Nationwide At a Glance: Rates, Products and Reviews

Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company was founded in 1926 as Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. While the company started as a small auto insurance provider, it is now a Fortune 100 company that’s known as one of the largest insurance organizations in the U.S. Nationwide currently serves customers in 46 states and the District of Columbia with a variety of products, including annuities, personal retirement plans, vehicle insurance, property insurance and life insurance.

Nationwide offers many types of annuities and insurance products that are accessible online and through local agents across the country.

Variable annuities are tax-deferred products that generate guaranteed income and death benefits. Nationwide’s lineup of Destination annuities, including Nationwide Destination B 2.0, Nationwide Destination Navigator 2.0 and Nationwide Destination Freedom+ allow you to choose from more than 100 insurance products and take advantage of tax-deferred growth.

Fixed index annuities provide guaranteed lifetime income with growth potential. Nationwide’s fixed index annuities include Nationwide Peak 10, Nationwide Peak, Nationwide Peak 5, Nationwide Summit and Nationwide New Heights Select. The Nationwide New Heights Select annuity lets you grow your account daily and choose from optional lifetime income and death benefit riders.

Also known as fixed immediate annuities, single premium immediate annuities allow you to have a guaranteed income stream, which can protect you from market risks. You can choose to collect income for a set period or for the rest of your life. Income Promise Select and Nationwide Advisory Income are two examples of Nationwide’s fixed immediate annuities. With the liquidity future, you can withdraw up to 100% of your account’s value whenever you’d like during the liquidity period. There’s also an optional Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) that can automatically increase your yearly payout to account for inflation.

Registered index-linked annuities (RILAs) are tied to the performance of the market index you choose. The Nationwide Defined Protection Annuity 2.0 is the company’s registered index-linked annuity. The Buffer RILA safeguards your account for index losses up to a specific buffer amount, while the Floor RILA can protect you from index losses as soon as you hit the floor level.

Fixed annuities are tax-deferred products that provide the reassurance of a guaranteed, fixed interest rate. Nationwide offers many of these low-risk insurance products, including the Nationwide Secure Growth and Nationwide Platinum Edge annuities. Nationwide Secure Growth is a fixed deferred annuity with 5- and 7-year guaranteed terms and modest growth. The Nationwide Platinum Edge allows you to divide your money among various guarantee periods of 3 to 10 years.

Nationwide’s life insurance products can protect your loved ones financially in the event you suddenly pass away. These types of life insurance policies include term life, whole life, universal life, variable universal life and indexed universal life.

Nationwide also offers long-term care, which can allow you to receive care at home from anyone, including friends and family caregivers. In addition, its long term care policy doesn’t require receipts and allows you to use your benefits as you see fit. Note that you can add a long-term care rider to any of Nationwide’s life insurance products.

While each Nationwide product comes with its own perks, here are several examples you may come across when comparing your options:

If you choose to move forward with Nationwide, you can expect to pay a number of fees, such as administrative fees, maintenance fees, monthly fees and contingent deferred sales charges (CDSC). Although some products are free of fees, it’s important to read your contract thoroughly to avoid unwanted financial surprises. Keep in mind that if you withdraw funds from your account early, you may be on the hook for a surrender charge, which will likely be a percentage of the amount you withdrew.

A company’s financial strength and stability is vital, as it can inform you of how likely they are to fulfill their obligations and pay out claims in the future. Fortunately, Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company has received high ratings from several well-known organizations, including AM Best, S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s.

Nationwide’s roots go back to 1926 when the company made its debut as Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. Over the years, it has evolved as a Fortune 100 organization and now has a reputation as the leading provider of insurance and financial products.

According to Nationwide’s latest figures from the 2023 annual report, it has paid $22.6 billion in claims and benefits to its members and has a total investment portfolio of $139.3 billion. “Our partners have confidence in our diverse, innovative products and services and in the strength and stability of Nationwide,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Tim Frommeyer.

To gauge client satisfaction in the insurance and annuity space, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Complaint Index creates a yearly report on all companies. According to data from the NAIC, Nationwide Life and Annuity Company has had nine complaints about its individual annuities in the last two years.

Per their 2023 report, Nationwide Life and Annuity Insurance Company received fewer complaints compared to other companies for all types of policies, with a Complaint Index score of 0.03. The index score is calculated by dividing the company’s share of complaints in the U.S. by the company’s share of premiums in the U.S. The National Complaint Index remains at 1.00, so a score of 2.00, for example, is twice as high as expected.

In J.D. Power’s 2024 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, Nationwide had an overall customer satisfaction index ranking of 666 out of 1,000. While this is a high score, the company does fall behind other key players in the industry including State Farm, Guardian Life, MassMutual and Northwest Mutual.

If you’re wondering whether Nationwide is a smart choice for your unique retirement and financial goals, be sure to compare its offerings to alternatives from other reputable companies. Consider interest rates, fees, provider stability, riders and special perks. You might also want to consult a financial advisor who can help to explain your options and pinpoint the ideal products for your situation.

Editor Norah Layne contributed to this article.