The Best Term Life Insurance Companies of September 2024 (2024)

The Best Life Insurance Companies at a Glance

Compare key facts and features about our selections for the best term life insurance providers in the nation.

Note: The AM Best ratings for the best term life insurance companies listed above are accurate as of August 2024.

The Best Term Life Insurance Policies of 2024

The MarketWatch Guides team chose these seven as the best term life providers after evaluating nearly 40 life insurance companies using our comprehensive rating methodology.

• Banner Life: Best for term life insurance
• Mass Mutual: Best for permanent life insurance
• Guardian Life: Best for an in-person experience
• State Farm: Best for customer satisfaction
• Transamerica: Best for affordable coverage
• Pacific Life: Best for universal life insurance
• John Hanco*ck: Best for people with diabetes

For your convenience, the MarketWatch Guides team provided company summaries for each of the best term life insurance providers below, but you can learn more about each company by heading to our full review.

The AM Best and J.D. Power scores listed for the best term life insurance companies above are accurate as of August 2024.

How We Ranked The Best Term Life Insurers

As we ranked and reviewed the best term life insurance companies, we developed a comprehensive rating methodology that considers factors such as overall term life coverage options, available riders, cost and brand trustworthiness. To accurately rate each provider, we gathered quotes using various applicant profiles, evaluated customer satisfaction using data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and J.D. Power, reviewed financial strength ratings from the credit rating agency AM Best and surveyed 1,000 life insurance policyholders nationwide. We also spoke with industry experts, including licensed financial planners and life insurance agents, to get their thoughts on term life insurance.

Our expertise is backed by:

• A survey of 1,000 life insurance policyholders nationwide
• Rating almost 40 life insurance providers using our in-depth methodology
• Over 40 years of combined life insurance experience between our writers and editors
• Gathering more than 60,000 quotes using 150 different applicant profiles from 60 providers nationwide

How To Find The Best Term Life Insurance Policy For You

The top factors our team recommends you consider when choosing a term life policy are the length of your plan and how much coverage you need. Typical term lengths range from 10 to 30 years, and coverage amounts, or face values, range from $100,000 to $1 million or more. Many term life policies offer optional riders that allow you to attach additional coverage to your base plan, usually for an additional cost.

Choosing a Coverage Amount

The amount of life insurance coverage you need depends primarily on the financial needs of your dependents if you were to pass away. Think about your current debts, future financial obligations and how many years of income you’d need to replace. If you have substantial debts such as a mortgage and multiple dependents who rely on you as the primary breadwinner, you’ll likely need more coverage than if you’re single, without children and have little debt.

The DIME method, which stands for debt, income, mortgage and education expenses, offers one way to calculate your ideal coverage amount. You essentially add these expenses together to get your personalized coverage amount. A simpler way to calculate your ideal coverage amount is the “10x rule” or simply multiplying your income by 10. If you have children who plan on attending college, you might want to add tuition costs to that number.

What Is the Best Length for Term Life Insurance?

According to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), a 20-year term is the most popular option. If you have young children or an outstanding mortgage balance, a 20-year term policy could provide financial protection for your family, for example. If you were to pass away, the death benefit could cover your family home’s outstanding mortgage and your children’s college tuition.

Most term life policies have terms of between 10 and 30 years in intervals of five or 10. However, some companies offer term lengths above 30 years. For example, Banner Life offers 35- and 40-year term length options.

Here are the most common term lengths and life situations that might best fit each option.

• 10-year term: If you have short-term or relatively insignificant debt, such as less than $50,000, and want to pay the lowest life insurance rate possible, a 10-year term could make sense.
• 20-year term: If you have younger children, several more years of peak income and reasonable debt such as a mortgage, a 20-year term can offer an affordable way to protect your loved ones.
• 30-year term: If you have substantial debt and a longer timeline to pay it off, such as a 30-year mortgage and hefty student loans, or are a high earner or sole breadwinner, a 30-year term might suit your needs. Note that you can always terminate a policy early if you pay off all your debts.

Some companies also offer 15-year and 25-year term life policies. Of the companies we reviewed, Banner Life is the only provider that offers a 40-year term life plan.

Should You Add Riders to Your Policy?

Insurance riders can offer a way to customize your term life insurance policy. According to our February 2024 survey of 1,000 policyholders, nearly 45% of respondents added riders to their base policy. Adding a rider to your policy generally tacks on an additional fee to your life insurance premium, though some riders are occasionally included in policies at no added cost. Here are some of the most common term life insurance riders.

How Much Does a Term Life Insurance Policy Cost?

The average cost of a 20-year, $250,000 term life insurance policy for a 35- to 45-year-old considered in better health than the average population is around $32, based on rates we gathered from the insurance companies in this review. However, costs will vary depending on the length of your coverage. For example, our team determined the following costs for the same applicant profiles seeking varying term lengths:

• 10-year term: $19
• 20-year term: $32
• 30-year term: $42

Policy premiums depend on the applicant’s age, gender, health status, coverage amount and more. Term life insurance policies can cost anywhere from $15 per month to nearly $500, depending on those factors.

Based on our team’s cost data that we’ve gathered, here are the average monthly rates of term life insurance for men and women.

Average Term Life Insurance Rates for Males

Average Term Life Insurance Rates for Females

Source: Our team obtained cost data from Redbird Advisors, an insurance consulting agency. Rates were generated in December 2023 and reflect term life insurance pricing based on tobacco-free applicants of various ages qualifying for the preferred health rate class. Sample applicants included six male and six female age groups ranging from age 20 to 65.

The companies in this review cost between $14 and $25 for a 20-year term policy with $250,000 in coverage for a 35-year-old applicant considered in better health than the average population. Here’s how our top-rated providers stack up based on monthly premiums:

Factors That Affect Term Life Insurance Cost

Life insurance companies weigh various factors when determining term life insurance rates.

Age and gender: As you age, you get closer to reaching your life expectancy, and your rate increases as a result. Women typically pay lower rates because they have a longer life expectancy.

Health: Your height-weight ratio, prescriptions, medical conditions, family health history and whether you smoke play large roles in your rate. Life insurers typically charge more if an applicant is considered in poor health.

Lifestyle: High-risk hobbies such as scuba diving and skydiving can negatively impact your coverage approval chances. Insurance companies often also consider your driving record.

Financial history: Having a low credit score or a history of bankruptcies can result in paying higher rates or being declined for coverage.

How To Buy Term Life Insurance

Some companies allow you to get life insurance quotes and buy policies entirely online, while other providers require you to speak with an agent or broker to apply. Once you decide on a company and policy, you can add riders if available. No-exam term life policies are offered by a variety of providers.

“Many carriers will offer underwriting without a medical examination but will still secure medical information from the potential insured’s doctor,” said Michael Silverman, the founder of Silver Lining Insurance. “Post-COVID, this has been a change in underwriting procedures for younger clients.”

Once approved for a plan, you typically have the option to make either monthly, quarterly, semiannual or annual premium payments.

One of the easiest ways to buy term life insurance is to go through an online broker. Our partner, Policygenius, allows you to compare multiple carriers at once. If you’re looking to get quotes quickly and easily, fill out the form below.

Is Term Life Insurance Worth It?

Methodology: Our System for Rating Term Life Insurance Companies

Our team researches and ranks life insurance companies using an in-depth scoring system that considers the factors most important when buying coverage. Our analysis includes a comprehensive review of each provider we feature based on available coverage, customizability, availability, customer service and company reputation. We also consider responses to our survey of 1,000 life insurance policyholders to determine what matters most to consumers.

Below are the factors we take into consideration when rating life insurance providers. We use each company’s final score to determine a five-star rating, which we then use to rank insurers.

• Brand Trust (40%): Life insurance payouts can exceed $100,000 or more, which makes choosing a reputable and trustworthy installer important. To assess brand trust, we use J.D. Power customer satisfaction surveys, AM Best credit rating scores and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) complaint index. The higher a company scored in each area, the more points it receives
• Coverage (33%): The more policy life insurance options a company offers, the more opportunities a customer has to obtain the right coverage for their specific needs. For this reason, we give companies the most points for having multiple types of life insurance, including various term, permanent and no-exam options.
• Availability and Ease of Use (19%): Since life insurance coverage may seem complex, we consider the ways a customer can reach a company — and how easy communication is. For this category, we research how many communication channels a company offers for general customer support, claims processing and the application process. Companies earn the most points for offering various ways to interact with an agent, both in-person and online.
• Riders (8%): Companies offering various life insurance riders or endorsem*nts allow policyholders to better customize their coverage. In this category, we determine how many riders a company offers and award the most points to those with more than 10 options.

We use our rating system to compare and contrast each company against key factors to help us determine the best life insurance companies in the industry. To learn more, read our full life insurance methodology for reviewing and scoring providers.

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