History and Stability of American General
American General Life Insurance Company has been in the life insurance business for over 160 years. During that time, American General has served more than 13 million clients. Because of that, the insurer has built up a substantial reputation for being a very strong player in the insurance and financial services industry.
It has a mission to be the premier provider of protection, investment, and income solutions that are needed for both financial and retirement security – and the company is committed to providing better and more innovative ways of assisting their customers in protecting their families’ financial security.
American General is today a part of AIG. The company offers a full selection of life insurance products which includes term, whole life, universal life, variable universal life, and indexed universal life insurance coverage. You can request a quote for life insurance costs for you and your specific needs to see if this is the way to go for you!
The company has high and positive ratings from the insurance company ratings agencies, which are inclusive of an A2 from Moody’s Investors Service, an A+ from Standard & Poor’s, an A+ from Fitch Ratings, and an A from A.M. Best.
Life Insurance Products Offered
The life insurance products that are offered by American General cover a wide variety of different needs. They range in coverage options, as well as premium price, so that the company’s diverse array of customers can find exactly what it is that they are looking for.
These products include:
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance is considered to be the most basic type of life insurance coverage that is available in the marketplace. This is because term life offers just pure death benefit protection only, without any cash value or savings build up. Because of this, the premiums that are charged for term life insurance are usually lower than that of a comparable amount of permanent life insurance.
Improving on the service you can most depend on from any insurance company is a strategy that works for everyone, it’s a strategy American General has taken and used. With over 17 different term options you can pick the right one for you.
Most companies only let you choose between a 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 year term policy, and with 17 different options to choose from your term life policy can be exactly customized to fit your needs. Add to this already great feature a return-of-premiums, returning every cent you pay in premiums if you outlive your term.
The company also offers an annual renewable term life insurance option. Also, with American General’s Select-a-Term option, the policyholder can surrender the policy and get his or her money back if they should outlive the term of the policy.
Index Universal Life Insurance
American General also offers an index universal life insurance product. This type of plan has become quite popular over the past several years, as it provides policyholders with a number of options in terms of their cash value build up. This innovative life insurance policy option provides an interest crediting method that is based in part on the performance of an underlying financial market index (or more than one index) such as the S&P 500.
The interest on the policy’s cash value component is calculated in part by changes in the underlying index, meaning that when the index rises, the cash value could grow substantially more than that in a basic whole life or universal life insurance policy. If, however, the underlying index has a negative year or period, the cash value is protected and the policyholder is simply not credited with any interest at all as versus with a loss. This can essentially be thought of as a win-win scenario as it provides the potential for gain, yet without the potential for market risk.
Universal Life Insurance
Universal life insurance provides their policyholders with the flexibility to choose both the amount of insurance protection, as well as the amount of the premium that will be paid (within certain limitations). Universal life insurance includes several key features, including the fact that the premium payments are credited into the cash value account where the gains are tax deferred. This means that there is no tax due on any of the gains in the cash until the time that it is withdrawn.
The policyholder can either withdraw or borrow the cash for any reason that he or she sees fit, such as for paying off loans, making large purchases, and / or funding a child or a grandchild’s college education. It is important to note that if there is an unpaid cash value balance at the time of the death of the insured, then the amount of that unpaid balance will go against the amount of the death benefit that is paid out to the policy’s beneficiary.
A universal life plan from American General is a great choice for a permanent, secure policy. Already created to customize itself to its policyholder, a universal life policy brings the option of paying your premiums when you want for however much you want to pay. The value of the policy and premiums can increase over time. Index universal life insurance is a variation of universal life insurance, one specifically designed to work my indexing the interest your policy makes over time, mostly based on the performance of the policy.
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Whole Life Insurance
Whole life insurance is often referred to as the most common permanent life insurance policy available. The American Elite Whole Life policy is perfectly suited for those who want security and protection more than anything. As long as you pay your premiums, you’re policy will be paid out upon your passing.
American General Life Insurance Company also offers a traditional whole life insurance policy type. Just as the name implies, these plans will protect an insured throughout the whole of his or her lifetime – provided that the premiums remain paid. Typically, the amount of the premium on a whole life insurance policy will be fixed, too. Therefore, there is no need to worry about a rising premium over time – even if the insured acquires an adverse health condition.
As with other types of permanent life insurance plans, whole life insurance will also consist of a death benefit component, as well as a cash value portion. This cash value component will also allow the tax-deferred build up of the funds that are inside the policy – and because of that, the funds are allowed to grow and compound substantially, especially over the long-term time horizon.
Variable Universal Life Insurance
With an American General variable universal life insurance policy, an individual can have the option of obtaining flexible premium payments and death benefits, along with the opportunity of building up cash value within a separate investment account. This is because the cash value portion of these policies is linked to underlying market-related investments. Because of this, the policyholder has the opportunity of building up a substantial amount due to market upturns. They can also, however, lose value due to negative market performance. So, it is important to keep in mind the potential risk that is inherent in these types of plans.
Extra Benefits of American General Policies
Regardless of the types of needs that you may have, the life insurance policies that are offered through American General may be able to provide the coverage that is needed by loved ones so that they may go on without enduring a substantial financial hardship. These life insurance plans are designed to provide security for loved ones in the event of the unexpected, and they can provide peace of mind both now and in the future.
Many of the life insurance policies that are offered by American General will provide not just death benefits that are used after a person dies, but also “living benefits” that can be utilized while a policyholder is still living. This can allow maximum use of one’s policy. In fact, flexible living benefit riders allow policyholders to essentially leverage their policy while at the same time potentially helping them to protect against premature death, and providing funds that are needed if an individual acquires a critical illness – or even if they end up living a longer than expected life.
Also, because many of the American General life insurance policies have the ability to build up a substantial amount of cash value, these plans can also help their holders with supplementing their retirement income. Today, because people are living so much longer than ever before, traditional savings and retirement plans may not be enough to carry people through with the income that they need. Therefore, the money that is found inside of a life insurance policy’s cash value could be just what is needed to fill in those retirement income gaps.
Just taking a look at the three most common types of insurance policies and American General has shown how it stands against the competition as a top life insurance company. If you don’t want to leave your family at risk and need a policy you can depend on, American General is certainly the company for you.
Getting Quotes for Coverage
If you feel that you need any additional questions answered regarding the life insurance policies that are offered through American General – or even about life insurance coverage in general – we can help. We have experts on staff who can help in walking your through the process of obtaining premium quotes, as well as in answering some of the key questions that you may have on your mind, such as:
- What is the best type of coverage for me – term, whole life, universal life, index universal life, or variable universal life insurance?
- How much coverage do I need to protect my loved ones in case the unexpected should occur?
- Which of the many life insurance carriers will offer me the very best life insurance coverage at the best premium price to fit my budget?
Our experts may be contacted directly via phone, toll-free, by calling 888-836-7071 or by filling out the form on this page.
We understand that the purchase of life insurance at any age can be somewhat overwhelming. There are so many details to consider. That’s why we’re here – and we want to ensure that you feel comfortable prior to making your purchase decision.
