Guardian Life Insurance Review

Guardian Life Insurance Review

Term life policies have instant online quotes, and you can apply online. For permanent policies, you have to contact a local financial professional to understand rates. While there is a lot of information on the types of life insurance policies available in general on its website there is not much information on the specific policies offered by Guardian.

Policies: Guardian Life offers term and permanent life insurance options, including whole and universal policies. However, other than universal insurance (which offers both a standard and variable universal policy option), Guardian Life offers one policy per category. All policies can be bulked up with riders.

Coverage Limits: Most policies start at $100,000 of coverage, with one exception – whole life policies start at $25,000 in coverage.

Coverage Restrictions: Your age can impact whether or not you qualify for each policy, but permanent ones tend to have higher limits. For example, universal policies exclude applicants over 85 and whole life policies cut off at 90. Term policies, by contrast, can be limited to applicants as young as 55 for 30-year term policies. If you’re going for a shorter term like 10 years, the cutoff is at age 75. Although the company is licensed to do business in all states, it may not offer each product in all locations.

How Much Does Guardian Life Insurance Cost?

If you purchase a Guardian life insurance policy through your workplace, you might be eligible for a discounted group rate.

Any rates listed are for illustrative purposes only. You should contact the insurance company or insurance agent directly for applicable quotes.

For information on whole and universal life insurance policies, talk to an insurance agent or Guardian directly. Guardian does not offer bundling or multi-policy discounts for life insurance. For more information on inexpensive life insurance policies visit our guide, Cheapest Life Insurance Companies.

What Kinds of Life Insurance Policies Are Available From Guardian?

Guardian has four main life insurance products across three types: term, whole life, and universal life.

Term Life Insurance Options From Guardian

Guardian Life offers a term life insurance policy that can last 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. As long as you keep up with your premiums, you’ll be covered until the term expires.

Of the life insurance options that Guardian offers, these policies are the easiest to apply for since the company offers both online quotes and applications. Keep in mind when you get an instant online quote from Guardian Life for a term policy, that rate assumes that you’re going with a medically underwritten term life policy. You’ll still have to pass a paramedical exam to qualify officially. Some existing health issues can disqualify you or increase your premiums.

There are also age restrictions for the various term lengths. For example, the 10-year term policy allows applicants to be between the ages of 18 and 75. Each longer term lowers the maximum age by five years.

For those who do qualify, the premiums would stay the same over the life of that policy. You can add additional coverages to Guardian’s term policies, like the Extended Conversion rider, the Waiver of Premium rider, and the Accelerated Terminal Illness rider. The ability to convert term policies to whole life insurance within the first five years of coverage is included at no extra cost.

Whole Life Insurance Options From Guardian

Guardian Life’s whole life policy would give you lifetime protection and fixed premiums. It also builds cash value over time which you’d be able to borrow against though you may be subject to interest charges, and borrowing would decrease the death benefit until that amount is repaid. You may be able to go with a limited premium policy, which would let you stop making premium payments after a certain amount of time while maintaining coverage.

Compared to other policies from Guardian, the coverage options for whole life policies start lower at $25,000. These policies may require a medical exam to qualify.

You can add riders to whole life policies from the company to build up your coverage. For example, there’s a Guardian Index Participation feature, which would let you link some of your cash value to an index fund. There’s a waiver of premium rider, which would kick in if you become unable to work due to an injury or illness and thereby are considered totally disabled.

Some riders may not be available in all states. Talking to a financial professional who sells Guardian Life’s whole policy would be the best way to understand what that policy might look like for you.

Universal Life Insurance Options From Guardian

Guardian’s universal life policy provides lifetime coverage with flexible premiums. Part of the premium goes toward the cost of insurance, but the rest builds cash value over time. Universal policies have a minimum guaranteed interest rate of 2%, though it can be higher than that. Paying minimum premiums may result in lowering the rate at which your cash value builds. Taking money out of the cash value would reduce the death benefit.

There are two types of universal policies available: standard and variable. The variable policy offers investment options, while the standard does not. Variable universal policies also require you to choose and manage those investments, similar to how you’d manage a brokerage account. It doesn’t have a guaranteed interest rate for the cash value component, so it’s possible that the policy could lapse due to negative performance.

Overall, universal policies typically cost more than term policies, but less than whole life policies.

How Do I Buy Life Insurance From Guardian?

You cannot purchase Guardian’s life insurance policies online, but Guardian documents are available electronically through an app and via email. To buy life insurance from Guardian, use the New York-based company’s form to find an agent in your area, or you can submit your information and Guardian will match you with one.

To find the best Guardian policy for you, consider your motivation for purchasing life insurance. If you are looking primarily for affordable coverage and understand your coverage is being limited to a specific amount of time, term life insurance is probably your best bet. To build more value and provide more coverage, whole and universal life insurance may be a better choice. A Guardian financial representative can help you make these decisions.

Guardian vs. the Competition

If you’re shopping for straightforward level term life insurance, you’ll have a bit more to think about. While Guardian Life offers a term policy in 10-, 15-, 20-, and 30-year increments with level premiums for the duration of the policy, Northwestern Mutual offers terms of 10 and 20 years or up to age 80, but depending on the policy, the premiums won’t necessarily be level for the entirety of the term.

Both Guardian and Northwestern Mutual also offer variable universal life insurance, which lets you adjust your premium payments according to your needs and choose how your cash value is invested.

For more information on Northwestern Mutual read our full review.

If you’re looking for additional opportunities to customize your policy, Guardian and Protective offer several riders. One of the more unusual options is a Charitable Benefit Rider from Guardian that allows term policyholders to choose a registered 501(c)(3) organization to receive an extra 1% of their death benefit. Unlike Guardian, Protective offers a children’s term rider that allows parents to insure their children without buying a separate policy.

Guardian is a mutual company, while Protective Life is not. That means Guardian’s whole life insurance policyholders are eligible to receive dividends, unlike Protective’s.

For more information on Protective read our full review.

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