7 Best Whole Life Insurance Companies for June 2025

If you’re looking to treat your life insurance policy as a cash asset, you might be in the market for a whole life insurance policy. Along with providing a payout to your loved ones when you die, these policies build cash value over time at a set interest rate.

To create this list of the best whole life insurance companies, our experts focused on financially strong insurers with low levels of customer complaints. We then honed in on important features of whole life insurance policies, such as riders, the potential to earn dividends and the amount of coverage you can buy.

» MORE: How does whole life insurance work?

Best for health conditions: Guardian Life

Company overview: With Guardian’s whole life coverage, you can choose a policy with level premiums, or a “limited payment” policy that allows you to pay off your policy in 10, 15 or 20 years. After that, no premiums are required to keep your coverage. You can choose from a range of riders, such as a disability waiver of premium rider, long-term care rider or an index participation feature (IPF) rider. The IPF rider allows you to link a portion of your cash value to the performance of the S&P 500 Price Return Index, and any profits are paid out in dividends.

The company also offers life insurance for people living with HIV. To qualify for these term and whole life policies, you must prove you’re under a specialist’s care and successfully receiving antiretroviral therapy. 

While Guardian doesn’t guarantee dividends, it has paid them out to its permanent policyholders every year since 1868, and will pay $1.6 billion in 2025, the highest sum in the company’s history.[1]

• Guardian whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Life Paid Up at 121, Life Paid Up at 99, Life Paid Up at 95, Life Paid Up at 65, 10 Pay Whole Life, 15 Pay Whole Life, 20 Pay Whole Life, EstateGuard.

  Eligibility age range: 0 to 90 (varies by policy).

  Minimum coverage amount: $25,000.

  Maximum coverage amount: Unlimited.

  State availability: All states.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: Guardian life insurance

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Best for cash value growth: MassMutual

Company overview: Depending on your policy, you might be able to customize your coverage with various riders. These include a long-term care rider, chronic illness rider and a yearly term purchase rider, which allows you to direct your dividend payments toward a term life insurance policy.

As a permanent policyholder, you’re eligible to receive dividends based on the insurer’s profits. MassMutual will pay out more than $2.5 billion to its permanent policyholders in 2025, its highest sum yet.[2]

• MassMutual whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Whole Life 100, Whole Life 65, Whole Life 8/10/12/15/20 Pay, Whole Life HECV.

  Eligibility age range: 0 to 90 (varies by policy).

  Minimum coverage amount: $25,000, or $100,000 for HECV — a policy designed for businesses.

  Maximum coverage amount: Unlimited.

  State availability: All states.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: MassMutual life insurance

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Best for blended term: Northwestern Mutual

Company overview: Northwestern Mutual’s whole life insurance policy comes with various payment options. You can choose to pay premiums for 10, 15, 20 or 25 years, or until you reach age 65 or 100. Plus, you may have the option to blend term life with your policy to lower the premiums, while maintaining permanent coverage. 

To enhance your coverage, you can add riders to your policy, such as an accelerated death benefit that pays out a portion of your payout if you need long-term care. There’s also an additional purchase benefit rider, which lets you increase your coverage at a later date without taking another life insurance medical exam. Northwestern Mutual is a mutual company, one of the largest individual life insurers in the U.S., and it expects to pay out $8.2 billion in dividends to qualifying policyholders in 2025.[3]

• Northwestern Mutual whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Whole Life Plus.

  Eligibility age range: 0 to 85.

  Minimum coverage amount: $50,000.

  Maximum coverage amount: $80 million.

  State availability: All states.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: Northwestern Mutual life insurance

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Best for social responsibility: Thrivent

Company overview: Thrivent offers whole life policies with a range of payment options. For example, you can pay a level premium until you turn 70 or 95, or make higher payments over the first 10 years of the policy to build cash value more quickly. The organization also offers a joint life insurance policy that can cover two people, such as spouses or business partners.

As a fraternal benefit organization, Thrivent is owned by its members and may pay dividends to participating policyholders. In 2025, Thrivent will pay $564 million in dividends and policy benefits.[4] Thrivent also provides resources to support volunteering and charitable giving by its members. To buy life insurance from Thrivent, you must be a Christian or the spouse of a Christian.

• Thrivent whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Whole Life Insurance, Whole Life Plus Term Protection, Survivor Whole Life.

  Eligibility age range: Up to age 90 for most Whole Life Insurance policies. Ages 18 to 75 for Whole Life Plus Term Protection. Ages 18 to 90 for Survivor Whole Life.

  Minimum coverage amount: For Whole Life Insurance, $10,000 or $100,000, depending on your life insurance risk class. For Whole Life Plus Term Protection, $50,000 for the whole life coverage and $25,000 for the term coverage. For Survivor Whole Life, $100,000.

  Maximum coverage amount: Unlimited.

  State availability: All 50 states plus Washington, D.C.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: Thrivent life insurance

Best for rider options: New York Life

Company overview: New York Life’s custom whole life policy offers flexibility with premium payments. You can opt to pay off your policy in the first few years, or schedule the timing and amount of your payments to suit you.

The insurer also offers a variety of life insurance riders, such as a chronic care rider, waiver of premium rider and accelerated death benefit.

As a mutual company, New York Life plans to pay out $2.5 billion in dividends to its policyholders in 2025.[5]

• New York Life whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Whole Life, Custom Whole Life and Secure Wealth Plus.

  Eligibility age range: 0 to 85 (varies by policy).

  Minimum coverage amount: $10,000 (for applicants ages 18 and older).

  Maximum coverage amount: $100 million.

  State availability: All states.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: New York Life insurance

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Best for dividends: Penn Mutual

Company overview: Penn Mutual offers two individual whole life policies, plus a joint life insurance policy that can cover spouses or business partners. You can choose to make steady payments on your policy throughout your life or to pay it off in as little as five years.

Penn Mutual whole life policies have a built-in accelerated death benefit rider. The Survivorship product also includes a split policy rider in case you and the other person eventually want to separate your joint coverage into two individual policies.

Penn Mutual expects to pay $265 million in dividends to participating policyholders in 2025.[6]

• Penn Mutual whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Accumulation Whole Life, Protection Whole Life, Survivorship Whole Life.

  Eligibility age range: Up to age 85 for Accumulation and Protection policies. Ages 20 to 75 or 85 for Survivorship, depending on which plan you pick.

  Minimum coverage amount: In most cases, $50,000 for Accumulation and Protection policies and $200,000 for Survivorship policies.

  Maximum coverage amount: $10 million+ for Accumulation policies. The company doesn’t disclose maximum limits for its other whole life policies.

  State availability: All states except New York.

  Potential to earn dividends: Yes.

» Read the full review: Penn Mutual life insurance

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Best for smaller coverage amounts: AARP

Company overview: AARP offers coverage to its members and their spouses via its partnership with New York Life, one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S.

With AARP’s standard whole life insurance policy, members ages 50 to 80 and spouses ages 45 to 80 can apply by answering a few health questions. No medical exam is required. You can buy up to $50,000 in coverage online or request a higher amount by contacting New York Life.

AARP also offers a guaranteed acceptance whole life policy, which skips both the questionnaire and medical exam and issues coverage to members ages 50 to 80 or 85 and spouses ages 45 to 80 or 85 depending on the state. In New York, the age eligibility is 50 to 75 for both members and spouses. Applicants can buy up to $30,000 in coverage on their own.

• AARP whole life insurance policy details

  Policy options: Permanent Life Insurance, Guaranteed Life Insurance.

  Eligibility age range: 50 to 85 (varies by policy, state and membership status).

  Minimum coverage amount: $5,000.

  Maximum coverage amount: $30,000 or $50,000, depending on the policy, though higher amounts may be available.

  State availability: Depends on policy.

  Potential to earn dividends: No.

How to find the best whole life insurance company

1. Calculate how much coverage you need

To figure out how much life insurance you need, think about everything you pay for now and everything you expect to pay for in the future. This list could include everyday expenses like child care, utility bills and groceries, as well as long-term costs like college tuition and mortgage payments. Once you have a number, subtract the value of any assets you own. The final dollar figure is the gap a whole life insurance policy can help to fill.

2. Decide whether you want to go with a mutual life insurance company

If you buy a whole life policy with a mutual life insurance company, you'll be a shareholder. This means you'll be eligible for dividends based on the company's financial performance. While dividends aren't guaranteed, they are an additional perk. There are many mutual life insurance companies in the U.S. — the largest are Northwestern Mutual. MassMutual, New York Life, State Farm and Guardian Life.

3. Consider additional riders

With most companies, you can customize your whole life policy with life insurance riders for a fee. These provide additional coverage you wouldn’t get otherwise. For example, an accelerated death benefit rider allows you to tap into your policy’s payout if you get sick, and a waiver of premium rider pauses your premiums if you become disabled or unemployed and can’t earn an income for a period of time.

4. Get prices from a handful of companies

The cost of coverage varies among companies, so aim to compare life insurance quotes from multiple insurers. Ideally, you want to choose a company with a strong financial strength rating — this indicates its ability to pay claims far into the future. You can check the financial strength rating of each term life insurance company you’re considering through a rating firm such as AM Best. NerdWallet typically recommends considering insurers with ratings of A- or higher. All of the largest life insurance companies have solid financial strength ratings.

» MORE: Life insurance reviews

Alternatives to the best whole life insurance

Traditional term life insurance is typically sufficient for most people. Term life, which doesn’t build cash value, is much less expensive than whole life insurance. A term life policy lasts a set number of years, and by the time it expires, you may no longer need life insurance.

If you’re certain you want lifelong coverage, you may also want to consider other types of permanent life insurance. Some of the options are:

• Universal life insurance, which gives you flexibility to adjust your premiums and life insurance death benefit.

• Indexed universal life insurance, a type of universal life that’s tied to a stock index such as the S&P 500.

• Variable life insurance, which lets you choose how to invest your policy’s cash value.

More about whole life insurance

Whole life insurance typically lasts your entire life, and it has a cash value component that accrues interest over time. Learn more about whole life policies before you buy. Here are a few resources to help you understand your options.

Whole life insurance definition

How does whole life insurance work?

The cost of whole life insurance and why it’s so high

Is whole life insurance a good investment?

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