Nassau Financial Group Life Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Multiple annuity options: If you’re looking for ways to financially prepare for retirement, the Nassau Financial Group offers multiple annuities. You can choose from options that provide investment growth as well as plans that give you protection from unplanned healthcare costs. 

Cons Explained

• Life insurance no longer available: If you’re shopping for a new life insurance policy, Nassau isn’t an option for you; it discontinued selling life insurance and only services existing policies. 
• Limited policyholder forms online: Since Nassau no longer sells life insurance, it has very limited information about its policies online. Existing policyholders may find it difficult to find information on their policies or necessary forms. Instead, you’ll have to contact your insurance agent to make changes to your beneficiaries or start a claim. 
• Relatively low AM Best rating: While top life insurance companies have A++ ratings from AM Best, the Nassau Financial Groups’ rating is just B+ (Good). That rating indicates that the credit rating agency believes that Nassau is less likely to be able to meet its future contractual obligations than the other major insurers. 

Available Plans

Previously, the Nassau Financial Group sold term, whole life, universal, and variable universal life insurance policies. However, that segment of its business was discontinued, and it no longer issues new policies. 

The company currently sells seven different annuities: 

Nassau Growth Annuity

This annuity is a single-premium product. It allows you to accumulate money by utilizing indexed accounts that earn interest based on the performance of market indices. 

Nassau Personal Income Annuity

Like the Nassau Growth Annuity, the Nassau Personal Income Annuity is a single-premium product. However, it offers protection against market losses and can provide lifetime retirement income. 

Nassau MyAnnuity

The Nassau MyAnnuity is a long-term retirement planning tool. It has one fixed account and 10 indexed accounts linked to the performance of the S&P 500 and the CS Tactical Multi Asset Indices. 

Nassau MyAnnuity, 5X, 7X

With this annuity option, you get a multi-year guaranteed annuity with a choice of five- or seven-year guarantee periods. 

Nassau Personal Protection Choice

With the Nassau Personal Protection Choice, you get a single-premium indexed annuity. It has a 10-year surrender charge period and is designed to protect against market fluctuations. 

Nassau Personal Retirement Choice

The Nassau Personal Retirement Choice plan is a long-term retirement planning vehicle. It has one fixed account and 10 indexed accounts. It includes accumulation features like a premium bonus at issue. 

Nassau Simple Annuity

The Nassau Simple Annuity is a single-premium, multi-year guaranteed annuity. You can choose a guarantee period of four or six years, and a 5% free withdrawal each year. 

Available Riders

When you buy life insurance, companies typically allow you to add optional insurance riders to your plan for an additional cost. You can use riders to buy life insurance for your spouse or children, use some of your benefits if you become terminally ill, or even buy additional coverage if your needs change. 

Customer Service

Although the Nassau Financial Group is no longer selling life insurance, it still manages the policies it previously issued. It also services life insurance policies for other insurers. 

To get information about your policy or to start a claim, you should contact your insurance agent. While other companies have agent locator tools on their sites, Nassau doesn’t have that option. However, you can call its customer service center to find an agent near you. 

Existing policyholders can get help by sending a secure message or by calling 1-800-814-3692. Customer support is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. EST. 

Complaint Index

If you’re trying to decide on which insurer to use or whether you should switch life insurance companies, it’s wise to look up company complaint ratios issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Using the number of complaints submitted relative to the company’s size, the NAIC’s complaint ratios can help you compare companies’ customer service. 

In 2020, Nassau’s complaint ratio for its individual life insurance segment was 0.45, better than the industry standard of 1.00. 

Third-Party Ratings

Because the Nassau Financial Group is no longer selling life insurance, it was not part of the J.D. Power 2021 U.S. Life Insurance Study. In the study, the researchers evaluated top life insurance companies based on their available plans, pricing, and communication. 

At the end of 2021, AM Best—the credit rating agency dedicated to the insurance industry—updgraded Nassau Financial Group’s Financial Strength Rating from B+ to B++. According to the credit agency, a B+ rating indicates that the company has a good ability to meet its ongoing insurance obligations. While a B+ rating isn’t poor, it is lower than what you see from major insurers. 

Top life insurance companies like Northwestern Mutual and New York Life, two of the largest companies in the U.S. based on direct premiums written, have A++ (Superior) Financial Strength Ratings, reflecting AM Best’s opinion that they have an excellent ability to meet their insurance obligations. 

Cancellation Policy

As with all insurance companies, Nassau honors a 10-day "free look" period, though the free look period can be longer in some states. During the 10 days after your policy’s issuance, you can cancel your policy without penalty and get a full refund. 

If you’re an existing policyholder and decide to cancel, you may have to pay a surrender charge. Check with your insurance agent and review your plan’s contract to see how cancellations are handled. 

Price

Because the Nassau Financial group doesn’t sell life insurance anymore, it doesn’t provide information on its rates. 

Keep in mind that whenever you apply for life insurance, companies will typically require you to select either “male” or “female” on the application. Being nonbinary doesn’t disqualify you from getting life insurance, but you should be aware that most insurance companies haven’t updated their underwriting processes to reflect a current awareness of gender issues. 

Competition

Since Nassau no longer offers life insurance coverage, you’ll need to purchase insurance from another insurer if you want this protection for your family. Based on our research, we recommend selecting a top insurer like Prudential, our choice for the best overall life insurance company in 2021.  

Prudential has 12 life insurance plans to choose from, including term, whole life, universal, and variable universal life policies. You can also use riders to customize your coverage since Prudential offers multiple insurance endorsements, including accidental death, children's level term, and living needs benefits. 

Prudential has an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, and it was ranked 15th out of 21 life insurance companies by J.D. Power.

Methodology

We designed a comprehensive ranking methodology based on consumer priorities and life insurance company fundamentals to rank more than 90 insurers across five general categories: financial stability, customer satisfaction, product and feature variety, the overall buying experience, and cost.

In order to do this, we collected over 5,000 data points and scored each company based on 55 metrics. We grouped metrics by category to see how insurers performed in each; we then weighted category scores to determine how companies performed overall.

To learn more, read our full Life Insurance Methodology.