MetLife Whole Life Insurance Review (2026)
2026 verdict: MetLife is not a place to apply for a new individual whole life policy. As of October 17, 2026, MetLife's own customer page says the current MetLife companies do not sell individual life insurance or annuities to individuals. An in-force policy can still be MetLife or Brighthouse Financial, depending on which company kept the contract. New participating whole life belongs with a mutual such as MassMutual, not a MetLife application.
Who it fits
This review is for you if:
- You already have a MetLife or Brighthouse life policy and need to know who services it.
- Your employer offers MetLife group life, including a workplace whole life option, and you want to know how that differs from an individual policy.
- You searched "MetLife life insurance" or "MetLife whole life insurance" because the brand is familiar.
Skip it as a shopping list if you want a new cash-value policy you can design (paid-up additions, a dividend scale, a limited-pay period). Use MassMutual, New York Life, or Guardian.
Contract options on a policy you already own are on MetLife whole life policy options. Premium modes are on MetLife payment and billing options.
What MetLife sells now
Facts below are kept where the sources agree, and each figure is labeled with its source. New-policy premiums are left out. MetLife does not sell individual life, so there is no quote to print. Ratings and the in-force dividend scale are in the next sections.
Individual life is not a MetLife application
As of October 17, 2026, MetLife's current-customers page says MetLife no longer sells new life insurance to individuals through agents. The same page's footnote says the current MetLife insurance companies do not sell individual annuities or life insurance to individuals, and that individual annuities and life insurance are issued by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company (Charlotte, NC) and, in New York, by Brighthouse Life Insurance Company of NY.
MetLife's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 describes a U.S. run-off block the company no longer actively markets. That list includes whole life, along with variable, universal, and term life, fixed and variable annuities, and long-term care. So an old individual whole life contract can still sit at MetLife. It is not a product MetLife is out selling to new buyers.
The same customer page says some individual policies stayed at MetLife and others moved to Brighthouse. Owners of policies that moved were sent an endorsement changing the issuing company's name. Terms and premiums did not change because of that move.
Workplace life is the MetLife shelf that is still open
MetLife's 2025 Form 10-K says the U.S. Group Benefits segment offers life insurance to employers and their employees. The product sentence in that filing names term, variable, and universal life. It does not name whole life.
Two other current pages do. MetLife's group life page, checked October 17, 2026, lists whole life as a workplace complement to group term. Benefitfocus lists a MetLife worksite whole life benefit as permanent coverage that can stay in force after the employee leaves, if premiums continue. Who pays (employee or employer) and the payroll slot are on that catalog entry and in the employer's plan, not in the 10-K.
Treat that as employer-sponsored coverage. It is not an individual participating policy you start by calling MetLife. Face amounts, paid-up ages, and who pays the premium are in the employer's certificate. One employer's 2025 booklet is not a national rate card, so this review does not publish those figures.
MetLife's conversion page says a group life benefit may be convertible to a permanent whole life policy, with no medical questions if you apply inside the window in your schedule of benefits. A 2025 MetLife certificate for the Navajo Nation describes the same kind of conversion to an individual permanent policy. The deadline and the amount are in your booklet.
Brighthouse is a separate company, and a sale is still pending
MetLife completed the spin-off of Brighthouse Financial on August 4, 2017. MetLife's August 7, 2017 announcement and its 2017 Form 10-K both use that distribution date. Delaware's insurance commissioner approved the separation of the U.S. retail life and annuity business on June 29, 2017. Brighthouse Life Insurance Company is the former MetLife Insurance Company USA. The Delaware order and Brighthouse Life's 2017 Form 10-K both say so. The name change was effective March 6, 2017.
MetLife the public company did not change its name. It still trades as MetLife. Brighthouse is the company that took the separated retail life and annuity business.
Brighthouse's term life page, checked October 17, 2026, tells term owners they can convert to Brighthouse Conversion Whole Life: permanent coverage, a guaranteed level premium, a guaranteed death benefit, and cash value that can be used during the insured's lifetime. The Conversion Whole Life client brochure describes the same three guarantees. That is a conversion product off eligible term coverage. It is not a retail participating whole life illustration we would put next to MassMutual.
Brighthouse's first-quarter 2026 earnings release (May 6, 2026) defines life sales to include first-year paid premium for whole life. This review does not quote the quarter's life-sales dollar figure. One earnings release is not a second source for that number.
On November 6, 2025, Aquarian Capital and Brighthouse announced a merger agreement: an Aquarian affiliate would acquire Brighthouse for $70.00 per share in cash, about $4.1 billion, subject to stockholder and regulatory approvals. Brighthouse said on February 12, 2026 that stockholders had adopted that agreement, and that closing still needed regulatory approvals. On August 17, 2026, the Delaware Department of Insurance said it was reviewing Aquarian's Form A application to acquire control of Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, and that the transaction proceeds only after the commissioner issues a final order. As of October 17, 2026, that is the latest primary status we can cite. The deal is not closed. Keep paying the company named on your statement.
Where the old agents went
In July 2016, MassMutual completed the purchase of MetLife's U.S. retail advisor force, the MetLife Premier Client Group, including the affiliated broker-dealer. MassMutual's July 5, 2016 announcement and MetLife's 2016 Form 10-K both say that. A former MetLife career agent may now be a MassMutual agent. The two documents do not state the same purchase price, and they do not both state a headcount, so this review publishes neither.
Ratings
As of Oct 17, 2026, these are insurer financial strength ratings for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the company on MetLife whole life that is still MetLife paper. They are opinions about claims-paying ability. They are not a buy signal for a new policy.
| Agency | Rating | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| A.M. Best | A+ (Superior), outlook stable | A.M. Best's own disclosure for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (AMB# 006704) says the financial strength rating was affirmed April 1, 2026. A.M. Best's press release the same day affirms A+ (Superior) for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Group. MetLife's ratings page, dated September 9, 2026, lists the same A+. |
| S&P Global Ratings | AA-, outlook stable | per MetLife ratings page, 9/9/26 |
Confirm the legal entity on your statement. Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company is also A+ at A.M. Best and AA- at S&P on that same MetLife ratings page. A Brighthouse contract is a different company, and these marks do not transfer to it.
Dividend scale
MetLife's most recent published scale found (2023), checked 10/17/26. The only rate sheet found for that scale is marked for producer use only, so this page does not print those rates. Dividends are not guaranteed. A dividend scale interest rate is not a cash-value return, and it is not MetLife, Inc.'s common-stock dividend. The dividend that was credited is on the annual statement.
Pros and cons
As of October 17, 2026:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| In-force contracts that moved to Brighthouse kept their terms and premiums (MetLife's customer page). Workplace group life is still a MetLife business (2025 Form 10-K and the group life page). A former MetLife retail agent may already sit at MassMutual. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is A+ at A.M. Best (affirmed April 1, 2026) and AA- at S&P, per MetLife ratings page, 9/9/26. | Current MetLife companies do not sell new individual life or annuities. The old retail block is split between MetLife run-off and Brighthouse. Brighthouse's pending sale to Aquarian is not closed. MetLife's most recent published scale found (2023), checked 10/17/26, is not printed here because the rate sheet is producer-only. |
If you already own a policy
Older versions of this site read as if you could shop a new MetLife whole life price against MassMutual. You cannot. The shopping copy belonged to the pre-2017 shelf.
If the statement still shows a participating whole life contract, the usual chassis is the one state insurance departments describe for that kind of policy, not a feature list unique to the MetLife logo:
- A death benefit while the policy stays in force, and cash value that is not the same number as the face amount.
- Dividends only if the contract is participating. New York DFS and the North Carolina Department of Insurance both say dividends are not guaranteed, and that the common choices are cash, a premium reduction, leaving them on deposit, or paid-up additional insurance.
- A policy loan only if the contract allows it. Both of those departments say interest is charged on the terms in the policy, and that an unpaid loan is deducted from the death benefit.
Confirm each item on your contract. The walk-through is MetLife whole life policy options.
Before you lapse, replace, or borrow:
- Read the issuing company on the last annual statement. It may still say MetLife, or it may say Brighthouse.
- Ask that company for an in-force illustration before a 1035 exchange, a loan, or a lapse.
- Do not drop a working policy because the brand on the envelope changed, or because a sale of Brighthouse has been announced and not closed.
- If you are healthy and want more cash-value coverage, price a new mutual policy. Do not assume MetLife will issue an individual one.
Get a whole life quote for new coverage only.
Frequently asked questions
Does MetLife still sell whole life insurance?
Not as a new individual policy. As of October 17, 2026, MetLife says its current companies do not sell individual life insurance to individuals, and its 2025 Form 10-K puts U.S. whole life in the run-off block it no longer actively markets. MetLife's group life page and Benefitfocus both still list a workplace whole life benefit through an employer. Brighthouse, not MetLife, is the company MetLife names as the issuer of individual life insurance.
What is MetLife life insurance in 2026?
It is mostly group life sold through employers, plus older individual policies MetLife still administers. The retail life and annuity business was separated into Brighthouse Financial on August 4, 2017. MetLife did not disappear, and it did not rename itself Brighthouse.
Did MetLife become Brighthouse Financial?
No. MetLife spun Brighthouse off on August 4, 2017 and remained a separate public company. Brighthouse took the separated U.S. retail life and annuity business. Some individual policies stayed with MetLife. The company on your statement is the one that matters.
Who services an old MetLife life insurance policy?
The issuing company on the annual statement. Policies that moved in the separation were endorsed over to a Brighthouse life company. Policies that stayed are still MetLife, including the U.S. whole life the 2025 Form 10-K reports in run-off. Brighthouse's announced sale to an Aquarian affiliate was not closed as of the Delaware update on August 17, 2026.
Where did MetLife life insurance agents go?
MassMutual bought MetLife's U.S. retail advisor force, the MetLife Premier Client Group, in July 2016. A former MetLife agent may now quote MassMutual. Independent agents who sell Brighthouse products are a different channel.
Can I pay a MetLife whole life premium monthly?
Often, if the contract's premium mode allows it. Florida's life insurance consumer guide and an NAIC sample policy overview both describe annual, semi-annual, quarterly, and monthly modes, and the NAIC sample says a mode other than annual costs more over the year. Your mode is on the policy, not in a MetLife ad. See payment and billing options.
Bottom line
MetLife is a brand people still type into Google. The individual whole life shelf they remember is not a 2026 MetLife application. Service the contract you have, and shop new cash-value coverage at MassMutual, New York Life, or Guardian. Get a whole life quote.
Sources checked October 17, 2026
- MetLife, current customers
- MetLife Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025
- MetLife group life and Benefitfocus, MetLife whole life
- MetLife life insurance conversion
- MetLife completes the Brighthouse spin-off, August 7, 2017 and Delaware approval, June 29, 2017
- MassMutual completes the MetLife Premier Client Group purchase, July 5, 2016
- Brighthouse term life, including Conversion Whole Life and the Conversion Whole Life client brochure
- Aquarian and Brighthouse merger announcement, November 6, 2025, stockholder approval, February 12, 2026, and Delaware's Form A review, August 17, 2026
- New York DFS life insurance FAQ and North Carolina DOI, life insurance options
- A.M. Best disclosure, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, AMB# 006704, affirmed April 1, 2026, and A.M. Best's April 1, 2026 affirmation
- MetLife ratings, as of September 9, 2026 (S&P AA- for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, per MetLife ratings page, 9/9/26)
Educational only. Not an offer of insurance. The contract and the servicing company control.
