Best Life Insurance for 50-Year-Olds in April 2023

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

• MoneyGeek Score: 97.4
  
• J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 820.5
  
• AM Best Rating: A++
  
• NAIC Complaint Index: 0.19

MoneyGeek's Take: State Farm offers a wide range of customizable policies to best fit your needs. Out of 21 insurance providers, State Farms ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power’s 2021 life insurance study.

State Farm provides universal, whole and term life insurance. Their universal life insurance allows you to adjust your coverage and premium, with a minimum coverage limit of $25,000 if you're 55–85 years old and $50,000 if you’re 18–54 years old.

State Farm generally has flexible policies where you can adjust your premiums and coverage. You can customize policies by adding optional riders like the Children’s Term Rider and Estate Preservation Rider. They also offer a waiver of premium for disability if you are disabled for six continuous months before 60.

Individuals 50–80 years old may qualify for their final expense insurance, where a death benefit of $10,000 is guaranteed as long as premiums are paid. With this policy, you can also pay either monthly or annually based on what works best for you. Your loved ones have the freedom to choose if they will use the benefit for burial expenses or other costs.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Return of premium term life
• Instant answer term
• Universal life
• Final expense

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 80
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 736.4
AM Best Rating: A
NAIC Complaint Index: 1.30

MoneyGeek's Take: Although Transamerica has lower J.D. Power scores than many of its competitors, it has the lowest overall premium for 50-year-olds, costing an average of $41.28 per month for $250,000 coverage.

Transamerica provides term, whole and universal life policies. Their whole life coverage ranges from $25,000–$2 million with fixed monthly premiums.

They also offer numerous optional riders — like the accidental death benefit rider, terminal illness accelerated death rider and overloan protection rider — which can help further protect your loved ones.

Another reason why Transamerica stands out is because of its personalized Income Protection Option. This added perk lets you customize your death benefit since you define the payout amount, who receives it and for how long they benefit. You can choose your payout method, such as an initial lump sum, guaranteed monthly income for 25 years, final lump sum or a combination of these.

Transamerica also offers Final Expense Life coverage with income-tax-free death benefits ranging between $1,000 and $50,000. Once you apply, coverage begins immediately, with the exception of the company’s Easy Solution graded death benefit.

Policyholders may be eligible to convert some or all coverage to permanent insurance without a medical exam. Additionally, if you are in poor health and pay higher premiums but want to work toward becoming healthier, Transamerica grants opportunities for you to qualify for lower rates.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Final expense life
• Index universal life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 90.8
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 783.4
AM Best Rating: A+
NAIC Complaint Index: 1.20

MoneyGeek's Take: If you don’t have the best medical history, Mutual of Omaha may fit your needs since they offer competitive pricing for individuals with anxiety, arthritis and other complex health conditions.

Unlike other insurance companies, Mutual of Omaha provides lower costs for individuals with preexisting conditions. The provider is ideal for individuals with medical conditions like scoliosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, herpes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and more.

Individuals working toward getting healthier may qualify for lower rates as well. However, you must wait for a year before gaining eligibility. Therefore, if you’re a smoker, tobacco user or nicotine user that wants to quit and get more affordable premiums, you need to wait 12 months before you can qualify for a lower rate.

Mutual of Omaha also has various riders and waivers like the Dependent Children’s Rider, Disability Waiver of Premium Rider, Residential Damage Waiver of Premium Rider, Common Carrier Death Benefit and more.

Guaranteed whole life insurance coverage has fixed rates that start at $2,000 and go up to $25,000. If you’re 45–80 years old, you can get guaranteed coverage without a medical exam or health questions.

The provider offers a program called AccumUL Answers for universal life. Policyholders have a face amount of $25,000 and flexibility to change the premium once during the policy year.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Accidental death
• Children's whole life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

• MoneyGeek Score: 88.6
  
• J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 785.5
  
• AM Best Rating: A+
  
• NAIC Complaint Index: 0.10

MoneyGeek's Take: Insurance companies generally charge up to three times the regular rate if you’re in poor health or a smoker. But compared to other insurers, Nationwide has lower costs for smokers or individuals with a high BMI.

Nationwide provides traditional term life, whole life and universal life policies. They also have Nationwide Simplified Whole Life, where you can apply even if you’re a smoker. You must be between the ages of 18 and 80, and the plan provides death benefits from $10,000–$50,000. You can get a return of premium along with 7% annual interest. However, no riders are available for this policy.

If you’re looking for universal life insurance, death benefit protection and possible cash value accumulation, check the Nationwide Variable Universal Life Accumulator. Individuals aged 18–85 can apply and get coverage for a $100,000 minimum. You can add several riders like the Waiver of Monthly Deductions Rider and Overloan Lapse Protection.

Death benefits include accidental death, additional term insurance and children's term insurance. When applying for this policy, there are underwriting classes where the provider considers your age and whether you're a tobacco user.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Nationwide simplified whole life
• Universal life
• Nationwide guaranteed level term

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

• MoneyGeek Score: N/A
  
• J.D. Power (out of 1,000): N/A
  
• AM Best Rating: A
  
• NAIC Complaint Index: N/A

MoneyGeek's Take: It is common for insurance providers to require medical exams before you complete your life insurance application. However, Ethos generally makes it easy to apply for coverage since you only need to answer a couple of health questions.

With Ethos, you can apply for insurance online in just a few minutes. It’s a quick and easy process since you don’t need to take a medical exam or undergo blood tests. Qualified policyholders don’t need to wait for an extended period since you get same-day coverage, which is relatively quick compared to other insurance providers.

Ethos offers term life insurance for individuals between the ages of 20 and 65. You can decide if you want a term length of 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. Benefit amounts start at $20,000 and go up to $1.5 million, depending on how you qualify. If you pass away before your term ends, your beneficiaries will receive a death benefit. The accelerated death benefit is included in all Ethos policies.

Without many customer complaints for a company its size, Ethos has also garnered an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Guaranteed issue whole life

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 84.5
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 758.1
AM Best Rating: A++
NAIC Complaint Index: 0.07

MoneyGeek's Take: MassMutual’s wide product offerings include a range of financial products and services. For their whole life policy, you can earn dividends, grow your cash value and get guaranteed premiums.

MassMutual offers the typical term life, universal life and whole life policies. With whole life coverage, you’re covered for life and can also get income to support you once you’re retired. When you pass away, your loved ones get a guaranteed death benefit paid as a lump sum.

If you're looking to build cash value, you can access it through partial policy surrender or a loan. You also have the opportunity to earn valuable dividends, which can be used to pay premiums, buy more life insurance or take as cash.

You can add CareChoice Select to your whole life policy, which is an added benefit that focuses on your long-term care. You get financial support for your medical care, nursing home and other medical or hospital expenses. Premiums with this added perk are payable for 12 years. This policy also has a surrender value that increases over time, so if you cancel the policy early, you will get back some of the money you paid into the policy.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Variable universal life
• HealthBridge
• Long-term care (CareChoice)

COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS

MoneyGeek Score: 80
J.D. Power (out of 1,000): 736.4
AM Best Rating: A
NAIC Complaint Index: 1.30

MoneyGeek's Take: Transamerica offers the most affordable monthly premiums for a high-value policy, costing $135.88 per month on average. Most other insurance companies charge around $30–$40 more, giving Transamerica a significant advantage over the competition.

For individuals 46 years old and above, the highest possible coverage you can get with nonmedical underwriting is $1 million. However, you can receive as much as $10 million with medical underwriting. Transamerica provides two term life insurance policies, the Trendsetter Super and Trendsetter LB. Consider your health background, as the provider will look at your health rating and offer different quotes to smokers, nonsmokers, tobacco and non-tobacco users.

The Trendsetter Super is a customizable policy that you can adjust to match your unique needs. This policy also has a high death benefit of $10 million. On the other hand, the Trendsetter LB includes living benefits. You can access $1.5 of death benefits early if you qualify, while your living benefits have a maximum limit of $2 million. If you're eligible for chronic, critical or terminal illness coverage, you may accelerate a portion of your face amount.

Policy Types Offered:

• Term life
• Whole life
• Universal life
• Final expense life
• Trendsetter LB
• Trendsetter Super