Nationwide Whole Life Insurance Review

Nationwide The good

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company is one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world, both in terms of employees and revenue. Here are some statistics that show just how big the company has grown since its founding in 1926 as the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company:

Approximately 33,000 employees
Assets $221,000,000
Revenue of $43 billion in 2017
Net income of $246 million in 2017

Also, Nationwide ranks #64 on the Fortune 500 list:

Fortune 500 Nationwide

Nationwide has been able to grow its brand thanks in large part to its ability to sell a variety of insurance products to consumers throughout the United States.

For the sake of this review, we’re going to focus solely on Nationwide whole life insurance products.

Nationwide The Good

Variety of Benefits

Nationwide YourLife is the company’s whole life insurance product. It provides lifelong coverage as long as you continue to pay your premium on time.

Some of the top benefits of this policy include:

Permanent protection
Fixed premium payments for the life of your policy
Guaranteed death benefit
Guaranteed cash value
Ability to access your money through loans

These features are shared with most other whole life insurance companies, but that doesn’t make them any less valuable. This is what consumers have come to expect in today’s day and age.

Financially Sound

On this page of the Nationwide website, you’ll find everything you need in regards to the company’s financial ratings.

Here is a breakdown of the Nationwide Life Insurance Company:

- A.M. Best: A+ (2)
- S&P: A+ (5)
- Moody’s A1 (5)

Weiss: B-(6)

Ratings updated: January 2, 2019

If you don’t know what this means, here’s an excerpt from the company’s website:

“Nationwide Mutual/Nationwide Life/Nationwide Life and Annuity ratings have a “Stable” outlook from S&P, Moody’s and A.M. Best.”

In other words, you can purchase a policy with confidence. It’s safe to assume that Nationwide isn’t going anywhere in the near future.

Large Network of Agents

With thousands upon thousands of agents scattered throughout the United States, you’ll probably be able to find a company professional in your area who can help you purchase the right type of policy.

Best yet, and unlike some competitors, Nationwide is truly a “nationwide” company.

Nationwide The Not So Good

High Price

Many consumers immediately turn to Nationwide when they realize that they need to purchase whole life insurance. There are two reasons for this:

They are familiar with the brand (thanks to its television commercials)
They already have auto insurance coverage through the company

While you are encouraged to obtain quotes from a variety of life insurance companies, you shouldn’t assume that Nationwide is the right choice because of its brand recognition and/or your status as a customer.

Here’s what you need to know: Nationwide whole life insurance policies are approximately 35 percent more expensive than its lowest-priced competitors.

Think about it this way: if Nationwide quotes you $1,000 per month for a policy, you can likely receive the same coverage from a competitor for $650.

Nationwide has a large life insurance business, but most consumers would be best off relying on the company for car insurance only.

Simply put, its life insurance policies are overpriced.

Non Participating So No Dividends

One of the main features of a good whole life is that you can receive dividends. Nationwide’s whole life is a non-participating policy. This means you will not receive dividends.

Policies without dividends, will not be able to compete with policies that receive dividends.

Whole Life Products

Nationwide has two main whole life insurance products. Both products offer all the normal whole life features like guaranteed rates, guaranteed death benefits, and guaranteed cash value. The are both non-participating policies, which means you will not get dividends.

The two products are:

Nationwide YourLife® WL 100
Nationwide YourLife® WL 20

The only difference in these two whole life products is that the WL 20 is paid up in 2o years and the WL 100 is paid up in 100 years. Paid-up means you have no more premiums, but you keep your policy.

Key Facts:

Issue Ages 0-80
Minimum Face Amount: $10,000 Standard NT & Tob
$100,000 Preferred NT & Tobacco, and $250,000 Preferred Plus NT

Additional Product Features:

20-year Spouse rider
Children’s Term Insurance rider
Guaranteed Insurability Benefit rider
Waiver of Premium rider

All the previous features are widespread with any whole life policy.

Term Products

Term life insurance is designed to be an affordable way to get life insurance to protect your family.

Nationwide’s main term product is called YourLife Guaranteed Level Term. It is a term life insurance policy that has level premium protection for a specific period of time. Premiums are guaranteed to remain the same for the selected term period either:

10 Years
15 Years
20 Years
30 Years

After the term period, the policy price will increase annually but will not exceed the Guaranteed Maximum Premium.

Key Term Facts

Minimum Face Amount is $100,000

Issue Ages

10-year: Ages 18 – 70 with coverage to age 95
15-year: Ages 18 – 65 with coverage to age 95
20-year: Ages 18 – 65 with coverage to age 95
30-year: Ages 18 – 50 (male) ages 18 – 55 (female) (18 – 50 in MT) with coverage to age 95

Key Product Features

Conversion to a whole life product
Spouse rider
Children’s Term Insurance rider
Waiver of Premium
Disability rider
Owner Directed Settlement Options Wellness Credits – for clients with a healthy lifestyle.

Final Word

As a Fortune 100 company that offers a full range of products, Nationwide has established itself as a major player in the insurance industry.

Although the Nationwide YourLife whole life insurance policy has a variety of benefits, we can’t get past the fact that the company regularly quotes premiums that are much higher than other top-notch competitors.

We would recommend you go with any of the following: MassMutual, Foresters, Penn Mutual or New York Life.

Nationwide Whole Life Insurance Review

Nationwide Whole Life Insurance Review