EquiTrust Life Insurance Company Review

EquiTrust's two life insurance policies are both a type of indexed universal life insurance. An indexed universal life policy is a type of universal life policy that offers a death benefit paired with a cash account; this cash account is tied to the performance of a market index such as the S&P 500.

While performance of the cash account is tied to the index, the funds in the account are not directly invested in the market, so these policies generally have a minimum and maximum on the percentages you can gain and lose in the cash account. 

This indexed universal life (IUL) policy is available for individuals who are 45-80 years old, with death benefit amounts ranging from $10K-$750K. 

An accelerated death benefit rider is included in this policy for no extra charge. With an accelerated death benefit rider, if you have certain health conditions, you may be able to receive a portion of the death benefit payout while you are still living. This rider can be used for things such as terminal illness, chronic care, or nursing care confinement.

The policy also includes a graded return-of-premium rider. This rider goes into effect if the policy is fully surrendered (or canceled). If this were to happen, you would receive no less than the entire single premium payment, minus any partial withdrawals. This feature will terminate in the event of a policy loan or if the accelerated death benefit rider is used. ⁴

As with any life insurance policy that has a cash value, you are able to take a loan from the policy. If a loan is taken out, the death benefit payout amount your beneficiaries receive will decrease—unless the loan is paid back. Interest rates are charged on policy loans, so weigh your options when looking to get a loan; it might be best to go through a bank versus borrowing from the policy. 

You are also able to take penalty-free withdrawals with this specific policy after the first policy year. The withdrawal amount can be up to 5% of the account's accumulation value. Withdrawals will reduce the death benefit proportionally to whatever amount is taken out. Withdrawing funds won't lead to surrender charges, but there is a $25 fee per withdrawal.⁵ 

You also have four index options when it comes to accumulating cash value.

The cash value account that is included in this policy is a fixed-rate account, meaning the rate is guaranteed for one policy year. On policy anniversaries the rate could change depending on the contractual Minimum Guaranteed Interest rate.⁶

Here are four index options for this policy:

• S&P MARC 5% Excess Return Index Accounts (1-Year Point-to-Point Participation Index Account)
• Barclays Focus50 Index (1-Year Point-to-Point Participation Index Account)
• S&P 500® Index Accounts (1-Year Point-to-Point Cap Index Account)
• S&P 500® Index Accounts (1-Year Monthly Average Participation Index Account)

Like the WealthMax Bonus policy, this indexed universal life policy is available for people who are 45-80 years old, with coverage amounts ranging from $10K to $750K. 

The WealthHorizon policy allows you to choose from the same four index options as the WealthMax Bonus policy. You can take a policy loan from the cash value or make penalty-free withdrawals (again, with a $25 fee per withdrawal).

This policy also offers an accelerated death benefit rider, just like the WealthMax policy. 

The main difference between the two policies is the graded return-of-premium rider. That rider is not included in the WealthHorizon Life policy.⁷ 

Unfortunately, you aren't able to get a life insurance quote online with EquiTrust. To get any pricing you will need to call the company directly. You can find the phone number on the "Contact Us" page of the EquiTrust website. 

According to EquiTrust's website, the company has $20.7 billion in total assets, which is pretty impressive. Here's what reliable rating sources have to say about EquiTrust:

A.M. Best, the gold standard for financial ratings across the insurance industry, gives EquiTrust a rating of B++ (good). This is a good sign of stability for the company. It indicates that EquiTrust is financially stable and will be able to pay out your claim with the time comes. 

Standard and Poor's (S&P) also gives EquiTrust a BBB+ rating, which indicates the company is financially stable. 

According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), there were few complaints filed against EquiTrust in 2019. The NAIC gives the company a complaint ratio of 0.10. With the national average being 1.00, the amount of complaints received is far below the national average. ⁸

In 2019, EquiTrust received a total of five complaints which is extremely low considering this company is slated to bring in $1.7 billion in premiums per year.⁹

If you are interested in term life insurance, whole life, or you simply want to explore your options, then EquiTrust won't be the best choice for you. It only offers one type of life insurance product: indexed universal life insurance.

However, if you are looking to get annuities or indexed universal life insurance, then EquiTrust could be a good option for you since the company offers both and is rated as financially stable.

If you aren't sure what steps to take next, give us a call and speak with a licensed life insurance expert. Or if you are just looking to get some pricing options, you can get a life insurance quote.