You might have seen a TransAmerica advertisement or heard of it from a friend right after you made a decision to buy life insurance and now wondering if it is the right carrier for you. Well, you have come to the right place because here at InsureChance we work with over 60 companies and our loyalty is to our clients so you’ll get an unbiased review. We will cover everything you need to know about this company before you make a buying decision. To start Transamerica Life is an A+ rated company and is definitely one of the top companies out there and they offer a ton of products to meet your different needs. This is a quick summary below to give you some main highlights of them as a company.
- Transamerica Life’s iconic pyramid that is the company’s logo today, was adopted in 1972.
- Transamerica Life Insurance company is over a 100-year old and today they have a quality grade rating from various rating agencies.
- As of December 31, 2016, the company has $1,055 billion of life insurance in force.
- Transamerica offers Final Expense Life, Term Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal and Whole Life.
- Transamerica also offers other products like Accidental death insurance and Retirement planning.
- Transamerica offers three graded death benefit products for those looking for burial insurance or final expense insurance; Immediate solution, 10 Pay solution, and Easy Pay solution.
- Term Life is a pure protection affordable coverage that protect you for a set of time like 10, 15, 20 or 30 years.
- Whole life insurance is a type of policy provides a set amount of coverage for your entire life.
- Universal Life is a policy earns credit as your premiums are paid.
- Variable Universal Life is a type of permanent life insurance that provides coverage for your entire life.
- Shopping around is so important and we all know how time-consuming it is to browse through different insurance companies and policies trying to DIY. The truth is you can cut your time in half by speaking to an independent licensed agent.
Rating and Review
TransAmerica is one of the oldest life insurers around and has been around through all kinds of turbulent times. TransAmerica has some very impressive ratings from A.M Best, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service, and S&P Global Rating Services. This is quite a feat since not many companies can say they have such ratings across the board. A good rating lets you know that the company has strong reserves to pay for claims without going under. For example, if there is a catastrophe and a carrier with a low rating got a lot of claims they may very well not be able to pay out all the claims. Although, there are other ways to get claims paid if a carrier goes under why put your family through a headache if something happens to you.
The company also has about $1.85 billion of life insurance in force last time we checked along with a three percent market share of the life insurance market in the U.S. Considering there are thousands of insurance carrier this is a respectable feat. Overall, when it comes to company strength, finances, history and service it is a green light. However, no one company will look at you with the same lens so it will come down to what you’re looking for and what your risk profile looks like.
Here is a brochure link for more information on the companies strength. (Brochure)
Products
Transamerica offers different types of life insurance like Final expense life, Term Life, Universal Life, Variable Universal, and Whole Life. Transamerica also offers a wide variety of products and services from Accidental death insurance to Retirement planning. Below we listed some important key points of the different life insurance policies that Transamerica Life offers.
Final Expense Life
- No waiting period for coverage to begin.
- No increase in premium due to age.
- Offers 3 policies; Immediate solution, 10 Pay solution, and Easy solution.
- Covers casket, embalming, service car, hearse etc.
Term Life
- Available for ages 18-75.
- Medical exam is necessary
- No cash value.
- Death benefits beginning at $100,000
- A fully underwritten policy with 10, 15, 20, 15 and 30-year terms.
- No annual fees for maintaining a term policy.
- Return of premium option is available which refund you all the premium payments, but only if you outlive your policy term.
- Offers higher coverage for a certain period of time, such as 10, 15, or 20 years.
- Ideal for new families, homeowners or anyone looking to protect their family from the loss of income.
- There are two types of term life policies; Trendsetter
Trendsetter Super/ Express/ Living Benefits
- Coverage amounts from $25,000-$2,000,000.
- Available term lengths are 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years.
- Available for ages 18-80.
- Guaranteed coverage and rate amount during term length.
- Advanced pay out if you have less than 12 months life expectancy.
- Before term length is over, you have the option to convert your coverage into a permanent universal life plan or you can renew your coverage.
Whole Life
- Available for ages 0-75
- Death benefits minimum $100,000
- Minimum 4% interest rate and 7% of premium fees.
- Flexible premiums and level premiums.
- Accidental Death Benefit, Child Protection, Disability, Guaranteed Minimum Cash Value, and Survivorship Option riders are available with a whole life policy.
- Offers moderate coverage amounts that last your entire life.
- Builds savings with cash value.
- Requires medical examination.
- Premiums are a little higher because coverage is permanent.
- Ideal for anyone who is looking for permanent protection and who may be looking for the ability to build cash value.
- Offers guaranteed returns.
Universal Life
- Available for ages 16-89
- Minimum $25,000 of death benefits.
- Offers higher coverage amounts that can last your entire life.
- Also, offers flexibility to decide how premium payments are handled.
- A medical exam is also usually required.
- Does not offer guaranteed returns.
- Ideal for those who want a permanent protection but also want some flexibility in how their premiums are paid.
- Accidental Death Benefit, Child Protection, Disability, Guaranteed Minimum Cash Value and Survivorship Option riders are available with a universal policy.
Variable Universal Life
- Available for ages 0-80.
- Type of permanent life insurance.
- 7% of premium fees.
- Minimum $100,000 of death benefits.
- Flexible premiums.
- Accidental Death Benefit, Child Protection, Disability, Guaranteed Minimum Cash Value and Survivorship Option riders are available with a variable life policy.
- Builds cash value.
Graded Death Benefit Products
Transamerica offers three graded death benefit products for those looking for burial insurance or final expense insurance. The first whole life policy is 10 Pay solution which has level premiums for only 10 years, and the minimum issue amount is $1,000. The older you are getting this policy the more it will decrease your issue amount. Immediate Solution are fixed premiums and are issued for ages 0-85 and depending on how old you are this will also affect the maximum issue amount. Lastly, the Easy Pay Solution level premiums up to age 121. What a number! With Easy Pay, death benefits are paid in full for accidental death after the initial two years of the policy.
What is Final Expense life insurance?
An average funeral costs up to $8,000 and not only does this insurance cover the casket and embalming but also for the funeral home, headstone, a burial plot, or a cremation. This insurance even covers for flowers or printing of the memorial cards.
What is Term life insurance?
Term life insurance is a pure protection product offering affordability and simplicity with an option to secure the policy for 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. This is the ideal life insurance plan to protect your family at most vulnerable stages.
What is Whole life insurance?
A permanent life insurance plan locked in until age 100 with guaranteed death benefit and cash value accumulation that is also guaranteed. This is a more expensive type of permanent life insurance that doesn’t offer much flexibility but gets the job done without risk.
What is Universal life insurance?
Similar to a whole life policy except you get more flexibility and fewer guarantees. It does have a better potential than a whole life for interest rate since the cash value is not only invested in bonds.
What is Variable Universal life insurance?
A type of Universal life insurance that is really geared toward very active investors since you can control exactly what investments to put your funds in within a life insurance plan for tax benefits.
Sample Transamerica Life Insurance Quotes
Sample quote is for a preferred plus 45-year old female who doesn’t smoke tobacco. Depending on lifestyle and health, quotes can vary.
| Face Amount | 10 Year Term | 15 Year Term | 20 Year Term | 25 Year Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $19 | $21 | $25 | $38 |
Sample quote is for a preferred plus 65-year old male who doesn’t smoke tobacco. Depending on lifestyle and health, quotes can vary
| Face Amount | 10 Year Term | 15 Year Term | 20 Year Term | 25 Year Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $128 | $149 | $264 | $290 |
Sample quote is for a preferred plus 55-year old female who smokes tobacco. Depending on lifestyle and health, quotes can vary
| Face Amount | 10 Year Term | 15 Year Term | 20 Year Term | 25 Year Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $147 | $168 | $204 | $255 |
Sample quote is for a preferred plus 57-year old male who smokes tobacco. Depending on lifestyle and health, quotes can vary
| Face Amount | 10 Year Term | 15 Year Term | 20 Year Term | 25 Year Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $238 | $308 | $315 | $440 |
High-Risk Carrier
TransAmerica is actually one of the most aggressive companies when it comes to pre-existing conditions. If you have a hard time getting approved for coverage it is not uncommon to get TransAmerica to issue you a policy. We had a lot of luck with getting clients approved that would otherwise be listed as uninsurable. For instance, if you have hepatitis, mental health condition or are disabled they will give you a higher rate but at least you’ll be able to secure a plan.
Work with a Broker!
So at the end of the day how do we answer the question of “Is TransAmerica a great company?”, well, the answer is a definite “YES”. As mentioned before though the type of life insurance company ideal for you will depend on a multitude of factors. That’s why we work with over 60 top rated companies to help you shop around and get the best rate based on your situation. Feel free to run quotes on our quoters or simply give one of our life insurance specialists a call at 1-888-492-1967. Welcome to InsureChance!
