MassMutual Life Insurance Company – Review

MassMutual was founded in 1851 and has since excelled in delivering life insurance products, quality financial products, and outstanding customer service. As a mutually owned life insurer, MassMutual operates in a manner that will benefit policyholders rather than stockholders. The company consistently focuses on long-term issues rather than the short term

MassMutual operates similar to many of the better known national insurers and offers various financial products that include but are not limited to:

• Annuities
• Investments
• Long-Term Care Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Disability Income Insurance
• Workplace Benefits
• Wealth Management and Trust Services

While they focus on individuals and their families, MassMutual’s product selection is designed to meet long-term financial needs and financial protection. The company has consistently maintained an A++ rating with A.M. Best Rating Services, and the financial outlook for the company continues to be “stable,” meaning they can meet their financial commitments to policyholders. The company makes their financial products available through a vast distribution system that includes independent and career agents.

As a mutually owned life insurer, MassMutual has an excellent history of refunding premium dollars to policyholders through dividend payments to participating policyholders. In fact, the most recent dividend approval was over $1.6 billion dollars. While dividends are not guaranteed every year, the company has paid dividends to its policyholders every year since 1869.

Life Insurance Products

Customers and prospective customers have a substantial selection of products to choose from, and virtually every need of the policyholder can be met in an affordable fashion.

Whole Life Insurance

 Whole life insurance is considered a permanent policy since it will remain in force for the life of the insured as long as the periodic premiums are paid. This lifetime guarantee makes Whole Life an optimal choice for policyholders who may be concerned about having coverage that is guaranteed and cannot be canceled due to age or illness. The guarantees that are provided by a whole life insurance policy include:

• Guaranteed level premium
• Guaranteed death benefit
• Guaranteed cash value accumulation
• Guaranteed return

MassMutual also offers various riders that provide the options needed to allow the policyholder to broaden their coverage and design an insurance policy that meets their individual needs and budget. Riders available for the whole life policy include but are not limited to:

• Term Life insurance
• Life Insurance supplemental rider
• Paid up Additions
• Additional Insured
• Guaranteed Insurability
• Child Term Rider

It’s also important to point out that with a whole life policy, the policyholder can access the cash value that has accumulated over time through policy loans that do not require repayment. Also, the dividends from the insurer can be taken as cash,  used to offset a portion of future premiums, offset a policy loan, added to the cash value account, or purchase additional insurance coverage.

Guaranteed Acceptance Life

 MassMutual’s Guaranteed Acceptance Life product is primarily purchased by applicants who may have been denied traditional life insurance or are seeking final expense insurance to relieve their surviving loved ones from a financial burden. This is whole life insurance that offers the same benefits as their traditional whole life policy and is available to applicants age 50 to 75. The maximum death benefit is $25,000. Guaranteed acceptance means that you will qualify for insurance coverage without having to take a medical exam or answer questions about your health.

Term Life Insurance

 MassMutual’s Term Insurance is a typical term insurance product and similar to many others in the marketplace. These term policies are available with 5, 10, 20, and 30-year terms. All of the company’s term products provide a conversion privilege that allows the policyholder to convert all or part of the policy to one of the MassMutual permanent products.

This valuable conversion privilege plays an important part in financially securing you surviving loved ones because you can purchase large amounts of insurance to cover the debt that has accumulated, and then convert your policy to permanent insurance when your debt has been substantially reduced, and a lower death benefit makes more sense.

Universal Life Insurance

 MassMutual’s Universal Life insurance products are extremely affordable and are a great choice for individuals seeking permanent insurance that has the flexibility to change and then meet their needs over a lifetime. Life events such as marriage, divorce, a home purchase, and childbirth will usually require a change in your policy benefits that will coincide with your life changes, and Universal Life is the only product that is flexible enough to meet your needs.

For policyholder looking to build their cash accounts quickly, periodic premiums can be increased to allow for a faster cash accumulation. Access to the cash account can be done through tax-free policy loans or a partial surrender, and the loans do not have to be repaid by the policyholder.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

Not only is MassMutual very competitive in the marketplace, but they will also have product riders that are likely to meet the needs of every policyholder. The company’s service is outstanding since the company is owned by policyholders rather than stockholders.

Disadvantages:

In an age of time-saving technology, MassMutual does not offer an online quote option or a mobile app. Although this does make doing business with them more time consuming, we still highly recommend the company and their products.