Getting life insurance is one of the most important things that we can do to protect our loved ones but with the busy lives that we all live it can be put on a back burner sometimes. So maybe the time has come for you to get a life insurance policy and now you’re wondering if Jackson National Life Insurance Company is the best choice for that. It may be the best choice or may not, it all depends on what company will give you the best rates based on your health and lifestyle since all the companies will look at you differently. The other part of choosing the right insurance company comes down to what the life insurer has to offer you in terms of the company strength and products. When reviewing a company we like to dig deep into their history, financial strength, charitable contributions, products and overall voice of what people are saying about them. Here at InsureChance, we have reviewed 100’s of life insurance companies and work with over 60 top rated companies so you’ll get a good idea about Jackson National once were done. So let’s dig deeper and dissect this carrier, here is a quick summary for my fellow cliff notes readers:
- Jackson National has been around since 1961 and was named in honor of U.S. President Andrew Jackson
- The company did about $21.1 billion dollars in sales last year.
- They are rated “A+” by A.M. Best and have strong ratings with all the other agencies.
- Their BBB rating fell a little short with a rating of “C+”.
- Jackson National has a huge focus on charitable giving with both finances and time.
- Jackson National doesn’t offer any life insurance products but only annuities.
- They have Variable, Fixed Indexed and Fixed Annuities that you can purchase.
- If you were looking for life insurance then we can help you with that since we’re a broker that has over 60 insurers at your fingertips.
About Jackson National Life
History
This company has been around since 1961 and was originally started as a family business taking its name from the president Andrew Jackson. The company was originally started in Lansing, Michigan and it is still there until this day. Jackson National has a strong focus on paying attention to detail as if they were still a small family business even though they are a large corporation. Initially, the company started out selling pure protection life insurance and decided to diversify by offering annuities in 1975. They actually had great success with this and their sales tripled in less than a decade. By 1987 the company actually had over $1 billion dollars in sales and it was a sign that they were here to stay. That was a cute start for them since they achieved $28.3 billion in sales for the year of 2014.
Ratings
Life insurance company rating is one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a company. How do you get these ratings? Well, there are large rating agencies in the U.S. that give grades to the insurers so you can have a good idea of their financial strength. A company with a strong rating will give you an idea how well they can deal with harsh economic conditions or a lot of claims coming in at the same time. Here are the ratings from different agencies that Jackson National got:
“A+” (Superior) by A.M. Best, one of the most popular rating agencies.
“AA” (Very Strong) with Fitch Ratings.
“AA” (Very Strong) with Standard and Poor’s.
“A1” (Good) with Moody’s Investors Services.
These ratings are a very solid indicator that Jackson National is a financially healthy company that you can safely do business with.
*However, what we didn’t like is that they have a “C+” rating with the Better Business Bureau. This can simply mean that they are not addressing customer complaints. After digging into this deeper we realized a number of complaints were minuscule considering the company deals with 1000’s of clients on monthly basis. They are also not accredited which means they are not actively looking at their profile on BBB.
Here are also some cool financials for the company performance last 3 years:
Year 2014
Total Sales: $25.6 billion dollars Total Assets: $212 billion dollars
Year 2015
Total Sales: $26.4 billion dollars Total Assets: $219.8 billion dollars
Year 2016
Total Sales: $21.1 billion dollars Total Assets: $236.9 billion dollars
Charitable Contribution
Most large insurance companies like to give back once they become successful. Based on the information found on their site, Jackson takes every precaution to make sure they do the right thing with their involvement in the community. This carrier even developed their own program called CSR which stands for Corporate Social Responsibility, the goal of this program is to develop empathy within their own corporate structure. The biggest focus they have is donating and contributing to the local communities around their offices. To further encourage everyone else in the company to give back Jackson National matches up to $25,000 per employee per year in charitable contribution. That’s a hell of a sum to match for donating and good for them.
Besides giving money they encourage everyone in their company to roll up their sleeves and contribute by volunteering. In 2016 the company got over 40 thousand volunteer hours from all the employees contributing. It always feels good working with a company that likes to give back to the less fortunate and upholds the local communities.
Contact Information for Existing Clients
If you have any questions about your existing policy or a family member that needs to file a claim here is all their contact information.
Jackson National All States
Policy Owner Services (800)644-4565
General Inquiries (517)381-5500
Jackson of New York
Contracts purchased through brokerage firm or broker-dealer 800-599-5651
Contracts purchased through bank, savings, and loan, or a credit union 888-464-7779
All other contracts 888-965-6569
Jackson National Products
*I’m sorry to disappoint you if you were looking for life insurance with Jackson National as they don’t have any life insurance products at this time. However, we do have over 60 top companies you can shop with for life insurance here.
What they do offer is Annuity Products and as any good review would do let’s take a look at them now.
VARIABLE ANNUITY PLANS
They have different types of variable annuity products that can vary based on their investments, benefits, and qualifications. Personally, we don’t like to recommend variable annuities to our clients since they can be pretty volatile. Variable annuities are retirement accounts that can grow over time with tax benefits and aggressive investments which can also result in a greater risk of financial loss. The difference between a fixed annuity and variable annuity is that when the annuity get to annuitization(meaning reaching the goal when it starts paying out) you don’t get a fixed return but a variable one. Variability allows you to get a much higher return but also more risks. This can be a good option for people that are aggressive investors but not a senior citizen who got upsold on the product they don’t know anything about.
With a variable annuity, you can invest into many more alternative investments through the policy’s sub accounts. The types of investments are stocks and bonds with you in control of which ones to invest in. Because it is an insurance product your family would receive a death benefit of a certain amount versus traditional investment vehicles.
Here are Jackson National Variable Annuities:
Elite Access
Elite Access Advisory
Perspective II
Perspective Advisory
FIXED INDEXED ANNUITY PLANS
Unlike Variable Annuity Plans, a Fixed Indexed Annuity will grow based on indexing and not directly be investing into the stock market. Instead, your returns will be based on yields from different equity markets typically S&P 500. Now, you must also keep in mind that this plan can have caps on how much yield you can get so you are limited but you it also has a guaranteed lowest rate. This means if the index does terribly you can only go down to a certain rate and not go into the red zone. This is an ideal product if you want to participate in getting higher returns than a traditional annuity but want to also safeguard from a volatile market. Just like with a cash value life insurance plans, a lot of your returns can get eaten up by fees and expenses the policy incurs. Just like the Variable Indexed Annuity Plans we highly recommend that you work with a trustworthy advisor to help you see if this is a right product for you and compare it to any other alternatives.
Here are Jackson National Fixed Indexed Annuities:
Jackson AscenderPlus Select
Elite Choice
Elite Choice Rewards
Select Annual Reset
FIXED ANNUITY PLANS
This is a very common option for people who are more on the passive side of investing. The reason is that fixed annuities provide you with guarantees from the premium payment to actual payments you’ll get when your policy reaches maturity. This plan will also grow your investments on tax deferred basis while you get a guaranteed interest return on your money. If we were to say that variable annuity is a high risk than a fixed annuity would be low risk in comparison. If you want a simpler plan to supplement your retirement portfolio with the lease involvement this policy may be right for you. Please keep in mind that the returns you get won’t be as great as the other two types of annuities but so won’t be the risk either.
Here are Jackson National’s Fixed Annuities:
MAX Family
BonusMAX Family
Action Family
SuperMax Family
Immediate Annuity
Wrap Up!
So Jackson National Life Insurance is a great company with some outstanding ratings and impressive financials. It has also been around for some time to demonstrate longevity and has a lot of happy clients. The biggest issue with them is that they no longer sell any life insurance products and you can only secure one type of insurance product which is an annuity. Now, don’t get me wrong they have every single type of annuity you want they will do you no good if you’re looking for a life insurance policy. That’s where we come in since we work with over 60 top rated life insurance companies so you can compare rates and pick a plan that works best for you. Here at InsureChance, we will help you find a plan, complete an online application and get you approved all from the comfort of your own home. If you’re ready to start use one of our quote engines, request an application or simply call us at 888.492.1967!
