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USAA
Our Take
In our review of 45 leading life insurers, USAA wins a spot on our list of the top life insurance companies for children as the best for financial stability. USAA has the highest possible financial strength rating, a high coverage limit for children’s whole life insurance, and a child term rider. However, your options for ge🐲tting coverage without a medical exam are limited.🎐
Top financial strength rating
High maximum coverage for children’s whole life
High coverage eligibility age for child term ride♛r
Extra perks for military personnel
Few options for no-medical exam policies
Same-day decision not available
USAA was founded in 1922 by a group of Army officers. It exclusively serves military members, veterans, and their families for non-life insurance products. However, USAA 's life insurance products, which it has sold since 1963, are available to anyone. The company is based in San Antonio and serves more than 13 million members nationally.
- AM Best Rating A++
- NAIC Complaint Rating Much better than expected for company size
- Policy Types Term, whole, universal
- Years in Business 102
- Customer Service Contact Phone
- Official Website //www.usaa.com/
Pros Explained
- Top financial strength rating: USAA has the highest possible grade from insurance credit rating agency AM Best.
- High maximum coverage for children’s whole life: You can buy up to $10 million in children’s whole life insurance coverage, which is as high as any insurer we reviewed.
- High coverage eligibility age for child term rider: The child term rider covers children until age 25, tied for the highest of the companies we reviewed.
- Extra perks for military personnel: When they leave the military, service members can buy extra coverage to replace their group life policy without having to take a medical exam. Service members getting ready to deploy can get policies approved faster, and they stay covered during wartime.
Cons Explained
- Few options for no-medical exam policies: USAA offers a no-medical exam policy, but only for a final expense policy with a max benefit of $25,000.
- Same-day decision not available: USAA requires most applicants to go through the underwriting process, so you likely won’t get a policy on the same day you apply.
Financial Stability
In the event of a life insurance claim, you’ll want the assurance that the insurance company you choose has the financial resources to pay the claim in full. AM Best grades insurance companies on their ability to pay future obligations, including claims.
USAA has an A++ (Superior) rating from AM Best, which is the highest possible rating. It is one of only seven of the 45 life insurance companies we evaluated that earned an A++ rating.
Customer Complaints
Another way to evaluate a life insurance company is to check its consumer complaint index. The National Association of Ins🎶urance Commissioners (NAIC෴) tracks the number of complaints state regulators receive about insurance companies. The NAIC complaint index measures whether the number of complaints an insurance company receives is higher or lower than expected based on the company’s size.
Over the past three years, USAA has had a complaint index of 0.283, which is lower than expected for a company of its size. Only 10 of the companies we evaluated had aꦺ lower index than USAA.
Types of Life Insurance Offered by USAA
Term Life Insurance
A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:term life insurance policy is temporary coverage. Often, peopl💎e buy term life insurance to give their loved ones financial security for a certain period of time. For example, you may consider a 30-year term policy to cover a 30-year mortgage to ensure your loved ones have a home if you die. When the term ends, you stop paying premiums and the coverage ends.
USAA offers the following term lengths:
- 10 years
- 15 years
- 20 years
- 25 years
- 30 years
USAA has special benefits for active-duty service members. The 🎐company covers them during war and pays up to $25,000 if they sustain a serious injury. You also get guaranteed coverage without having to take a medical exam after you leave the military.
Whole Life Insurance
A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:whole life insurance policy lasts your entire life as long as you keep paying the premiums. Whole life policies also have a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cash value component that may ea💦rn interest. You can borrow against the cash value portion of the policy or withdraw from it. The funds you withdraw are subtracted from the death benefit if you die before paying them back.
USAA offers flexible payment options for its policies. You can pay level premiums your whole life, until you turn 65, o𓆏r fully pay off your policy in 20 years.
Important
Your beneficiaries will not usually recei🍸ve the cash value when you die. They will only receive the death benefit less any withdrawals or loans you made against the cash value portion of the policy unless your policy states otherwise.
Children’s Whole Life Insurance
A children’s whole life policy is the same as a whole life policy for an 🌳adult. Not all companies issue life insurance ♐for minor children. USAA issues whole life policies for children starting at 15 days old.
USAA offers two options for insuring children. You can add a child t꧑erm rider to your own life in🗹surance policy or purchase a standalone whole life policy for the child.
Warning
USAA recommends that parents purchase their own life insurance policies before covering a child.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance is permanent insurance. While whole life policies typically have level premiums, universal life premiums and death benefit amounts are flexible. If there is enough cash value, those funds can be used to pay the premiums. A universal life insurance policy's gains can fluctuate if tied to the financial market, whereas a whole life policy offers a guaranteed interest rate.
USAA partners with John Hancock to sell universal life insurance. It’s available to cover people up to age 90 anཧd has a $50,000 coverage minimum. There’s a standard universal life option with a 1% minimum guaranteed interest rate for the cash value, and an indexed universal life policy with cash value growth tied to a market index, with caps on losses and gains.
Final Expense Insurance
Final expense insurance is also called funeral, burial, or pre-need insurance. Final expense insurance death benefit limits are usually $50,000 or less. This type of policy is designed to relieve your loved ones from the financial burden of final expenses, such as medical costs🥃, a funeral, cremationꦡ, a casket, and other associated costs.
USAA offers up to $25,000 in final expense insꦆurance. Other companies, such as Nationwide, offer fin๊al expense insurance coverage up to $50,000.
USAA’s final expense policy is issued through Mutual of Omaha. This i꧑s a guaranteed-issue policy, which means the company won’t ask you any health questions, and you won’t have to take a medical exam. It’s available for people between the ages of 45 and 85 (50 to 75 in New York🌳).
Does ꦰUSAA Require a Life Insurance Medical Exam?
USAA requires a life insurance medical exam for most policies. The only policy it offers without a medical exam is the final expense l🦩ife insurance policy.
Available Riders From USAA
Riders allow you to customize your life insurance policy to your individual needs by🐻 providing additional coverage ꦇor payments.
Insurance companies often include one or more riders at no cost, and they🌌 may offer optional riders for an additional premium.
- Child term rider: USAA allows you to add a child term rider for an additional premium, giving you a limited amount of term life insurance for your children to pay for funeral or burial expenses if they die before adulthood. The USAA child term rider covers children until they’re 25, and they can convert the rider into permanent coverage without a medical exam when they reach adulthood.
- Waiver of premium: Finances can become challenging if you become disabled. A 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:waiver of premium rider suspends your premium payments if you become disabled because of a covered accident or illness. USAA offers this rider for people aged 15 to 55.
- Disability income: USAA offers a Military Severe Injury Benefit Rider that pays $25,000 if the service member gets injured while performing eligible military duties.
- 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Accelerated death benefit: This rider pays out part of the death benefit early if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. The funds can help cover medical appointments, hospice, and other end-of-life costs.
- Accidental Death Benefit: This rider increases the death benefit if your death is accidental.
Warning
Accidental death benefit riders often exclude certain types of accidental deaths. Read your policy careful⛦ly to understand the circumstances under which this rider applies.
How Much Does USAA Life Insurance Cost?
The cost of a term life policy with USAA is above average compared꧟ to other companies we evaluated for men and women in the 30- and 40-year-old age range.
30-Year-Old Female |
30-Year-Old Male | 40-Year-Old Female | 40-Year-Old Male |
---|---|---|---|
$22.70 | $23.11 | $32.49 | $33.32 |
How Much Does USAA Life In🍌surance Cost for Older Adults?
We couldn’t get quotes for USAA term life insurance for older adults. You must speak with a licensed USAA agent to learn how much these policies co𝓡st.
🧔 How Does USAA Compare to Other Life Insurance Compan𝓀ies?
The following table gives you a snapshot of how USAA compares to compꦇanies with a similar offering of life insurance products.
USAA | Nationwide | Penn Mutual | |
---|---|---|---|
AM Best Rating | A++ | A+ | A+ |
NAIC Complaint Index (3-year average) | 0.283 (much better than expected for company size) | 0.372 (much better than expected for company size) | 0.109 (much better than expected for company size) |
Price for Term Policies* | $33.32 | $31.50 | $28.29 |
Policy Types | Term, whole, universal | Term, universal, whole, variable | Term, whole, universal |
Dividends for 2024 | Not applicable | Not applicable | 5.75% |
Online Application | Available | Available | Not available |
How to Buy Life Insurance From USAA
You can get a quote for life insur𒁏ance online or by calling customer serviಌce. For universal life insurance questions, you will be transferred to a licensed life insurance agent with John Hancock.
Customer Service
Medium | Contact Info | Availability |
---|---|---|
Phone | 800-531-8722 | Monday–Friday, 7:30 a.m.–8 p.m. Central Time |
The Bottom Line
While USAA doesn’t o༒ffer home, auto, or other types of insurance to anyone other th﷽an military members and their families, its life insurance policies are available to anyone.
While most applicants must undergo the un﷽derwriting process and will likely need to schedule a medical exam, USAA’s strong financial ratings and 🦄policy offerings make it worthwhile to get a quote.
USAA is a strong life in꧟surance contender for veterans and current service members, especially if they have families.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Who Is Eligible for USAA Life Insurance?
USAA life 💫insurance is avail🐓able to everyone, regardless of whether they formally served in the armed forces.
Does USAA Life Insurance Have Living Benefits?
USAA offers living benefits in two ways. Its whole life and final expense policies may accumulate interest in a cash value account. As a policyholder, you may take out a loan against the cash value or make a withdrawal with the option to pay the funds back. USAA also offers living benefits with some of its riders, such as the waiver of premium rider, accelerated death benefit rider, ꩲand disability income rider.
Can I Cash Out My USAA Life Insurance Policy?
It depends on the type of policy you have. You cannot cash out a term life policy as it doesn’t build cash value. You can cash out a whole life insurance policy, but you would only be entitled to the amount of the cash value minus any loans or withdrawals. You may have to pay surrender charges, and there could be tax implications for cashing out a permanent life insurance💖 policy.
How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
There are multiple ways to figure out 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:how much life insurance you need. Some advisors suggest getting the equivalent of 10 times your income by 10. Another method is the DIME method, which considers your debts, income, mortgage balance, and education expenses.
How We Review Life Insurance Companies
To compile our list of the best life insurance companies, Investopedia first conducted preliminary research on dozens of♒ life insurance companies and determined that 45 met our minimum standard for financial strength, customer satisfaction, and online transparency. For each of these, we then gathered a total of 70 evaluation criteria, resulting in 3,150 data points altogether. Data was collected between May 20 and July 3, 2024, and sourced from company webpages, media representatives, expert rating agencies (AM Best, NAIC, and J.D. Power), and customer service calls.
We combined subject matter expertise, ✨consumer survey and company survey data, and industry research to create a quantitative model that scores each company based on six major categories:
- Application and Online Service Features: 15%
- Policy Types: 22%
- Policy Features and Riders: 35%
- Financial Stability: 6%
- Customer Satisfaction: 10%
- Cost: 12%
For more information, read our full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:methodology explanation.
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