If you’re seeking a straightforward and budget-friendly life insurance option, term life insurance is a strong contender. While it lacks the cash value component of whole life insurance, term life provides crucial financial protection for your family during your peak earning years. Given its temporary nature, the criteria for evaluating a good term life insurance policy differ from those used for other types of life insurance. We’ve considered a range of factors, including eligibility requirements, premium rates, policy conversion options, and companies that cater to specific groups such as military personnel and low-income parents. Below are our top picks for the best term life insurance policies in 2025.
Best Term Life Insurance Policies of 2025
- Best Overall: Legal & General America Life Insurance
- Best for Affordability: Protective Life
- Best No Medical Exam: Brighthouse Financial Life Insurance
- Best for Customer Service: State Farm Life Insurance
- Best for Whole Life Conversions: Pacific Life
- Best for Seniors: Prudential Life Insurance
- Best for Foreign Nationals: Transamerica Life Insurance
- Best for Military Personnel: USAA Life Insurance
- Best for Low-Income Parents: MassMutual Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance Providers
Introduction to Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance provides insurance coverage for a specific timeframe, commonly ranging from 10 to 30 years, though shorter and longer terms are available. Because these policies do not guarantee a payout (in fact, many term life insurance policies never pay out), their premiums are lower than those of permanent life insurance policies. Term life insurance is particularly suitable if you need coverage for a specific, defined period or have temporary financial obligations to address. For example, if you’re paying off a mortgage or planning to cover college tuition, a term life policy can help ease the financial strain on your loved ones if you are no longer around to make payments.
How to Choose the Best Term Life Insurance Company
Determine Your Coverage Needs
Before choosing the best term life insurance, you need to understand your individual needs and desired outcomes from a term life policy. Think realistically about your goals and financial status – considering your income, debts, and dependents – before you start a serious search for term life insurance. Reflect on the possibility that your goals might be better met by a different type of life insurance.
Consider Financial Strength
Once you’ve confirmed that term life insurance is the right choice for you, compare different life insurance companies by looking into their financial strength. You will be dealing with the company for many years, so it’s important to ensure that they are financially stable and that they will be able to issue a payout if the worst happens. Pay close attention to assessments from the rating agencies:
- AM Best
- Standard & Poor’s
- Fitch
- Moody’s Investors Service
Read Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are often the best way to gain insight into how a life insurance company operates. Pay attention to any issues with claims, policy flexibility, and how easily the company was to reach. Some companies respond to customer reviews; you may also want to take note of this. The best places to find customer reviews for life insurance companies are Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau. However, you’ll find customer testimonies across a wide array of platforms. Even life insurance reviews on Reddit can help you gain a better understanding of a company.
You may also want to get a sense of customer reviews from third-party organizations, like J.D. Power and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Get Term Life Quotes
Getting quotes for life insurance can be complicated because many companies require that you fill out a lengthy health questionnaire before getting a quote. Having your medical information on hand can be helpful. That said, term life insurance quotes are typically easier to acquire than those for permanent life insurance, as term life quotes are often obtainable online. Most companies require you to talk to an insurance agent to get permanent life insurance quotes.
Understand Policy Features
You should have a complete understanding of any term life insurance policies that you’re considering. Assess any exclusions and optional riders that can be added to your policy. For example, consider a return of premium rider if you might outlive your policy. Also, determine if a company offers convertible life insurance policies and the terms and requirements associated with a term life conversion.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed the Best Term Life Insurance
We base our picks for the best term life products on a company’s customer satisfaction scores, offerings, financial stability ratings, and affordability.
- Customer satisfaction: We assess customer service practices using J.D. Power’s life insurance customer satisfaction survey. Life insurance companies with scores greater than 774 out of 1000 are considered above the industry standard.
- Company offerings: We compare each company’s offerings, including but not limited to riders, policy flexibility, no medical exam options, and instant approvals.
- Financial stability ratings: We use AM Best, a leading credit rating agency, to assess an insurance company’s financial health. A company with an A++ to B+ is stable and likely to be around for years. On the other hand, a rating lower than B means that a company is unstable or will be unable to meet its financial obligations.
- Affordability: A reasonable monthly premium is in line with or below the average cost of life insurance, according to our article on average life insurance rates, which is between $40 to $55 a month.
FAQs
What is the best amount of term life insurance? The best amount of term life insurance is generally as much as you can comfortably afford. However, a common rule of thumb for calculating your life insurance needs is to multiply your annual income by 10.
Which company is best for term life insurance? The best company for term life insurance will ideally offer great coverage and a smooth claims experience at the best price. Banner Life Insurance’s OpTerm policy provides affordable and comprehensive coverage for diverse age groups.
What is the major negative to term life insurance? The biggest downside of term life insurance is that coverage ends once the specified term is over. Unlike some whole life insurance policies, term life insurance policies don’t accumulate cash value.
Can you cash out term life insurance? You cannot cash out a term life insurance policy because this type of insurance does not have a cash value. With a whole life insurance policy, however, you might be able to accrue cash value and cash it out during your lifetime to cover expenses.
Do you get your money back at the end of a term life insurance policy? Typically, you do not receive a refund of your premiums when a term life insurance policy ends or is canceled. However, you could receive money back if you specifically have a return of premium policy. Note that this type of policy is more expensive than a standard term policy.
