New York Life was established in 1854 in New York. It ranks high in JD Power's life insurance customer satisfaction survey and is known for two major things: aggressive financial products and extensively trained agents. What does this mean for you?
Business Insider compared New York Life Insurance against the best life insurance companies and found it to be one of the best, particularly for high-value policies and building generational wealth. However, people seeking cheaper options should look elsewhere.
New York Life Insurance Review
New York Life is one of the strongest options if you're preparing for a comfortable retirement or looking to build generational wealth.
New York Life has traditionally sold to upper-middle-class to high-income buyers. This isn't surprising, as New York Life policy values trend higher. However, it is more accessible to buyers who are ready to commit to building wealth in the form of universal, variable universal, and whole life insurance. While New York Life offers term policies, you may find more convenient options elsewhere for term life needs.
New York Life Insurance Pros and Cons
New York Life Insurance Pros
- Convertible term life policies
- Long list of optional riders to add
- High dividend payout for whole life insurance
- Wide variety of investment options available for VUL
- Some policies available with no medical exam
New York Life Insurance Cons
- Quotes unavailable online
- Relatively high premiums
New York Life Insurance Plans Available
New York Life offers whole life, universal life, and variable universal life policies.
Term Life Insurance Plans
New York Life offers two term life insurance options: yearly renewable term and level term policies.
Yearly renewable term life: Your policy offers a year of coverage. At the end of the year, you'll have the option to renew your policy, though you'll pay a higher premium. Policyholders can also convert their policy to permanent life.
Level term policies: New York Life offers term life policies with consistent premiums for terms that last 10, 15, or 20 years. After this period, premiums start going up year after year.
Whole Life Insurance Plans
New York Life's whole life insurance policies allow you to build cash value and take out a loan against your policy. The company may also pay dividends depending on the policy you choose. Dividends are not guaranteed, but New York Life has paid dividends yearly since its founding in 1854. In 2024, New York Life paid $2.2 billion in dividends to whole life policyholders, one of the highest in the industry, even among the best whole life insurance providers.
There are also a few ways to customize your whole life policy.
For one, you can choose to customize your policy to limit the years you pay your premiums. This will increase your premiums during that shortened period, but you won't have to worry about paying premiums later in life.
New York Life also offers the Secure Wealth Plus, which is a whole life insurance option that prioritizes cash value growth, particularly in the early years of the policy's life. It features an expedited 24- to 48-hour application process. Expedited underwriting is only applicable to policies under $150,000 in value for adults.
Universal Life Insurance Plans
New York Life's universal life insurance offers a permanent life insurance policy with adjustable death benefits and premiums. Policies can accumulate cash value, which you can use to borrow a loan, add to your death benefit, or take out as cash in what is known as a partial surrender.
Customers can choose a Custom Guarantee policy offering a guaranteed death benefit, but very little cash value growth.
Variable Universal Life Insurance Plans
Variable universal life insurance offers cash value that grows based on investments the policyholder chooses. As such, it's the riskiest option for policyholders. Without the proper protections and guarantees, a policy may lapse if its cash value hits zero.
New York Life's variable universal life insurance is called the VUL Accumulator II. It offers over 90 investment options for policyholders to invest their cash value.
New York Life also offers Market Wealth Plus, similar to its whole life policy, the Secure Wealth Plus. This plan focuses on increased cash value growth in the policy's early years and an expedited underwriting process for policies under $150,000 for adults.
Additional Coverage Options from New York Life (Riders)
New York Life's base product is set up for flexibility and easy use. You can supplement your insurance with individual disability coverage and long term care coverage. You can also add riders to your policy at an additional fee. If you purchase New York Life's Custom Guarantee, you can get your money back if you no longer need protection — free of the additional cost.
New York Life offers these additional policies and rider options:
- Individual disability insurance. This add-on policy offers coverage in the event you become too sick or injured to work.
- Long term care insurance. This add-on policy will help you pay for assisted care when you no longer can take care of yourself.
- Spouse's paid-up insurance purchase option rider. This rider will allow your spouse to proceed with your policy in the event of your passing.
- Disability waiver of premium. If you become disabled or too sick to work, disability insurance will cover your premiums.
- Living benefits rider. This rider will pay a portion of your death benefit for treatment or care if you are terminally ill.
- Option to purchase paid-up additions (whole life). This rider allows you to contribute more to your policy. This will increase your death benefit coverage and build more cash value.
- Chronic care option (whole life). This rider allows tax-free access to a portion of policy benefits if you become chronically ill.
- Accidental death benefit. This rider would offer an additional death benefit if your loved one's death was caused by an accident.
- Death benefit option 1 (universal life). This rider offers a level death benefit that equals the amount of your policy.
- Death benefit option 2 (universal life). This rider offers a fluctuating death benefit that equals the amount of your policy plus your policy's cash value.
- Return of premium rider (universal life). This rider offers a fluctuating death benefit that equals the amount of your policy plus the adjusted total premiums you paid on your policy.
- Money-back option rider (universal life). If you no longer need protection, this rider gives you your money back. (Comes with most Custom Guarantee policies)
How Much Does New York Life Insurance Cost?
New York Life does not offer online quotes. If you want to compare pricing for New York Life policies, you should talk to a qualified life insurance agent.
The cost of your policy depends on what you want. As you might imagine, New York Life's largest multimillion-dollar policies may not be affordable for every buyer. Even for 20 to 30-year-old buyers, premiums would be much higher than a $1 million policy. However, especially if you buy young or choose a smaller policy, you might be surprised at how affordable New York Life can be.
How to File a Claim with New York Life Insurance
New York Life claims can be filed online, over the phone, or through your New York Life insurance agent. Be prepared to provide documents verifying your identity and the death of the insured, such as a copy of their death certificate.
New York Life has also partnered with Empathy, a bereavement support app, to offer policyholders more support throughout the grieving process and some end-of-life bureaucracy.
New York Life Insurance Customer Reviews and Ratings
New York Life Insurance has overwhelmingly negative reviews on its Better Business Bureau page, receiving an average of 1.08 stars out of five. Customers reported a number of issues, including difficulty receiving death benefits, issues processing medical documents, and frustrating interactions with representatives.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners' complaint index rates a company based on how many complaints it receives against its share of the market. The average NAIC complaint index score is 1.00, meaning if a company scores below 1.00, it has fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size. If the company scores above 1.00, it has more complaints than the industry average. New York Life scored 0.24, indicating that it has far fewer complaints than expected.
New York Life's financial stability is strong, with an AM Best financial stability rating of A++ (Superior).
New York Life Insurance Alternatives
New York Life vs. Prudential Insurance
Both New York Life and Prudential insurance have very strong financial ratings from AM Best, though New York Life has the slight edge with an A++ (Superior) rating to Prudential's A+. When it comes to customer satisfaction, both companies rank in JD Power's 2023 U.S. individual life insurance study, but New York Life is significantly higher on the list (coming in at number 8 compared to number 15 for Prudential).
Both Prudential and New York Life offer both term and whole life insurance policies with strong benefits and several additional coverage options. Both companies' premiums tend to be higher than the industry average.
One final difference to consider is that you can get online quotes with Prudential life insurance, but not with New York Life.
Read our Prudential life insurance review.
New York Life vs. Northwestern Mutual Insurance
New York Life and Northwestern Mutual both offer life insurance in all 50 states, and both companies have A++ financial stability ratings from AM Best. Northwestern Mutual scores higher than New York Life in J.D. Power's latest life insurance customer satisfaction study, coming in at fourth place with 794 points out of 1,000 compared to New York Life's eighth place and 775.
Both companies offer a wide variety of life insurance policies, including both term and permanent options. While New York Life premiums tend to be higher than average, Northwestern Mutual's are lower than average. Neither company offers online quotes, which could be a signficant downside if you're looking to streamline the insurance purchasing process.
Read our Northwestern Mutual life insurance review.
New York Life Insurance FAQ
Yes, New York Life offers no-medical-exam life insurance with its Wealth Plus plans, which offer expedited underwriting for policies under $150,000 for adults.
New York Life is available in all 50 U.S. states.
Yes, you can withdraw money from your permanent New York Life insurance policy through cash value access, either in a loan or partial surrender. This account is tax-deferred.
Quotes for New York Life Insurance policies must be obtained through an insurance agent.
Why You Should Trust Us: What Went into Our New York Life Insurance Review
The four primary criteria we use to review life insurance providers are affordability, customer service, reliability, and company offerings.
Companies receive five stars for cost when premiums are close to the industry average cost of life insurance. According to our article on the average cost of life insurance, a life insurance policy may run you about $40 to $55 a month. However, cheap life insurance doesn't mean you're getting quality coverage. So, we weigh affordability against the company's offerings, customer service, and other factors.
We used the latest JD Power life insurance study to determine which company offers quality customer service. Approximately 3,000 life insurance customers score insurance companies yearly based on communication, interaction, price, product offerings, and statement satisfaction. Companies ranking above the industry average of 774 points have strong customer service.
We also used AM Best, a renowned credit rating agency, and the NAIC's complaint index to evaluate a company's financial stability and trustworthiness. AM Best tells us a company's financial health, and the NAIC's complaint index scores a company based on the aggregate total of complaints it receives.
Finally, we looked at what each company has to offer, including policy options, riders, and features like medical exam waivers. We also determined which demographic would most benefit from the company based on its products and prices.
Read more about how Business Insider rates life insurance.
