Foresters Financial Life Insurance Review

About The Company

Foresters Life Insurance is a part of Foresters Financial, an international finance company that works across the UK, US, and Canada.

They have more than 1 million members helping them with several financial services including life insurance, retirement, and investments.

The company is highly involved in the community and continues to focus on giving back.

The Highlights

• They support applicants with Type 2 diabetes who would normally be turned down for life insurance
• They have many insurance policies available, both with and without medical exams
• Their whole life insurance policies include dividends as they are a participating plan
• They offer three final expense insurance policies, enabling you to choose the most affordable yet effective policy to protect your loved ones
• Foresters term policies also include a large variety of riders including one that contributes 1% of your death benefit to a charity of your choice

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance is the most affordable policy in almost every company and Foresters is no exception. Their LifeFirst Level Term policy offers terms in 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years.

They also offer the unique option of securing term life insurance with or without a medical exam but your choice in this matter will determine your premiums.

No medical exam

With no medical exam, the premiums are higher but it’s still a great option for people with Type 2 diabetes as this is usually a reason for an instant denial of life insurance.

As long as you answer the health questions honestly and prove you have your diabetes under control (with proof from the doctor), you’re on your way to securing a term life insurance policy.

Additionally, your premiums will remain locked for the term you choose. This helps with budgeting and predictability, unlike premiums that increase with age.

Foresters term life insurance policies come at affordable premiums, here are some sample rates:

25-year old healthy male and female premiums:

• $100,000 – $20/month male and $15/month female
• $250,000 – $40/month male and $29/month female
• $1 million – $48/month male and $36/month female

50-year old healthy male and female premiums:

• $100,000 – $58/month male and $53/month female
• $250,000 – $135/month male and $134/month female
• $1 million – $194/month male and $153/month female

Permanent Life Insurance

Foresters Advantage Plus II permanent life insurance is a whole life policy with guaranteed death benefits and cash value.

The death benefit is a lifetime benefit, the premiums are guaranteed not to change and you have the option of paying premiums for 20 years or paying until you’re 100-years old.

The 20-year premiums may cost a bit more each month, but then you don’t have any premiums after 20 years.

On the other hand, if you pay until you’re 100, the premiums are lower but go on for most of your life. If you live past a hundred, you keep the coverage until age 121 with no premiums required.

Dividends

Advantage Plus is a ‘participating’ life insurance, which means you may also receive dividends from Foresters when profits are good.

You can use the dividends in one of four ways:

• Buy paid-up additions (buy additional death benefit coverage & increase your cash value)
• Leave them in your cash value
• Pay premiums
• Receive them in cash

Foresters Advantage Plus provides coverage until you turn 121-years old and the premiums never increase.

You may borrow against the cash value as needed and then pay ‘yourself’ back. If you don’t pay it back before you pass, it decreases the death benefit your beneficiaries receive.

You may also purchase paid-up additions at any point and either pay them in one payment or spread them out with your premiums.

Cash value

Your Advantage Plus policy accrues a cash value in addition to the death benefit.

A portion of your premium covers the death benefit (just like term life insurance), but the other portion goes into a cash account that accrues interest at a guaranteed rate.

You can borrow from the cash value account throughout your life but again, any money you borrow you either repay or allow it to decrease your death benefit when you pass.

Interest rates

The Advantage Plus policy has affordable interest rates and you don’t need to qualify for the loan – there aren’t any credit pulls or underwriting procedures.

It can provide you with peace of mind knowing if disaster struck or you experience serious medical issues, you have money to fall back on without any hassle.

If you pay it back, you’ll do so affordably. If you don’t, it just decreases the amount your family receives upon your passing.

Final Expense Insurance

Sometimes all you need is a simple insurance policy that covers final expenses. This may include your funeral, burial, medical expenses, and/or debts.

Rather than leaving your family with both grief and financial issues, you may want to take care of the financial aspect, so that they can properly grieve your loss while honoring your final wishes.

The Plan Right policy provides a whole life insurance policy, known as final expense insurance. Like Advantage Plus, it offers a death benefit and cash value, but at lower amounts.

It’s the perfect policy for older applicants, usually between the ages of 50 – 85 who are financially secure but want coverage for their final expenses.

The Plan Right policy has three payout options:

Level death benefit

Just like a term life insurance policy, beneficiaries receive 100% of the death benefit upon your passing. It doesn’t matter when you pass – they receive the full benefit.

Graded benefits

There is a 2-year waiting period with this payout option. If you pass within the first 2 years, your beneficiaries receive a limited payout.

But if you pass after the 2-year waiting period, they receive 100% of the death benefit like a level death benefit policy.

Modified benefit

If you pass within the first 2 years, your beneficiaries will receive limited benefits equal to the premiums paid plus 10%.  If you pass after two years, they will receive full benefits.

The Plan Right policy offers coverage from $2,000 – $35,000 and doesn’t require a medical exam.

You may need to attend a personal health interview to go over any current medical conditions, but the approval process is fast and simple.

The average funeral costs around $10,000, so this is the perfect policy to cover those expenses.

Universal Life Insurance

SMART Universal Life Insurance provides a death benefit plus an investment component. You don’t get a guaranteed rate of return, but you do get a chance to produce higher earnings.

The premiums you pay cover the death benefit and the remainder goes into your cash-value account, which then gets invested and earns a guaranteed rate of 2%.

The earnings grow tax-deferred, and you only pay taxes if you use the earnings to pay your premiums or withdraw as cash.

You can buy coverage between $10,000 and $499,000.

Available Riders

Short-term rider

A short-term rider temporarily increases your death benefit.

For example, if you have a mortgage or a young child, you may want extra coverage until the mortgage is paid off or your child moves out.

The 10 or 20-year term addition helps. Plus you can convert it to whole life without additional medical underwriting in the future.

Children’s term rider

This protects all children in your family and allows them to convert it to a whole life policy in the future (with no medical exam).

Waiver of premium rider

If you’re unable to work for 6 months or longer due to a disability, Foresters will waive your premiums

Accidental death rider

If your death is an accident, Foresters will pay your beneficiaries an additional death benefit

Guaranteed purchase option rider

Universal life insurance policies may add this rider which provides the option to increase the death benefit face value up to $50,000 without a medical exam or proof of insurability.

These riders are included at no charge on most Foresters policies:

• Common carrier accidental death rider – If you die on a common carrier flight, your beneficiaries receive an additional benefit to the stated death benefit
• Family health benefit rider – Helps families with medical expenses that result from a natural disaster
• Accelerated death benefit rider – The option to receive death benefits while you’re alive – if you receive a chronic or terminal illness diagnosis
• Charity benefit provision – Foresters will donate 1% of your death benefit (up to $100,000) to a charity of your choice in your name

What Customers Say?

Foresters Life Insurance has an ‘A’ rating with AM Best, which shows their financial stability. They are very transparent and work with ‘unhappy’ customers right away.

There have been 31 complaints in the last 3 years and 11 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

Foresters always respond to complaints on BBB, which also shows their dedication to customer satisfaction.

Other Alternative Companies

New York Life Insurance

New York Life is one of the most popular life insurance companies.

They offer a large variety of insurance products, most of which do not require a medical exam. However, they do require a medical questionnaire to ensure you’re in decent health.

They also offer a variety of policies, some with level premiums and others with increasing premiums as you age.

Mutual Of Omaha

Mutual of Omaha has been in the industry for more than 100 years and they offer a wide variety of insurance products including term life, whole life, and universal policies.

They’re a good company, especially for those in less than perfect health, but the policies do increase in price as you age, making it unaffordable for some.

Most people can convert their policy to a permanent life insurance policy if they choose.

AIG Life Insurance

AIG offers customizable life insurance policies that are great for those looking for something other than the standard life insurance policy. They offer term, whole, and universal life options.

Their offerings can be a little overwhelming at first since there are 18 term life insurance options alone, but it’s worth it looking into if you can’t find what you need elsewhere.

They offer the unique option of insurance laddering, allowing you to buy multiple life insurance policies at various terms to cover ‘temporary situations’ such as a mortgage or child’s education.

Gerber Life Insurance

Gerber Life insurance isn’t just for children – they offer great insurance policies for adults too.

While they do have a great policy for children called the ‘Grow Up Plan,’ they also offer term life, whole life, and final expense (guaranteed issue) insurance for seniors.

Gerber offers a simple application process and many coverage options.

Should You Choose Foresters?

Foresters has niche products that are priced somewhat higher than other companies but serve those that need these products well.

They are more than a life insurance company, they’re a financial services company that provides a holistic view of your financial situation and helps you make the most of your financial life.