Why Trust Us

Every Investopedia product review and list of best providers resu💎lts from a lengthy research process and objective analysis by staff editors and researchers. We created this list of the best👍 return-of-premium term life insurance providers after collecting dozens of data points related to criteria from six companies that offer the product and meet our minimum standards for inclusion. The criteria helped us evaluate each company’s costs, coverage options, financial stability, and other features to help you choose the best provider for you.

Investopedia has been ♔a trustworthy source of financial information since 1999 and has been reviewing life insurance companies si🐠nce 2020. 

What Is Return-of-Premium Life Insurance?

Return-of-premium (ROP) life insurance is a type of temporary 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:term life insurance that allows policyholders to get their paid premiums back if they outlive the coverage. When premiums are returned, that money is tax-free. If a policyholder dies while they’re covered, their designated beneficiaries will get the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:death benefit.

This means that if you keep the coverage for the term, you’re guarantee🎐d to get some payout: either you’ll get your premiums back or your beneficiaries will receive the death benefit. Because of this, ROP insurance policies are typically muc♓h more expensive than traditional term life insurance policies, which keep all your premiums if you outlive the coverage.

Who Is Return-of-Premium✱ Life Insurance Good 𒁏For?

ROP insurance is best for people who are willing to pay higher premiums in exchange fo⛎r the peace of mind that their premiums will be returned back to them if they outlive their policy. The policy essentially forces you to save up money along with your life insurance coverage.

Before buying ROP term life insurance, think carefullyཧ about whether you’ll keep the coverage the entire time. If you cancel before the end of the term, the policy may not pay any money back, so you’ll pay more expensive premiums for no added benefit.෴

To figure out whether 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:ROP insurance is right for you, you should also consider the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:opportunity cost—or what you could earn by putting your money towards another investment instead. For example, if you outlive your ROP policy and get back the premiums you paid on a 20-year policy, the total payout could lose value due to inflation and rising prices. In other words, you end up less wealthy than you started because of inflation.

If you had chosen to buy a traditional term policy and invested the extra premiums in the stock market instead, your money could be worth more, depending on market conditions and the economy. The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:S&P 500 has had an inflation-adjusted annualized return of more than 6% since 1957. But of course, past returns don’t guarantee future returns, and you are at risk of losing money in the stock market.  Additionally, your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:investment income may be subject to taxes. 

Ultimately, it’s a tradeoff. Decide whether you’d prefer ge✅tting ജyour premiums back guaranteed or if you’d rather try investing for the chance of building greater wealth. 

Pros & Cons of Ret𒊎urn-of-Premium Life Insurance

Pros Explained

• Premiums are returned if you outlive the policy: If a policyholder outlives their term life insurance policy, they’ll get back the total amount of premiums they spent on the policy.
• Returned premiums are tax-free: If the insurance company ends up returning your premiums, that payourt is tax-free.
• May let you borrow against the paid premiums: Some ROP term policies let you 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:borrow 🐓against the value of your paid-up premium🎉s. This gives you access to money while the coverage is in force. Traditional term policies do not have this benefit.

Cons Explained

• More expensive premiums: Whether you opt for an ROP policy or a term life insurance policy with an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:ROP rider, the premiums are generally more expensive than the premiums you’d pay for a typical term life insurance policy.
• Opportunity cost: While policyholders are returned their premiums if they outlive their policy, they aren’t getting a return on that money. The total amount you get back in premiums could be worth less in the future due to inflation. Some people may be better off opting for term life insurance without an ROP rider and then investing the difference between the two policies.
• Premiums aren’t returned in certain cases: If you miss payments or cancel your policy prematurely, you may not receive a refund of your premiums.
  

▨How We Chose the Best Life Insuran🍨ce With Return of Premium

To come up with this list of the best return-of-premium life insurance providers, Investopedia editors and researchers first determined which companies to include in our research. We surveyed hundreds of recent life insurance buyers to understand what was important to them. We also consulted market share intelligence and other indicators of company relevance, ruling out providers that didn’𓃲t meet Investopedia standards for online transparency, financial strength, and customer complaint ratings. That gave us a list of 45 companies. Among those, six offer life insurance with return of premium.

Investopedia researchers collected dozens of data points related to 76 criteria between May 20 and July 3, 2024 and Jan. 6 and 17, 2025. We unearthed the data from company websites, media representatives, rating agencies, (AM Best, National Association of Insurance Commissione⛎rs (NAIC), and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:J.D. Power), and customer service calls. 

Staff editors and research analysts then created a quantitative model that scored each company based on six major catego🍸ries. We weighted the categories as follows:

• Coverage: 28%
• Policy Features and Riders: 25%
• Cost: 17%
• Customer Satisfaction: 13%
• Financial Stability: 13%
• Application and Online Service Features: 4%

For more information, read our full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:methodology explanation.