The good news for individuals and families who are currently shopping for life insurance is that life insurance has become so competitive that you’ll never be able to purchase it cheaper than today.
There are many national insurers out there who are competing for your business, and that competition will translate into lower rates and quality products.
In this article, we’ll look at TruStage Life Insurance so that we can help you make an informed decision about the life insurance company you may be considering.
About TruStage Life Insurance Company
Since its founding more than 80 years ago, the stakeholders and organizations associated with TruStage have worked to maintain the mission of our founders:
Offer straightforward insurance backed by a strong company, while making it easy to afford
As TruStage has grown and prospered, the company has earned a distinction for excellence. TruStage offers insurance and financial products from CMFG Life Insurance Company, a highly rated insurance company.
Presently, TruStage has gained the confidence of more than 20 million policyholders and thousands of partner credit unions that make TruStage Insurance readily available to their valued members.
Just as community credit unions are available to individuals and families, so is TruStage Insurance Company.
TruStage Insurance Company Financial Ratings
Since CMFG Life does the underwriting for TruStage, it makes sense to verify their financial ratings.
CMFG Life is a well-established mutual life insurance company and an excellent choice as the underwriting partner for TruStage.
As far as customer service and complaint resolution, TruStage has earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau for providing outstanding customer service.
| Rating Service | Current Rating |
| A.M. Best | A |
| Moody’s Investors Service | A2 |
| Standard & Poor’s | A |
| NAIC Complaint Ratio | 0.43 (the average is 1.0) |
Life Insurance Products Offered by TruStage
The TruStage product selection is rather thin when compared to other national life insurers.
They currently offer:
- Term life insurance
- Whole life insurance
- Guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance
- Accidental death and dismemberment insurance
TruStage Term Life Insurance
The term insurance product offered by TruStage is the most heavily marketed product in its arsenal. The company spends a lot of ad dollars on its term insurance because of the popularity of its affordability and the fact that that they can offer it as an instant issue.
Instant issue is an underwriting method that many insurers have become to embrace because of its innovative method for getting insurance underwriting done quickly and efficiently.
Today’s life insurance shoppers have also embraced this underwriting method because it enables the shopper to shop and then purchase their life insurance needs without having to deal with a neighborhood agent.
Unfortunately, TruStage has not been able to compete with the national term life insurance providers in the ultra-competitive term life insurance market.
Rather than offering several coverage periods where the premiums will remain level for the policy term, TruStage’s term product uses a 5-year banded pricing system. This means that the TruStage term life insurance rates will adjust to the obtained age of the policyholder every five years.
Here’s how the TruStage term life insurance product compares with the leading national insurance providers for a $300,000 10-year term policy for a 35-year old healthy male non-smoker.
| Insurance Company | Premium Year 1-5 | Premium Year 6-10 | Total Paid |
| TruStage | $95.00 | Unknown – at least $95 | $11,400 |
| Protective Life | $13.26 | $13.26 | $1,521 |
| SBLI | $13.28 | $13.28 | $1,594 |
| AIG | $13.78 | $13.78 | $1,654 |
| Pacific Life | $14.96 | $14.96 | $1,795 |
Since TruStage does not post the company’s rates in the comparative rating programs that most agents used, consumers will have to use their insurance rater found on the company’s website.
Unfortunately, the rates they publish on the website are only for the first 5 years, which makes it difficult to compare the TruStage rates with other national carriers.
You can, however, find the rates for year 6 and thereafter if you call the company at (855) 244-1658 but only during the company’s designated business hours.
It’s rather difficult to imagine a busy young adult calling the insurance company to get a quote for term life insurance when they could easily go online with thousands of independent insurance agents across the country.
TruStage Whole Life Insurance
The TruStage whole life insurance product is marketed to seniors who want final expense insurance to cover funeral and burial costs.
Final Expense life insurance is a niche of the insurance market that has exploded over the last two decades because of the number of seniors who want life insurance so their loved ones will not be burdened with funeral and burial costs. The national advertising from the major carriers has convinced many seniors to purchase online for a quick and affordable experience.
The TruStage whole life product is a traditional whole life insurance policy that includes benefits that consumers have known and depended on for many years:
- Insurance coverage that lasts a lifetime and cannot be canceled by the company as long as you pay your periodic premiums.
- Level premiums will never increase because of age or health issues.
- A cash value account that earns tax-deferred interest and can be accessed via policy loans, withdrawals, or a policy surrender.
Here’s how TruStage’s whole life final expense insurance stacks up against other national carriers for a healthy 60-year old male non-smoker:
| Company | $10,000 | $15,000 | $20,000 | $25,000 |
| TruStage | $42.40 | $62.60 | $82.80 | $93.00 |
| Americo | $43.80 | $63.62 | $83.56 | $103.50 |
| Grange | $41.75 | $60.43 | $79.12 | $97.80 |
| Family Benefit | $41.74 | $61.31 | $80.89 | $100.47 |
| Mutual of Omaha | $43.76 | $64.04 | $84.32 | $104.60 |
All insurance rates are subject to underwriting approval.
TruStage is very competitive with its Final Expense whole life insurance product, yet the company appears to spend more resources on its term product where they are not competitive.
