Ameritas

Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. was established in 1887 as The Old Line Bankers Life Insurance Company of Nebraska. In 1988, the company changed its name to Ameritas.

Since then, the company has its financial products beyond life insurance to include annuities, dental and vision plans, along with other investment opportunities.

It currently offers policies nationwide — besides the state of New York — and serves over 5.3 million customers. According to its most recent annual report, Ameritas had $115.7 billion worth of life insurance policies in force in 2021.

If you live in New York, there is a separate company to provide life insurance policies and other financial products named Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. of New York. If you want to purchase a life insurance policy from the New York subsidiary, make sure to contact the correct office.

Ameritas currently offers 11 life insurance policies, ‌including options for term, whole, universal, indexed universal and variable universal. Depending on the policy you choose and the state you live in, some riders can be added for free.

The Ameritas Value Plus Term policy offers temporary term coverage for one, 10, 15, 20 or 30 years. Your premiums and death benefit are set, meaning they cannot be adjusted once you purchase your policy.

Within the first five years, you can convert your term policy into a permanent policy for free. If you want to convert your policy after five years, you’d need the Conversion Extension Rider.

Ameritas offers four whole life insurance policies: Ameritas Access Whole Life, Ameritas Growth Whole Life, Ameritas Value Plus Whole Life and Ameritas Growth 10-Pay Whole Life.

Each whole life policy offers lifelong coverage with a fixed death benefit and premium. You also have a tax-deferred cash value component.

One unique quality of Ameritas’ whole life policies is the ability to receive dividends if declared. You can use your dividends to build cash value or increase your death benefit.

One rider you can use across all Ameritas’ whole life policies is the Accelerated Death Benefit Rider.

Ameritas has one universal life insurance policy — Ameritas Value Plus UL — that offers lifelong coverage. Your death benefit and premiums are flexible, meaning you can change the amounts and payment schedule of your premiums.

The Ameritas Value Plus UL also has a cash value component that grows tax deferred.

Ameritas offers three indexed universal policies — Growth Index UL, Value Plus Index UL and Value Plus Survivor Index UL. All policies offer lifelong coverage with a flexible death benefit and premiums.

Similar to Ameritas’ standard universal policy, the universal indexed policies all include a tax-deferred cash value component. The difference is that your cash value performance is linked to approved external indexes, like the S&P 500 Index or Russell 2000 Index. This option allows room for greater potential growth compared to the standard universal policy.

You can also choose to allocate all — or part — of your cash value to a fixed account. With Ameritas, your interest rate is guaranteed to never dip below 2%.

Ameritas has two variable universal life insurance policies — Ameritas Performance II VUL and Ameritas Advisor II VUL. Both policies offer lifelong coverage, along with a flexible death benefit and premiums.

Variable universal policies act more as investment opportunities than other policies. A portion of your cash value can be invested into any number and combination of investment options and money managers.

There is risk involved, along with more freedom to choose your investment options.

Ameritas offers investment management strategies for their variable universal policies, such as asset allocation, automatic dollar cost averaging and portfolio rebalancing.

Ameritas has affordable prices compared to other life insurance companies for their term life policies. When comparing costs for a 10-year term policy from Ameritas, Progressive and AIG, they all offer coverage for under $30 a month.

*Rates were determined for a healthy 50-year-old woman

Unfortunately, Ameritas doesn’t have information on average costs for any of their permanent policies. You have to reach out to one of their agents for an estimated rate.

According to U.S. News and World Report, expect your permanent life insurance policy rates to be more expensive than term rates. Whole life policies are typically the most expensive type of permanent policy. Compare rates from several companies to help guarantee you’re getting the best cost.

Consider other factors that affect your life insurance costs like your age, sex and health. Age is the most important factor that will raise your rates, according to the Farm Bureau Financial Services. The details of your policy, like the death benefit and term length, will also affect costs.

*Cost estimates are for a healthy woman

Offering affordable term policies is an advantage for Ameritas, especially since term is the most popular type of life insurance. However, Ameritas only has one term policy.

The other 11 life insurance policies are all permanent, however, Ameritas doesn’t offer rates online. Contact an agent to see if they are an affordable option.

There are other pros and cons to consider if you’re thinking about buying a policy from Ameritas.

Ameritas has high average ratings from two leading national credit rating agencies, S&P Global and AM Best. Both credit rating agencies provide alphabetical ratings to life insurance companies.

S&P Global and AM Best gave Ameritas high scores for their financial strength. An insurer’s financial strength determines its ability to pay claims and meet financial expectations. If a company has high financial strength ratings, it’s an indicator that they are a trustworthy company.

Editor Samantha Connell contributed to this article.