If you’re a member of the AARP, or the American Association of Retired Persons, you know that there are many benefits to membership. One of them is life insurance. AARP pairs with New York Life to offer group life insurance, both term and permanent coverage.
The name AARP is somewhat misleading, as members do not need to be retired to join, they only need to be over age 50. If your spouse is over 50 and a member, you can join if you’re over 45. Membership in AARP is $16 a year, $12 a year if you sign up for automatic renewal. If you have difficulty getting life insurance, due to age or health problems or both, AARP might be a good option for you.
- Pros and Cons
- Products Offered by AARP Life Insurance: 60/100
- Financial Strength Rating of AARP Life Insurance: 100/100
- Customer Satisfaction Rating of AARP Life Insurance: 70/100
- Consumer Complaints Rating of AARP Life Insurance: 100/100
- Digital Experience Rating of AARP Life Insurance: 80/100
Pros and Cons of AARP Life Insurance
| Pros | Cons |
| – Guaranteed acceptance. Learn more about guaranteed issue life insurance – No medical exam for any policies. Learn more about No Medical Exam Life Insurance – Offers both term and whole life policies – Fewer complaints than most – Simplified application process | – Term insurance is “level benefit” not level premium – Maximum amount of coverage is $100,000 – Guaranteed acceptance means higher premiums |
Products Offered by AARP Life Insurance
AARP offers some basic life insurance products:
- Term life insurance
- Whole life insurance
- Guaranteed acceptance whole life
- Child whole life
Term life insurance offers up to $100,000 worth of coverage and you can apply if you’re between 50 and 74. An important thing to note is that this is “level benefit” insurance. This means the death benefit stays the same, but the premiums go up. They usually rise in five-year increments, every time you enter a new age group. Prices are not guaranteed, which makes it difficult to budget. There is no medical exam required, which makes this an attractive option for seniors who have medical issues.
Whole life insurance is available up to $50,000 worth of coverage and you may apply if you’re between 50 and 80. Like all whole life policies, it builds cash value over time. With this policy, your premiums stay at the same level through the life of the policy. Benefits won’t decrease and will continue for the rest of your life, although you stop paying premiums at the age of 95. There are two benefits riders you can attach:
- Accelerated death benefit: If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness and have less than a year to live, you can access up to 50% of the death benefit while you’re still alive.
- Waiver of premium: If you need to enter a nursing home, you can waive the premiums for as long as you stay, after 6 months have passed.
Guaranteed Acceptance Whole life insurance is available up to $25,000 in coverage and you can apply if you’re between 50 and 80. Should you happen to die within the first two years of the policy, your beneficiaries won’t get the full death benefit; they’ll get 125% of the premiums you paid.
Child whole life insurance allows parents and grandparents to buy up to $20,000 worth of life insurance for a child under the age of 18. Learn more about Life Insurance for Children
If you have health problems and can’t get life insurance any other way, AARP life insurance might be a good fit for you. Because they don’t have a medical exam, almost everyone is accepted. This makes premiums higher than they might be elsewhere. If you have a medical problem, it might still pay to shop around to see if you can find a policy with better rates.
Financial Strength Rating of AARP Life Insurance
AARP’s life insurance is New York Life. They’ve been in business since 1845. A.M. Best gives them a financial strength rating of A++. You can’t rate higher than that. You want your insurance company to be financially stable enough to pay out claims, and there is no question that New York Life is able to do so.
>>MORE: New York Life Life Insurance Review
Customer Satisfaction Rating of AARP Life Insurance
Every year, J.D. Power rates life insurance companies on how well they meet customers’ expectations. They are rated on six criteria, and each company also gets an overall rating.
Overall, New York Life earned a score of 770 out of a possible 1000 points, with the median average score being 761.
Here is New York Life ranks on the six criteria:
- Product Offerings: 4/5
- Price: 4/5
- Statements: 3/5
- Interaction: 3/5
- Communication: 3/5
- Application and Orientation: 4/5
It’s important to note that not every product New York Life has is available to AARP members, so the product offering category is a little narrower for AARP.
Overall, New York Life seems to deliver what customers expect.
Consumer Complaints Rating of AARP Life Insurance
NAIC rates companies according to a ratio. The national median complaint ratio is 1.0, meaning a company earns as exactly as many complaints as you would expect for a company of their size. A score of 2.0 would mean they got twice as many complaints.
For Group life insurance, New York life earned a ratio of .32 and for individual life insurance they got a score of .15. This means fewer complaints than most companies of their size.
Digital Experience Rating of AARP Life Insurance
To apply for term life insurance, getting an online quote is pretty easy: just put in your information and it gives you a quote. All of the questions are pretty standard, except you might need to give them your AARP membership number.
To apply for permanent life insurance, you can also get a quote online, however, there is a line in the application that asks for your phone number. It tells you a representative will call you. It also says online quoting is not available in all states.
There is no mobile app available. Online, you can make payments, set up automatic payments and manage your beneficiaries.
Last Thoughts:
If you’re already an AARP member and you have health problems, you could consider a quote from AARP. If you are in good health, it will pay to shop around. Even if you have health problems, some companies are more forgiving than others, so it’s worth it to shop around.