Life insurance is a special type of insurance policy that pays out a specific amount of money upon your death. You will get to pick the recipient of the policy when signing up. The money is often left to a spouse or child to help pay for future living expenses. Life insurance is an extremely competitive market, so it is important to find a policy that offers exactly what you need. These are the four biggest life insurance providers in the United States.
New York Life
New York Life is currently the largest life insurance company in the country with just under seven percent of the market share. New York Life operates as a mutual insurance company, which allows them to pay dividends to their clients based on their yearly profits. They paid out just under $2 billion in dividends last year. This money can be used to increase your insurance policy or offset the cost of your monthly payments.
Northwestern Mutual
Northwest Mutual’s market share is slightly below New York Life making them the second-largest life insurance provider in the US. This is another mutual insurance company that pays dividends to their policyholders every year. Northwest Mutual paid out more than $11 billion in dividends the last two years. In addition to insurance, the company also specializes in investments and financial planning.
MetLife
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company current has just over six percent of the market share in the United States. The company specializes in offering a variety of insurance options to their customers. This makes them a great option if you want to find something other than the typical whole life insurance policy. Since MetLife is a publicly traded company, they do not over dividend payments to their policyholders.
Prudential
Prudential is another publicly traded insurance company. They finished last year with just under six percent of the life insurance market share. Prudential specializes in term life insurance with four distinct policy options. This type of policy only covers you for a specific number of years instead of your entire life. This obviously will not appeal to every life insurance customer.