Overview:
In this review, you will explore the fascinating history of the Transamerica Life Insurance Company, a prominent carrier that has been insuring Americans for over [100] years.
In-Depth Look at the Operations of the Transamerica Life Insurance Company in [2024]
The Transamerica Life Insurance Company has gained widespread recognition among Americans as a giant in the life
insurance industry with a paramount reputation.
They are an excellent choice because they have excellent rates and “living benefit” riders that most other companies don’t offer.
There are many excellent life companies doing business in the United States today. Over the last 20 years, quite a few new subsidiaries have offered new plan designs and benefits.
Our Transamerica Life Insurance Company Review will allow you to see the excellent benefits of this unique insurer, creating new and innovative policies in a class by itself.
We will put the Transamerica Life Insurance Company under the spotlight and examine its fine line of well-designed life insurance products. Transamerica maintains an A+ rating with the AM Best reporting agency.
Table of Contents
Examining the Past History of Transamerica as a Corporation
Many years ago, in 1904, an Italian entrepreneur named Amadeo Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in a converted
saloon in San Francisco.
His mission was to offer complete financial services to the working class, not just the wealthy, as many other companies have done before.
Amadeo was successful at his new endeavor, and everything was falling into place. Then, in 1906, the city of San Francisco was almost destroyed by an earthquake which developed into a devastating fire.
Amadeo had to set up a temporary bank on the San Francisco docks. This is where he gave loans to residents forced to rebuild.
This is where it all began, and later in 1930, he initiated the Transamerica Life Insurance Company name. The corporation grew and developed into the investment and financial empire we know today.
What Makes the Transamerica Life Insurance Company So Special?
Transamerica offers an exceptional line of life insurance products with excellent benefits for living and death benefits contained in conventional life insurance.
These policies are also referred to as Hybrid Life Insurance because they have new and additional benefits not typically found in a standard-term life insurance policy.
Transamerica’s low-cost term life insurance is what we will first zero in on:
Trendsetter Super Series:
These two products are offered with 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30-year term periods.
Trendsetter Super: is a convertible term life insurance policy. Convertible term life insurance policies can be converted to permanent policies such as universal life insurance.
Transamerica’s Trendsetter Super product is a conventional term life insurance policy that offers up to $1,000,000 in face amount coverage. The face amount you choose will remain the same throughout the policy term.
At the end of the term, you may convert the policy without taking any physical examinations or answering any application related questions.
Trendsetter LB (Living Benefits):
Trendsetter LB, on the other hand, is also an affordable term life insurance policy, but with the addition of “Living Benefits.” This policy also offers up to a $1,000,000 face amount.
Living benefits allow you to receive an accelerated death benefit in the event of a qualifying chronic, critical, or terminal illness while you are still alive. This is where the considerable difference is between these two policy designs.
Let’s look at the terminology definitions between Critical Illness, Chronic Illness, and Terminal Illness so it will be easier to understand.
Critical Illness:
For example, being critically ill means that the policyholder has been diagnosed with one or more health conditions: heart attack, stroke, cancer, major renal failure, major organ transplant, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, blindness, or paralysis.
*The maximum amount that may be accelerated is the lesser of 90% of the face amount of $500,000, and the minimum face amount that may be accelerated is $2,500.
Chronic Illness:
Becoming chronically ill means that the policyholder is not able to perform, without substantial assistance from another person for at least 90 days.
At least two out of the six activities of daily living or require substantial supervision from another person for at least 90 consecutive days, to protect the insured from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment.
*The maximum amount that can be accelerated over the insured’s lifetime is the lesser of 90% of the face amount of the policy or $500,000, and the minimum face amount that can be accelerated is $1,000 annually.
Terminal Illness:
Being terminally ill means that the policyholder has a medical condition resulting from bodily injury or disease, or possibly both, which is expected to result in the insured’s death within 12 months of the diagnosis.
The condition must be first diagnosed by a physician and demonstrated by a clinical, radiological, laboratory, or other evidence of the medical condition.
This must be considered satisfactory to the Transamerica Life Insurance Company and cannot be curable by any means available by the medical profession.
*The maximum amount that can be accelerated is the lesser of 100% of the face amount of the policy or $500,000, and the minimum face amount is $5,000.
Below you will find a premium breakdown of the conventional Term plan and the Living Benefits plan design.
For this example, we will use 35-year-old males with a preferred non-tobacco rate class with a 20- and 30-year term periods.
20 Year Term Period:
Trendsetter Super 20 – (20-years) – $365.00
Trendsetter LB 20 -(20-years) with living benefits) – $415.00
30 Year Term period:
Trendsetter Super 30 – (30-years) – $555.00
Trendsetter LB 30 – (30 years with living benefits) – $640.00
The increase in premiums from Trendsetter Super, a standard Term insurance design, to Trendsetter LB with Living Benefits breaks down to 10-15%.
The premium increase is minimal when you consider that the benefits of the LB policy have incredible advantages over the traditional term plan design we have all known for many years.
Examples of Transamerica Living Benefits:
Here is an example of the Living Benefits policy in action, just like it would be in the real world.
We will use a Trendsetter LB policy with a $500,000 face amount and a 20-year term period.
The insured in this example had a major heart attack and was hospitalized and sent home after one week in the hospital. No surgery will be necessary for him.
His doctor said to take some time off from work and take it easy for about two months. A major heart attack would have triggered a “Critical Illness” rider on the insured’s Transamerica LB policy.
This would have provided him with a check for up to $450,000 while the insured was alive and recovering from his heart attack. The insured could have also taken a lesser amount if desired, which would have been completely at his own discretion.
The remainder of the face amount, which in this case would have been $50,000, would be left as a death benefit for the insureds dependents.
Is It Worth Paying an Extra 10-15% In Premiums for Living Benefits?
I would have to say the LB option would have been worth the additional premium. In this scenario, you have just observed our example of the insured who received $450,000 instead of absolutely nothing for having the major heart attack he encountered.
There are a lot of expenses suddenly being encountered after having a heart attack such as lost wages just for starters.
Another factor to consider is your specific budget. If you cannot easily afford an extra 10-15% in premium dollars, then a traditional term life insurance policy will do an excellent job for you.
Just think about it for a minute; you probably know a lot of people who have had a stroke, cancer, heart attack, kidney failure, and many other severe medical conditions that lived and had life insurance but received no compensation whatsoever.
I personally know quite a few people who could have taken advantage of a Living Benefits policy but had only had conventional term life insurance which did not come to the rescue when they were alive.
Compare Transamerica’s Rates With Their Competitors
Do to the fact that their are variables when determining life insurance rates, you can activate our life insurance quoting tools so you can compare Transamerica’s Trendsetter plans with no living benefits to their LB living benefit plan designs.
You will also be able to compare Transamerica’s rates with over 40 other competitors.
What’s the Best Course of Action if I Have Health Conditions ?
If you have any medical conditions, especially more serious ones, we would suggest having us run a quick medical assessment which is just a series of questions to determine how your condition will affect your rates if you apply.
Then, you can either use our simple assessment form or call us on the telephone, and we can go over your medical conditions to see if they would affect your rates if you decide to apply.
Our Final Thoughts
The Transamerica Life Insurance Company would make an excellent choice for your life insurance coverage. We work with over 40 of
the most competitive companies in the nation.
Contact us will any questions you may have, and we will be happy to answer them for you seven days a week.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post.
All the Best,
Jack Venturi
*For any questions you might have, our live chat system is at your disposal or call us at 815-390- 7545 and we will provide a quick answer.
If you have questions about this Transamerica Life Insurance Company review or anything else, contact us today and let us help you with no cost or obligation. You can also set up a time at your convenience to talk.
