Hey everyone, I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and the importance of having a solid life insurance policy in place to protect my family financially. With so many companies and plans out there, I’m finding it quite overwhelming to make a decision. I’ve read a bit online, but personal experiences and recommendations always seem to offer the best insights.
For those of you who have already gone through this process, could you share which life insurance companies you found to be top-rated? What made you choose them? Were there specific benefits or features that stood out to you? Any tips on what to look for or what to avoid would be greatly appreciated!
As a married man with substantial assets and a financially independent spouse, I do not see the need for life insurance. Our only debt is a credit card balance that we pay off monthly. I prefer to invest the money we would spend on premiums. If you have dependents, life insurance is essential, but otherwise, investing the funds may be a better option.
Insurance is typically designed so that you pay more into it than you receive, with the expectation that you won’t need to make a claim unless something goes wrong. In the case of life insurance, I’m safeguarding my family in the event of my untimely death. If that happens, they would receive a substantial payout. However, if I live a long life and don’t need to claim, I’ll end up paying many premiums and my beneficiaries will receive a modest payout when I eventually pass away.
There are at least five agencies that rate the strength of insurance companies: A.M. Best, Fitch, Kroll Bond Rating Agency KBRA, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s.
To simplify comparisons, you can use the COMDEX ranking, a composite score computed using ratings from four of these five agencies, excluding KBRA. This score gives you a percentile ranking from 100 to 1.
For instance, you can view the 2022 COMDEX rankings for the top 150 insurance companies at:
2022 COMDEX Rankings
You can also search and find rankings for over 700 insurance companies.
Much like a credit score, once insurance companies pass a certain threshold, they are all considered strong. At that point, decisions should be based on customer experience and other factors.