Prudential Life Insurance Company Review

One company that has a long history in the insurance and financial industry is Prudential. For well over a century, both individuals and businesses have purchased life insurance coverage and have received financial advice from this large and trusted insurer.

History of The Prudential Life Insurance Company

Prudential Financial, Inc., headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is one of the largest financial services companies across the globe. It initially began its operations nearly 140 years ago – and today, it has grown into a company that serves individuals and business clients in more than 40 countries and territories around the world. Due to its exceptionally wide reach, the Prudential name – and its infamous brand, the “rock” – is one of the most recognized. This stands for the firm’s strength and stability – along with its expertise in the world of finance and insurance.

Prudential Life Insurance Company Review

Since its beginning, Prudential has grown substantially, and as of the end of 2014, the company had held more than $1.2 trillion in assets under management. It has more than 48,000 employees that serve in offices around the world.

In recognition of its strong financial position, as well as its positive reputation for paying out its policyholder claims, Prudential has received extremely high ratings from the insurer ratings agencies. These include (as of May 2015) the following:

• A+ from A.M. Best
• AA- from Standard & Poor’s
• A1 from Moody’s
• A+ from Fitch Ratings

Life Insurance Products Offered By Prudential

Prudential offers numerous insurance and financial products to the individual and business customers that it serves. These include:

• Life Insurance
• Annuities
• Investments

Regarding life insurance, there is a variety of coverage to choose from, depending on the needs of the consumer. The primary types of coverage that are offered through Prudential include term life, universal life, and variable universal life insurance coverage.

Term

Term life insurance is considered to be a “budget-friendly” type of coverage that is often used for the covering of needs that are “temporary,” such as the payoff of one’s home mortgage, the paying of college tuition for a child or a grandchild, or other types of debt.

With term life insurance, an individual is covered with life insurance protection for only a set period of time, or “term”. Once that coverage expires, if the insured wishes to remain covered, then he or she will need to either re-qualify for the insurance or in some cases, they may be able to convert their term life insurance policy over to a permanent life insurance plan.

There are several term life insurance options from Prudential to choose from, including the:

• Term Essential – This policy offers a level premium for 10, 15, 20, or even for 30 years. The insured is also provided with the option to convert over to a permanent form of coverage at the end of the level premium period or by age 65 (within certain guidelines). The policy holder may also add various riders on to the policy in order to customize it to better fit his or her specific needs.
• Term Elite – This policy is also available for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years – with a level premium, and the ability to convert over to permanent coverage.
• PruTerm WorkLife 65 – This term life option provides level premiums until the insured is 65 years old. Extra protection can be added to the policy in order to provide life insurance for the insured’s children while they are still young. Riders available for this particular policy can include the accidental death benefit, a children protection rider, and the living needs benefit rider.
• PruLife Return of Premium Term – With this option, an insured can have the security of term insurance, but with the guarantee to have premiums returned if he or she outlives the level premium period. This, too, provides the option to convert to a permanent insurance policy. The insured can also accelerate the death benefit if he or she should become terminally ill.
• PruTerm One – The PruTerm One policy protects needs that last from between one and five years at the most. This can be considered as a “stepping stone” into a permanent life insurance policy for many insureds. Coverage with this policy lasts for one-year increments, and it is renewable up to age 95. The option to convert to permanent life insurance is available through the 5th policy anniversary. There is also an option to accelerate the death benefit if the insured should become terminally ill via the living needs benefit rider.

Universal

A form of permanent life coverage, universal life policies give you both cash value and death benefit components. As the premiums are payed the cash value grows, meanwhile interest is also paid and everything is on a tax deferred basis.

With universal life insurance, the policyholder is allowed to choose when they pay the premium and the distribution of what goes toward the cash value and death benefit, within reason.

The universal life insurance plans that are offered via Prudential include the following:

• PruLife Universal Protector – This policy is oftentimes used in business arrangements and can be appropriate for buy-sell purposes, and business loan repayments. It can also be a good option for individuals who are doing estate planning in that it may be used in wealth transfer and liquidity planning, estate equalization, and / or for enhancing gifts to heirs.
• PruLife Universal Plus – The PruLife Universal Plus policy helps to balance life insurance protection with a steady cash value accumulation that is not tied in with the stock market. It can also be used for both individual and business purposes, and can further be customized through the use of riders.
• PruLife Index Advantage UL – The PruLife Index Advantage UL policy can help in supplementing an insured’s retirement through cash value distributions. Index universal life insurance policies have their cash value tied to a market index like the S&P 500. This plan has both business and individual policyholder uses.
• PruLife SUL Protector – The SUL Protector plan can provide a death benefit to the insured’s children after both the insured and his or her spouse have padded. This is because it protects two lives with just one single policy. Additional benefits can be added to this plan that can either increase or split the policy’s death benefit amount, based on specific needs.
• PruLife Founders Plus UL – The PruLife Founders Plus UL policy offers three different death benefit options. This policy also can provide benefit access – an accelerated death benefit rider that may advance up to 100 percent of the policy’s death benefit for a chronic illness. It, too, can be appropriate for either personal or business needs. Also, a complete plan of care could be set up for a loved one who has special needs.

Variable Universal

In addition to term and universal life, Prudential also offers variable universal life insurance coverage. This permanent life insurance offers a death benefit, along with underlying investment options that provide the opportunity for added growth that is based on underlying market performance.

Prudential offers two variable universal life insurance policies to choose from, including:

• VUL Protector – The VUL Protector will provide a death benefit, regardless of when the insured passes away. It can be used for either an individual or a business need. It also has either a fixed or a variable death benefit option. The fixed death benefit option allows the death benefit amount to remain constant and typically keeps it equal to the face amount. With the variable death benefit option, the death benefit will usually change with the value of the contract fund. This means that the death benefit proceeds will typically be equal to the face amount, plus the contract fund, minus any outstanding loans. This particular policy has 22 different underlying investment options to choose from. There are also some riders available that can help in customizing the policy. These include an accidental death rider, a children’s level term rider, an enhanced cash value rider, and a living needs benefit rider.
• PruLife Custom Premier ll – This plan offers the certainty of life insurance protection, along with the potential for long-term growth within the cash-value component of the policy. Regardless of when the insured passes away, the policy will be paid out to the beneficiary. This plan can also be used for either individual or business purposes – and it can be customized by using a variety of different riders. The choice of either a fixed or a variable death benefit is also available on this plan.