7 Best Life Insurance Companies for People Over 50

It’s no surprise that Nationwide takes our top spot for best life insurance company for applicants over 50 years old, since it’s also our pick for best life insurance company of 2023.

Most Nationwide policies include three living benefit riders at no additional cost—which is a standout benefit, considering many other companies only include one. Living benefits, also called accelerated death benefits, allow you to access the death benefit early if you experience certain triggering events. Nationwide policies include critical, terminal, and chronic illness accelerated benefit riders and offer an optional long-term care rider. 

Nationwide ranked sixth in J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study for customer satisfaction, has an A+ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best, and has received very few complaints over the past three years for a company of its size. It offers a wide range of policy types. 

But Nationwide falls short if you need term coverage. You face more age limits here than you do elsewhere. Men over 50 and women over 55 aren’t eligible for 30-year term coverage.

Guardian receives an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best, which is the agency’s top-tier grade and means the company has a superior ability to honor its insurance obligations, such as paying claims. It’s one of only two companies on this list with an A++ rating, and one of only nine companies of the 91 we reviewed. Plus, it has a low number of customer complaints relative to its size.

The company also pays dividends, and in 2022 made a record $1.13 billion in dividend payments to all eligible policyholders. It offers well-priced term coverage to 50-somethings based on our review of quotes for 55 year-old males and females in excellent health (for 30-year $250,000 policies). It also offers policies to 90-year-olds, which is the highest issue age of any company we reviewed.

While this is an impressive collection of attributes, Guardian's website does not impress. Neither online applications nor online claim filing are available. Plus, the company provides few policy details on its site, which means you’ll need to call an agent for specifics.

Protective is our pick for best term insurance company for over-50s because term policies are very affordable and issue ages are high. We collected quotes for $250,000 30-year term policies for healthy 55-year-old male and female applicants. We found that Protective’s quotes were among the cheapest we evaluated.

Importantly, the company has some of the highest issue ages for term coverage we’ve seen. If you’re 58 or younger, you’re eligible for a 30-year term policy; if you’re 50 or younger, you’re eligible for a 35-year plan. Most companies don’t even offer 35-year term coverage—only four of the 91 life insurance carriers we reviewed do. An added benefit is that the company accepts credit card payments, which is also uncommon among life insurance carriers.

However, customer satisfaction is lacking, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study. Protective came in 15th out of 21 of the largest life insurers, well below the industry average.

Of the three dividend-paying companies in this list, we chose MassMutual as the best for dividends because it makes eligible policies available to older applicants and has one of the longest histories of dividend payments of all companies we reviewed. MassMutual has been paying dividends since 1869 and made its largest-ever dividend payment of $1.85 billion in 2022. It backs this up with the highest financial strength rating bestowed by AM Best (A++), as well as a better-than-average J.D. Power ranking, and a record of very few customer complaints over the past three years for a company of its size.

But if you’d like to have access to your death benefit in the event of a chronic, critical, or terminal illness—the three most common living benefit riders—MassMutual falls short. It includes a terminal illness accelerated benefit rider with most policies, which lets you receive a portion of the death benefit if you have fewer than 12 months to live. While this is nice, Mutual of Omaha and Nationwide do MassMutual one (or two) better by including two or three living benefits free of charge with most policies.

Mutual of Omaha is our overall winner for best burial insurance company. Burial insurance, also called final expense or funeral insurance, designates a small whole life policy available to older applicants (generally 45-85) that’s meant to cover immediate expenses after death, such as the funeral and bills. Application and approval are typically easy, especially since there is no medical exam and few or no health questions. 

Mutual of Omaha offers two types of final expense policies. Both are available to applicants aged 45 to 85. One is a guaranteed-issue plan, meaning you can’t be denied coverage. An application is available online, there are no health questions, and coverage is available up to $25,000. The other involves a few health questions (but no exam), is only available through an agent, and the maximum death benefit is $40,000. If you have preexisting conditions, you may not qualify for this option.

We like Mutual of Omaha’s final expense policies in particular because you have options, plus $40,000 is a relatively high amount of coverage for this type of policy. And if you qualify for this particular plan, a terminal illness rider is included at no additional cost and there is no graded death benefit period, which is unusual. Many burial insurance policies limit the death benefit during the first two (or three) years of coverage, meaning your beneficiaries don’t get the full death benefit if you die of natural causes. Note that Mutual of Omaha’s guaranteed-issue plan does have a graded benefit period.

Penn Mutual offers possibly the most generous no-medical-exam coverage options in the industry. Of the 91 life insurance companies we reviewed, Penn Mutual has the highest coverage amount available to the oldest applicants. The company offers up to $7.5 million in coverage to applicants up to 65 years old. Penn Mutual claims it’s the only carrier to offer up to $7.5 million in no-medical-exam life insurance and our research supports that claim. 

Plus the company has a very long history of paying dividends to its policyholders—it’s done so since 1847—and has very few customer complaints. We also like that its term policies for applicants in their 50s are well-priced. We collected quotes for healthy 55-year-old male and female applicants for 30-year $250,000 policies across 32 companies. Penn Mutual’s policies were more than $20 below the overall company average.

One drawback to Penn is that you’ll need to work with an agent to get any policy. Online applications and quotes are unavailable on the company’s website. In fact, the website leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to providing information on which specific products are available and their features.

New York Life is a very attractive option for seniors who prefer to work directly with an agent and aren't looking for an online purchase experience. In fact, the company is our top pick for best life insurance companies for seniors.

New York Life issues policies to applicants as old as 90 (the highest issue age we've seen) and it has an A++ (Superior) rating from AM Best—the highest grade available. Plus, the company has been around for over 170 years, which makes it the oldest insurer on this list.

Over the last three years, New York Life has received far fewer complaints than expected, according to the NAIC. It also pays dividends to eligible policyholders and has been doing so consistently since 1854—an impressive track record.

New York Life lets you customize your policy with a wide array of riders including living benefit riders for critical, chronic, and terminal illness as well as a disability income rider. Where the company falls short is in its online presence. You can't get a quote online and few policy details are available without contacting an agent. Plus, you'll need to provide your personal information (name and phone number) to access information.