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New York Life was established in 1854 years ago in New York. It ranks high in JD Power's life insurance customer satisfaction survey. It is also one of our top picks for the best life insurance companies. It's known for two major things: aggressive financial products and extensively trained agents. What does this mean for you?
If you're preparing for a comfortable retirement or looking to build generational wealth, New York Life is one of the strongest options. If you have questions or genuinely want to understand your life insurance options, New York Life agents are among the most qualified professionals in the business.
New York Life Insurance Policies
New York Life offers whole life, universal life, and variable universal life policies. If you opt to purchase a term policy, you can choose between New York Life's yearly convertible term, level premium convertible term, and million-plus level term policy.
A permanent policy pays a death benefit, allows you to build cash value, and may also pay dividends depending on the policy you choose. If you buy a permanent policy with New York Life, you'll also have access to your funds throughout your life. What does this mean? New York Life allows buyers to pull loans from their policy benefit for home buying, retirement, and much more. Then you can choose if you want to maintain the value by repaying the loan.
Buyers also have the option to withdraw via options like accelerated death benefits. In other words, if you develop a terminal illness, you can pull money out early to pay medical bills, rent, and other costs of living.
Additional Coverage Options from New York Life
New York Life's base product is set up for flexibility and easy use. Additionally, you can supplement your insurance with individual disability coverage and long term care coverage. You also have the option of adding riders to your policy at an additional fee. If you purchase New York Life's Custom Guarantee, you have the option to receive back your money if you no longer need protection — free of additional cost.
- Yearly convertible term —This term life policy starts at the lowest cost then gradually increases each year. It's also convertible, meaning that you can switch from term life to a permanent policy without a medical exam.
- Level premium convertible term 10-20 —This term life policy gives you the option of paying your premiums for a 10 to 20-year term period. Premiums stay the same throughout your policy and will increase after your policy ends.
- Million plus level term 10 —This term life policy offers $1 million in coverage. Premiums stay the same throughout a 10 year period and gradually increase when your term is up. After five years, you can convert your policy to a permanent life insurance policy.
- Whole life insurance —This permanent policy pays a death benefit, builds cash value, and has the potential to pay annual dividends.
- Custom whole life insurance —This policy allows you to choose how long you pay premiums (as short as five years) and maximize the cash value growth in your policy. However, shorter paying periods mean higher premiums.
- Universal life insurance —This policy offers a death benefit, the ability to build cash value, and flexibility over when and how often you pay your premiums.
- Custom guarantee —This policy is a good option for customers who need death benefits but don't necessarily need to build cash value. Custom guarantees allow you to pay level premiums for as long as you'd like.
- Protection up to age 90 —This policy is an excellent option for those who need a significant amount of life insurance protection — at least $1 million of coverage — for a period of time before the age of 90.
- Variable universal life insurance —This permanent life insurance gives you agency over your investments. This policy provides access to different tax-advantaged investing options that align with your goals and risk level. Like universal life, you can also adjust the amount and frequency of your payments.
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)
New York Life Insurance Cost
The cost of your policy depends on what you want. As you might imagine, New York Life's largest multi-million dollar policies may not be affordable for every buyer. Even for 20-30 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.
If you want to compare pricing for New York Life policies, you should talk to a qualified life insurance agent.
New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, and MassMutual are nationwide carriers that specialize in life insurance. All three companies offer term, whole, universal, and variable life insurance, as well as add-on coverages like disability income coverage and long term care coverage. New York Life provides excellent customer service and a wide range of policy options to fit your life insurance needs. However, it ranks lower in customer satisfaction than its competitors. In addition, New York Life does not offer online quotes.
Filing 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. New York Life has also recently partnered with Empathy to offer policyholders more support throughout the grieving process. Filing the initial paperwork is just one part of grieving and settling an estate. Empathy and New York Life offer tools to help families improve their experience.
Who Are The Ideal Customers for New York Life?
New York Life has traditionally sold to the upper middle class to high income buyers. This isn't surprising as New York Life policy values trend higher. As the world changes, many people are seeing changes in life insurance. More specifically, New York Life will likely never offer bargain term insurance policies for $10/month. However, it is more accessible to buyers who are ready to commit to building wealth in the form of a life insurance policy. As such, it appeals to customers interested in being educated about financial products and planning.
More than anything else, people looking at New York Life should not automatically write it off as being "too expensive." Instead, regardless of your age, current income, etc., let a New York Life agent run quotes for you. We recommend you lay out your expectations and budget and let agents show you what they can offer. Then you can make an informed decision about life insurance.
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| Availability | National presence | National presence | National presence |
| Types of insurance offered | Term, whole, universal, variable life | Term, whole, universal, variable life | Term, whole, universal, variable life |
| Claims and customer satisfaction |
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New York Life Insurance FAQs
We checked the NAIC Complaint Index for complaints against New York Life. The company has significantly fewer complaints filed against it compared to other top insurers.
New York Life's financial stability is strong, with an AM Best rating of A++ (Superior). While it's a legitimate insurance provider, it's important to do your own research to ensure New York Life is the right insurance company for you.
New York Life is available in all 50 states.
You can access your cash value via loans or partial withdrawals for your financial needs. This account is tax-deferred.
Several factors make up your insurance premiums like your age, gender, health, lifestyle, and occupation. To obtain a quote, get in touch with a New York Life agent by filling out this form.
Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards.
Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.
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