save on a tax-deferred basis. The company provides both Roth and traditional IRAs.
- Mutual Funds – National Life group has a sizable market of mutual funds available. These include money market funds, income/bond funds, index funds, and stock/equity funds. They also offer EFTs, or exchange-traded funds.
- Retirement Plans – Not only does National Life Group cater to the needs of a company’s employees, but they also help to serve that company’s financial needs as well. One way it achieves this is by providing retirement plans, known as 403(b) and 457(b). These retirement options allow the employee to save for retirement on a tax-deferred basis, which allows their funds to increase and compound. Additionally, National Life Group offers retirement plan sponsor services.
- Retirement Annuities – With the climbing life expectancy rates, living beyond one’s income is a huge concern for most. An annuity can help in relieving this concern by providing a steady income for life. National Life Group suggests either their deferred or immediate annuities, which are classified as variable, fixed, or fixed indexed. Certain factors need to be considered when deciding on which annuity is appropriate, such as overall financial needs and goals, applicant’s time until retirement, and risk tolerance.
Getting the Best Rates with National Life Group
We can advise you on coverage from National Life Group, or any other life insurance provider for that matter.
Purchasing life insurance is a major decision, and there are many different factors to examine. In the end, you want to be confident that you’ve purchased the right plan for your specific requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is National Life Group considered to be a good life insurance company?
National Life Group has continually earned high ratings from the leading insurance rating agencies due to their financial strength and stability. This includes an “A” excellent rating from A.M. Best and an “A+” strong rating from Standard & Poor’s. Additionally, even though the company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), the carrier still has received an “A+” grade.
Does National Life Group offer permanent insurance products?
National Life Group does offer permanent insurance including whole life, universal life, indexed universal life and variable life.
Should I buy a life insurance policy with National Life Group?
Working with an independent life insurance broker or agency is the best way to ensure that you receive the most preferred premium rates of coverage from National Life Group, or any other life insurance provider for that matter. This way you are able to compare carriers, plans, and premium prices, and from there decide which is most advantageous for your budget and personal needs.
