MassMutual life insurance review 2024
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At a glance
BEST WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Bankrate's take
Policyholders looking for whole life insurance with plenty of rider options from a company with high customer satisfaction and the financial strength to back it up might find MassMutual to be a good choice for life insurance.
- Winner of the 2023 and 2024 Bankrate Award for best whole life insurance
- A++ (Superior) rating from AM Best, indicating strong financial stability
- Offers term, whole, universal and variable life insurance products
- High customer satisfaction with above-average J.D. Power survey scores
- Limited online application options for some products
New
MassMutual has recently announced significant developments, highlighting its commitment to innovation and financial strength.
Firstly, MassMutual has expanded its collaboration with Genomics. This initiative offers eligible policyholders aged 35-70 access to polygenic risk testing through a saliva test. This test identifies hidden risks for eight common conditions, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, and provides actionable health advice. The results remain confidential and do not affect premiums or policies, with MassMutual only receiving anonymized data to better understand policyholders' health behaviors.
Additionally, MassMutual has reported record-breaking financial results for 2023, including surpassing $1 trillion in life insurance protection for its policyholders. Reflecting its robust performance, MassMutual declared its largest-ever dividend payout of nearly $2.2 billion to policyholders for 2024, marking the 18th consecutive year of leading the industry in dividend interest rates.
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MassMutual life insurance review
Based on Bankrate’s MassMutual insurance review, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company may be among the best life insurance for those seeking whole life insurance. The company boasts high customer satisfaction, several rider options, good financial strength and ample coverage capacity. Additionally, the company offers a top-rated mobile app for those who prefer to take a hands-on approach to their life insurance.
Founded in 1851, MassMutual ranks as the third-largest provider of individual life insurance and the fourth-largest for combined life insurance and annuities when comparing insurers by direct premiums written, according to the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I). The company also has financial professionals located across the country and Puerto Rico, with the exception of Alaska. As a mutual company owned by the policyholders, you may potentially earn profit dividends on eligible policies. While MassMutual was the 2023 and 2024 Bankrate Awards winner for best whole life insurance company, other policy types are available, including term, universal and variable policies.
- Term: MassMutual's term life insurance offers affordable and flexible coverage options with terms of 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years. These policies provide guaranteed level premiums for the selected term length, making them a cost-effective choice for those needing temporary life insurance coverage. Additionally, MassMutual term policies come with the option to convert to permanent life insurance without a medical exam, offering long-term flexibility. Enhanced benefits include the waiver of premium rider, which waives premiums if you become totally disabled, and the accelerated death benefit for terminal illness rider, allowing you to access a portion of the death benefit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness. These features make MassMutual's term life insurance a robust option for individuals seeking comprehensive and adaptable coverage.
- Permanent: Permanent life insurance refers to a few different types of policies, including whole life, universal life and variable life. Generally speaking, permanent life insurance is more expensive than term, but it comes with a few perks that term policies lack. For instance, permanent life insurance comes with a cash value account that has the potential to grow over time. Unlike term policies, permanent life insurance covers you for your entire life rather than a predetermined amount of time. As such, permanent life insurance may be best for people who want coverage with no concerns of policy expiration (as long as premiums are paid).
- Whole: Whole life cash value has the potential to increase in value at a guaranteed rate, and with MassMutual, you may earn dividends. Although dividends aren’t guaranteed, MassMutual attests that they’ve issued a dividend payout to whole life policyholders every year since 1869. Additionally, whole life premiums typically stay the same for the duration of the policy, and the death benefit is fixed.
- Universal: Universal life can also grow in cash value (based on the current interest rate), but unlike MassMutual whole life, there is no potential to earn dividends. Universal life also has flexible premiums, and you may increase or decrease your death benefit after policy inception.
- Variable universal: Variable universal life insurance has flexible premiums, and like a regular universal life policy, you can increase or decrease your death benefits after you purchase the policy. The cash value portion of variable universal life policies are invested stocks, so cash value can increase (or decrease) depending on the market.
BEST WHOLE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
Whole life insurance is designed to stay in place until you pass away, so the ability to personalize a policy and a company’s financial strength — which shows the insurer’s historical ability to pay claims — are essential. MassMutual has 13 rider options for its whole life insurance product (the longest list of all the carriers we analyzed) and has a financial strength rating of A++ (Superior) from AM Best. The company also boasts above-average customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power, and fewer-than-average customer complaints lodged with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). These factors helped push MassMutual to the top of our list of best whole life insurance companies.
Why MassMutual won
Pros and cons of MassMutual life insurance
MassMutual offers a range of life insurance products backed by a strong financial foundation. Understanding the pros and cons of this insurer can help you make an informed decision about whether it suits your needs.
Pros
- Winner of the 2023 and 2024 Bankrate Awards for best whole life insurance
- Offers a variety of life insurance products
- High customer satisfaction ratings
Cons
- Applicants cannot apply for all products online
- Medical exams are required for most policies
- Customer support is limited to Monday through Friday
MassMutual insurance riders
While adding a rider to your MassMutual life insurance policy may increase the cost of your life insurance policy, riders can help you tailor your coverage to meet your specific needs. MassMutual offers the longest list of riders for its whole life insurance policies out of all the companies we analyzed. Some of these riders include:
- Waiver of premium rider: This rider can allow you to pause your premium payments without canceling your policy if you become disabled.
- Guaranteed insurability rider: You may want to add this rider to your whole life policy if you want to increase your death benefit coverage (or purchase a new whole life policy) without a health exam. This rider could be a good choice for those purchasing a life insurance policy for children or for young adults since health circumstances are likely to change as one ages.
- Additional life insurance rider: The additional life insurance rider allows policyholders to apply extra payments to their policy to increase their death benefits and accelerate cash growth.
- Accelerated death benefit rider: If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, this rider may help you access a portion of your death benefit to use as you wish before you pass.
MassMutual customer satisfaction
Insuring yourself with the best life insurance company is more than just finding the cheapest premiums. In fact, for some people, customer service may be just as important as affordability. It’s for this reason that Bankrate’s insurance editorial team reviewed a variety of third-party scores to evaluate MassMutual’s customer satisfaction.
In the J.D. Power 2023 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, MassMutual scored above the industry average, ranking third, with a customer satisfaction score of 809 out of 1,000. Since the industry average score was 790, this could mean that MassMutual’s policyholders are generally happy with the service the company provides.
Lastly, although financial strength may not be directly tied to customer satisfaction, adequate financial strength does mean that, historically, a company has had the means to pay out claims when required. If a company is not able to pay out claims quickly and fairly, its customers will likely be unhappy. When it comes to financial strength, MassMutual shines with an AM Best financial strength rating of A++ (Superior), the highest score available.
MassMutual insurance customer complaints
We also analyzed where MassMutual landed on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Complaint Index Report. Here, the company has a 2023 life insurance NAIC complaint index score of 0.02, far below the baseline (or average) of 1.0. This shows that MassMutual receives fewer complaints than average compared to other companies of similar size. However, it’s important to note that its life insurance-specific complaint index doesn’t fare as well.
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Whole life insurance combines life insurance with an investment component.
- Coverage for life
- Tax-deferred savings benefit if premiums are paid
- 3 variations of permanent insurance: whole life, universal life and variable life include investment component
Term life insurance is precisely what the name implies: an insurance policy that is good for a specific term of time.
- Fixed premium over term
- No savings benefits
- Outliving policy or policy cancellation results in no money back
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Compare MassMutual with other insurers
Although this MassMutual Life Insurance review is extensive, you may still wonder if this company can offer coverage to help you meet your financial goals. While you’re shopping, you may want to compare life insurance quotes from the companies below:
MassMutual vs. State Farm
Another 2023 and 2024 Bankrate Awards winner, State Farm offers the best term life insurance based on its exceptional customer satisfaction score, excellent AM Best financial strength rating and near-nationwide availability.
Learn more: State Farm Insurance review
MassMutual vs. Nationwide
If you’re looking into universal life insurance, Nationwide could be a solid choice. Like MassMutual, Nationwide boasts an above-industry-average J.D. Power score and has a plethora of digital tools for those who prefer hands-on policy management.
Learn more: Nationwide Insurance review
MassMutual vs. Mutual of Omaha
If you’re looking for life insurance for people over 50, Mutual of Omaha may be a good fit. The company has high third-party ratings and offers a blog geared toward seniors called Mutual Cares.
Learn more: Mutual of Omaha Insurance review
Our insurance editorial team includes licensed agents with decades of combined experience, and we used our intimate knowledge of the industry to conduct this in-depth MassMutual insurance review.
46
years of industry expertise
122
carriers reviewed
20.7K
ZIP codes examined
1.2M
quotes analyzed
Is MassMutual a good insurance company?
Bankrate knows the value of doing research before choosing a life insurance company. That’s why we’ve spent so much time and effort compiling honest and comprehensive insurance carrier reviews.
MassMutual could be a good company, but it depends on your needs. If you’re looking for guaranteed life insurance, you may want to broaden your search, as MassMutual only offers guaranteed acceptance life insurance to people between the ages of 45 and 85. However, if you value high customer satisfaction, financial strength, a top-rated mobile app and need whole life insurance with lots of rider options, then MassMutual could be the company for you.
What are real-life customers saying about MassMutual?
In an effort to provide more insight into MassMutual's customer experiences, we examined feedback from Reddit and Trustpilot. On Reddit, users commend MassMutual for its strong reputation and financial stability, but some report issues with delayed death benefits and poor customer service. Trustpilot reviews highlight concerns about policy handling and privacy issues, with complaints about continued premium withdrawals after policy surrender and inappropriate sharing of medical exam results. Here’s what customers had to say:
*The quotes and citations included on this page have been verified by our editorial team and are accurate as of the posting date. Outlinked content may contain views and opinions that do not reflect the views and opinions of Bankrate.
MassMutual company details
Need to get in contact with MassMutual? Here are a few ways to do so:
- Customer service: 1-800-272-2216
- Claims: 1-800-272-2216
- Website: massmutual.com
- Address: 1295 State Street, Springfield, MA 01111
State availability
MassMutual has finance professionals available in all 50 states except Alaska and offices in Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. However, not all of MassMutual’s life insurance products may be available in every state.
MassMutual tools and benefits
In addition to high third-party ratings and various types of life insurance, MassMutual offers the following perks:
- Mobile app: MassMutual’s mobile app is rated highly at the App Store and Google Play. It allows policyholders to manage their policies, handle payments and more.
- Financial advisors: MassMutual operates through financial professionals who help advise policyholders and potential clients.
- Various calculators: MassMutual’s website features a life insurance calculator, which may be helpful for those who are wondering how much life insurance they need. Additionally, there are other specialized calculators for figuring out college savings, budgeting, disability income, retirement income and more.
- Online tools: Policyholders can use MassMutual’s website to manage their policy online and read MassMutual’s blog, which publishes useful materials such as guides to life insurance, financial literacy articles and how-to pieces.
- Financial products and services: Among the many investment and retirement products the company offers, you will find annuities, individual retirement accounts, mutual funds and 529 plans.
Frequently asked questions about MassMutual
