Best Life Insurance Companies
Life insurance is a critical financial tool that can provide security for your family. Selecting the right policy means they’ll be financially secure after you’re gone. Careful consideration of different factors is essential when shopping for a life insurance policy.
This guide to the best life insurance companies of 2025 provides an overview of several highly-rated insurers and the specific types of policies for which they excel. We considered key metrics that are important to consumers, including those that are used by financial advisors in their evaluation of life insurance products. This helps to ensure potential policyholders can select the right insurance to help safeguard their family’s financial future.
Best Life Insurance Companies
- Pacific Life – Best Overall
- Protective – Best for Indexed Universal Life Insurance
- Prudential – Great for Reliable Policy Illustrations
- Lincoln Financial – Great for Variable Universal Life Insurance
- MassMutual – Best for Financial Strength
- Nationwide – Great for Young Adults
- Mutual of Omaha – Best for Investment Performance
- Penn Mutual – Best for Universal Life Insurance
We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of both term and permanent policies, the reliability of policy illustrations, how quickly policies build cash value, and the insurers’ financial strength. Our editors are committed to providing unbiased ratings and information, and advertisers do not influence our ratings. We use data-driven methodologies to ensure all companies are measured equally.
Best Life Insurance Companies Ranked
Pacific Life
- Rating: 5.0
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, universal, indexed universal, variable universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $128/year, Male: $145/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Pacific Life’s life insurance received high marks in our analysis. The company also has highly reliable illustrations and builds cash value relatively quickly with most of its policies. For term life buyers, the PL Promise Term policy offers low rates.
“Pacific Life has a long history of offering products with low costs and competitive investment options. However, the costs of some newer products can be higher, and some newer investment options have been underperforming expectations. As such, be sure to ask your financial advisor 1) whether internal policy costs are higher or lower than industry benchmarks, and 2) for the actual track record of recommended investment options,”
Advises Barry D. Flagg, founder of Veralytic and a Forbes Advisor board member.
Pros & Cons:
- Competitive term life insurance rates for smokers.
- The website offers informative details for each policy.
- Easy access to a Pacific Life representative through a contact form or toll-free number.
- Conversion of term life policies is limited to universal life insurance.
Protective
- Rating: 5.0
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, universal, indexed universal, variable universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $127/year, Male: $144/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Protective’s indexed universal life insurance policies earned top marks due to their cost-competitiveness. Protective also maintains stellar historical investment performance with its indexed universal life policies. Strong investment performance helps maintain low costs.
Pros & Cons:
- Choice of up to seven cash value policies if you convert a Protective term life policy.
- Superior historical performance of company investments helps keep premiums low.
- Toll-free number is helpful for shoppers who are seeking quotes, need help applying or have policy questions.
- Cash value accumulation may be moderately slow in the early years of a policy.
- Policy-specific details are not easy to find on the company’s website, which can make shopping difficult.
Prudential
- Rating: 4.5
- Best for: Reliable policy illustrations
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, indexed universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $168/year, Male: $185/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Prudential earned a high ranking because of its reliable policy illustrations. This is important for policyholders because having reliable expectations of funding requirements and cash value growth helps develop a better financial plan. Prudential’s Term Essential policy offers competitive term life rates, though it doesn’t have as many term length options.
Forbes Advisor board member Barry D. Flagg, notes that regulations in many states permit insurers to quote low premiums or project high account growth, giving the appearance of low costs while instead actually charging high costs with high risks of underperformance.
Lincoln Financial
- Rating: 4.4
- Best for: Variable universal life insurance
- Policies Offered: Term, guaranteed universal, variable universal, fixed-rate universal, indexed universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $134/year, Male: $152/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A (Excellent)
Lincoln Financial provides reliable policy illustrations for those considering a variable universal life policy. The company features some of the lowest-cost joint life products that have multiple investment options. Lincoln Financial’s TermAccel policy offers competitive rates, and its website is helpful.
Pros & Cons:
- Relatively low internal policy costs for Lincoln’s permanent policies.
- Website is helpful, including details about the policies.
- Poor access to cash value early on in policies.
- Investment performance has been so-so, affecting cash value growth.
- Non-customers may find it difficult to speak with someone about policy questions.
MassMutual
- Rating: 4.4
- Best for: Financial Strength
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, universal, variable universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $158/year, Male: $175/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A++ (Superior)
MassMutual’s superior financial strength gives buyers confidence to hold their policies for decades and helps to grow cash value faster.
MassMutual’s whole life policies can be great for those seeking safety and security, given MassMutual’s high ratings for financial strength and claims-paying ability.
Says Forbes Advisor board member, Barry D. Flagg.
Pros & Cons:
- Cash value builds well early on in variable universal and whole life policies.
- Policy illustrations for variable universal policies are very reliable.
- Internal policy costs for cash value policies are high.
- Policy illustrations for whole life policies are not highly reliable.
- Term life rates are average.
Nationwide
- Rating: 4.4
- Best for: Young Adults
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, indexed universal, guaranteed universal, variable universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $173/year, Male: $180/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Nationwide provides reliable policy illustrations, which is especially important for young buyers. The company has a wide array of investment options and Nationwide’s internal costs for cash value policies are modestly low.
Pros & Cons:
- Wide variety of life insurance riders available.
- Website is shopper-friendly, with the option to view guides with detailed product information.
- Nationwide’s investments have historically performed poorly compared to competitors.
- Cash value growth may be slow on some policies.
Mutual of Omaha
- Rating: 4.3
- Best for: Investment Performance
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, universal, indexed universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $155/year, Male: $170/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Mutual of Omaha has excellent historical investment performance, which means the potential for strong cash value growth. It is also has low internal policy costs for cash value policies. Veralytic founder and Forbes Advisor board member Barry D. Flagg noted that Mutual of Omaha is highly-rated for financial strength and the competitiveness of internal policy costs.
Pros & Cons:
- Reliable financial strength indicates Mutual of Omaha’s ability to pay future claims.
- Intuitive website includes a tool to narrow down the available policy types.
- Website virtual assistant is helpful.
- Policy illustrations can be unreliable.
- Not all Mutual of Omaha permanent policies have early cash value growth.
Penn Mutual
- Rating: 4.2
- Best for: Universal Life Insurance
- Policies Offered: Term, whole, guaranteed universal, variable universal, indexed universal
- Average term life cost (30-year-old buying 20-year, $250K policy): Female: $127/year, Male: $145/year
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+ (Superior)
Penn Mutual’s universal life (UL) insurance policies offer a great combination of financial strength and superior historical investment performance. Penn Mutual also has low rates for its non-convertible term life policy.
Penn Mutual is one of the highest-rated insurers for financial strength and claims-paying ability. It offers universal life products with broadly competitive internal policy costs across most ages, health risk classes and face amounts. Penn Mutual also offers generally reliable quotes and policy illustrations, good access to cash value in some of its products and superior historical performance of invested assets underlying policy account values.
Forbes Advisor board member Barry D. Flagg observed.
Pros & Cons:
- Very competitive rates for non-convertible term life insurance.
- Term life conversion is available to any Penn Mutual permanent life insurance policy.
- The company’s investments have performed well.
- Pricey rates for term life that is convertible to permanent life insurance.
- Policy illustration reliability is generally poor.
- Not all permanent policies build cash value well early on.
- Website lacks policy details and is not helpful for shoppers.
Expert Tips
How Do I Choose the Best Life Insurance?
- Establish your financial goals: Find the right policy for the goals you and your family have established.
- Check financial strength ratings: Ensure the companies you consider have an A rating or higher for financial strength.
- Work with experienced professionals: An experienced life insurance agent or financial advisor will know which insurers are most likely to give the best price based on your age and health.
How Much Does a Life Insurance Policy Cost?
The average cost of life insurance depends on the type and coverage amount of the policy, as well as the buyer’s age, health, and gender.
- Term life insurance costs an average of $217 a year for a 30-year-old woman for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy.
- Whole life insurance costs an average of $3,945 a year for the same woman with $500,000 coverage.
For a male buyer of the same age and coverage, term life insurance costs an average of $257 per year, while whole life insurance costs $4,375 per year.
