skip to main content

We may earn money when you click on our links. Learn More

Icon Close  Light

Call Today! 888-234-8376

Lincoln National Life Insurance Company Review

Researcher & Writer
December 26, 2019

Lincoln Life Insurance is one of the best life insurance companies that we represent. The company fills various niches in the marketplace and should be considered by anyone looking for permanent life and term life insurance.

If you are looking for Lincoln Life Insurance Reviews then you have come to the right place. In this review of Lincoln Life Insurance, we discuss the company’s pros and cons and offer our readers an alternative.

About Lincoln Financial Group

Lincoln Financial Group, also known as Lincoln National Corporation, The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, Fort Wayne, IN, and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, has been around for over a hundred years. Together, these companies offer life insurance nationwide.

Lincoln National owns over $108 billion in assets has over $24 billion in premiums in force in 2018.1 Needless to say, Lincoln Financial is a big company.

Lincoln Financial Focuses on:

  • Life Insurance
  • Long Term Care Planning
  • Annuities

Lincoln National Life Insurance Ratings

Lincoln National demonstrates its commitment to its policyholders by its strong ratings which point to a stable financial future. Anyone choosing Lincoln National for life insurance or annuities should sleep well at night.

Lincoln National ratings

  • A.M. Best rating: A+
  • Fitch rating: A+
  • Moody's rating: A1
  • S&P rating: AA-

All ratings as of 12/26/2019.

Life Insurance

Lincoln National offers term life and permanent coverage. Before deciding that term life is the right policy for you because it offers cheap life insurance, make sure you have a good understanding of the differences between term vs permanent life insurance.

Lincoln Life Elements Level Term

Elements Level Term is a term insurance policy with guaranteed level premiums for your choice of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. (30-Year Term is not available in Maryland). The premium is fixed for the term. After the term expires the policy will renew on an annual basis until age 95. Consider term life insurance for SBA loans, mortgage insurance or divorce life insurance.

Lincoln TermAccel

No exam term life insurance is available if your meet certain health requirements. Fast life insurance approvals in as quick as two days if no lab work is needed.

TermAccel is guaranteed level term life insurance with 15, 20 and 30 years available. Face amounts from $100,000 to $500,000 available. Available for ages 18-50. Not available in New York. Accelerated benefit, waiver of premium and children's term riders available.

This policy is convertible life insurance to permanent coverage if optioned by the earlier of the end of the term or by age 70.

Permanent Life

Lincoln National Life also offers permanent life insurance. Consider permanent life insurance for estate planning or funding buy-sell agreements.

Lincoln Life Guarantee UL

Guaranteed universal life provides a level death benefit option, guaranteed interest rate and a guaranteed premium. Guaranteed universal life works well for someone who wants death benefit protection more than cash value growth.

Indexed UL Accumulator

Indexed universal life (IUL) provides the flexibility of universal life with the potential for higher cash value growth.

Available for ages 20-80, the Indexed UL Accumulator offers 100% participation rate for its various interest accounts, including:

  • Fixed account
  • 1-Year Point-to-Point Indexed Account
  • 1-Year Monthly Cap Indexed Account
  • 1-Year Monthly Average Indexed Account

Other than the fixed account, the indexed accounts crediting rates are based on a formula that, among other things, tracks the performance of the S&P 500, up to a current 13% cap. The indexed accounts include a 1% guaranteed interest crediting, so even if the market moves south you will still earn interest.

Life insurance loans are available. Money you borrow from your policy account value continues to earn interest, as if it were never taken out. This can be a big deal when your growth is high because you can borrow against your cash value and earn positive arbitrage due to your borrowed balance still earning interest crediting.

Life Insurance Riders

A waiver of premium rider and child term life rider are available for an additional fee upon request.

A terminal illness accelerated death benefit rider is automatically included and will pay out a portion of the death benefit if you are diagnose terminally ill with death likely to occur in the next 6 months.

Lincoln MoneyGuard II

Lincoln MoneyGuard II is a hybrid long term care insurance policy available in most states, including California. The Lincoln MoneyGuard Reserve is available in New York.

Long term care insurance provides income benefits to help you pay for the costs associated with long term care, including in home care, adult day care centers, assisted living facilities,  nursing homes, respite care and hospice.

As people continue to live longer, the need for long term care solutions increases. MoneyGuard II is a long term care life insurance policy that provides an income benefit for long term care costs and a death benefit if for your beneficiary.

If you qualify for the income benefit, you will be eligible to receive your benefits after your policy's elimination period. Once the elimination period passes, you will receive tax free income benefits to help with your LTC expenses until you recover or until your benefit period expires.

MoneyGuard II snapshot

Lincoln Life Insurance Reviews: Underwriting Niches

Lincoln National Life is a great company but these specific areas are where it excels at being one of the most affordable life insurance companies.

  • Clients who use cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, nicotine gum, nicotine patches, electronic cigarettes, (basically all tobacco products besides cigarettes), can test positive for nicotine and still receive a standard rate class. However, the client must admit tobacco use on the application.
  • Clients can qualify for the best rate class available if no nicotine shows up in the clients urine sample and the client uses a maximum of 12 cigars per year. A client can use up to 24 cigars a year and still qualify for preferred rate class as long as the urine sample shows no nicotine.
  • Clients 70 and older are given more liberal underwriting requirements with regard to cholesterol, blood pressure and build (height and weight ratio).
  • Lincoln Life Insurance also has more liberal underwriting for older clients with a history of prostate or breast cancer.
  • Liberal cholesterol ratio with preferred plus rate class available for clients with 5.5 HDL ratio as long as total number less than or equal to 230. The total cholesterol number jumps to 275 for clients 70 and older.
  • 70 year old clients with diabetes can qualify for a preferred rate class from Lincoln Financial if the following:
    • Type 2 diabetes,
    • Recently diagnosed within the last 3 years,
    • A1C over the last 12 months 6.0 or lower,
    • No history or proteinuria,
    • No history of retinopathy or neuropathy,
    • Favorable cardiac workup, and
    • Good lipids (meets preferred lipids criteria).

As you can see from the above list, Lincoln Life is a solid life insurance company. However, as with every company out there, Lincoln does have its weaknesses.

Lincoln Life Insurance Rates

Disability Income Insurance

Lincoln Financial Group is the 4th largest disability insurance company for group policies in the U.S. according to a 2014 LIMRA report based on total contracts sold. The Company provides both short term and long term disability insurance employee benefits.

In you are sick or injured you may be eligible for short term disability insurance benefits. The monthly benefit amount can help get you through a tight spot financially so you can avoid credit card debt or using rainy day funds. For sicknesses or injuries that keep you out of work longer, you will also need long term protection.

If you have an extended work absence due to an injury or illness, your long term disability insurance benefits can help protect your assets and keep your financial house in order. The monthly benefits start after your elimination period ends. The monthly benefit amount will continued to be paid as long as you are totally disabled or until your benefit period ends.

For go here for more on the topic of what is disability insurance.

Lincoln Life Insurance Reviews: The Negatives

Lincoln Life is but one company of many

Lincoln Life Insurance has its strengths as noted above. However, the company also has weaknesses. While it might give a 70 year old diabetic the best price on life insurance, a healthy 40 year old might pay 20% or more for life insurance with Lincoln Life, than with a competitor.

For example, a $500,000 20 year term for a healthy 40 year old male would cost $39.61 a month. In contrast, the top carrier for a $500,000, 20 year term for a healthy 40 year old male would run $29.41 a month. That is a 25% difference or a savings of $120 annually or $2,400 over a 20 year term.

The main point is that Lincoln Financial Group is but one fish in a large sea of companies offering life insurance. This is why if you are seeking out the best price for your specific situation or health you have to go with an agency that can offer you alternatives.

Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Reviews: The Alternative

The name of the game is choices. At TermLife2Go we focus on working with life insurance companies that offer a unique niche. Whether that niche is price, smoking, diseases, etc…our job is to know which company would be the best fit for you.

Anyone searching the internet for Lincoln Financial Group Life Insurance Reviews want to see what options are out there. We currently represent dozens of the top rated life insurance companies. It is by aligning each of our client's unique health and lifestyle with the various companies' niches that allow us to offer the best quotes on life insurance for our clients. That is the TermLife2Go advantage.

Sources

  1. National Association of Insurance Commissioners, “Lincoln Natl Life Ins Co
Written by
TermLife2Go
We are a team of life insurance experts with the simple mission of helping you find the best coverage for your unique situation. We research, review, and rank life insurance companies to make that process easier.