WoodmenLife Insurance Review

Pros Explained

• Additional member benefits: As a WoodmenLife member, you can access special perks, like special family activities and volunteering opportunities within your local community.
• Multi-faceted support: WoodmenLife offers customer support by phone in English, Korean, and Spanish. They also offer other support methods such as online inquiries.

Cons Explained

• Membership required for life insurance: You must become a member of WoodmenLife to purchase a life insurance policy. You become a member when purchasing.
• Not available in New York: Residents of New York cannot purchase life insurance from WoodmenLife.
• No online quotes: WoodmenLife does not offer online quotes. Instead, you will need to contact an agent directly for exact coverage and pricing information. 

Available Plans

WoodmenLife offers three types of life insurance to its members: term, whole, and universal. A helpful online calculator can help you determine exactly how much coverage you need.

Term

Term life insurance is a more affordable option because it is a temporary form of coverage with a specific end date. After your policy expires, there is typically the option to convert coverage to a permanent policy. If the policyholder dies before the policy’s end, a specific death benefit is available to the beneficiary. 

There are four terms available to policyholders between the ages of 0 and 80.

10-Year Term

WoodmenLife’s 10 Year Term policies provide life insurance coverage lasting ten years or until the policyholder’s death. 

15-Year Term

 A 15 Year Term policy offers a death benefit and coverage for a total of 15 years. 

20-Year Term

The 20 Year Term provides coverage for 20 years with a death benefit.

30-Year Term

The 30 Year Term offers protection for 30 years with a death benefit. 

Regardless of the policy you choose, premiums are guaranteed to remain the same during the initial policy term without any increases. After the end of the policy term, premiums may increase annually until the age of 95, or you can convert the policy to a permanent policy before the age of 72 without the need for a medical exam.

Whole

Whole life insurance has a tax-free death benefit with guaranteed premiums that do not increase and the opportunity to build cash value.

Whole life insurance is available in four plans to policyholders between the ages of 0 and 85.

Whole Life Paid-up at 100

This whole life insurance policy is more affordable because premiums last through the age of 100. 

Whole Life Paid-up at 65

To finish paying premiums earlier, you can opt for the whole life policy that is paid up by age 65.

10 Pay Whole Life

If you do not mind higher premiums, the 10 Pay Whole Life policy allows you to pay the entirety of your permanent insurance policy more quickly through a smaller number of larger payments. 

20 Pay Whole Life

The 20 Pay Whole Life is cheaper than 10 Pay Whole Life and lasts twice as long for more affordable premiums. Premiums will still be higher than paid up at 65 or paid up at 100 in most cases, depending on your age.

Universal

In addition to term and whole life insurance, WoodmenLife offers universal life insurance. This is a form of permanent life insurance that includes a death benefit and accumulated cash value. Premiums are flexible, with the ability to adjust monthly payments. 

WoodmenLife offers two plans for universal life insurance: MyChoice IUL and No-Lapse Guarantee Universal Life Insurance. 

My Choice IUL®

WoodmenLife’s indexed universal life insurance offers a versatile earnings structure with two ways to grow cash value. There is a fixed account with an attached interest rate, plus the ability to earn additional value through the popular S&P 500 Index. Because it is an indexed universal life insurance policy, you still retain the ability to adjust the amount and frequency of your payments.

Policies start at a $25,000 face amount and increase from there. 

No-Lapse Guarantee Universal Life Insurance

WoodmenLife offers another form of life insurance in its No-Lapse Guarantee Universal Life Insurance policy. 

Exact policy details vary by state, but in looking at policy details for Florida, policies provide protection through the age of 121. Policy coverage is guaranteed with fixed premiums and an attached death benefit.

Available Riders

A life insurance policy may not always provide the exact coverage you need, which is where a life insurance rider can help. 

WoodmenLife offers a total of seven riders for your life insurance policy. 

Accelerated Death Benefit Rider

If you are diagnosed with a terminal condition, you may be able to access a portion of your death benefit while you are still living. The maximum benefit is the lesser of $250,000 or 65% of the available death benefit, to be paid in one lump sum. For chronic illnesses, policyholders may access up to $250,000 or 50% of the death benefit.

This coverage may be included at no cost with some policies but is not available in California or New York.

Accidental Death Benefit Rider 

Included in some policies at an extra cost, the Accidental Death Benefit Rider will provide an additional death benefit should the policyholder die from an accident.

Applicant Waiver of Premium Rider

The Applicant Waiver of Premium Rider applies to those who have purchased life insurance for children below the age of 16. If you are listed as the owner of your child’s insurance certificate, this rider will waive monthly premiums on your child’s insurance policy if you become disabled, so coverage does not lapse. 

This rider is an option for some policies, but limitations may apply.

Chronic and Terminal Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider

The Chronic and Terminal Illness Accelerated Benefit Rider will permit you to access a portion of your death benefits should you become diagnosed with certain qualifying illnesses.

It is included at no cost with some policies, but coverage is not available in California or New York.

Disability Waiver of Premium

The Disability Waiver of Premium will waive required premiums if you become disabled. This is available to add to some policies. 

Guaranteed Insurability Rider

The Guaranteed Insurability Rider allows you to purchase additional insurance protection in the future without the requirement of evidence of insurability.

Waiver of Monthly Deduction Rider

The Waiver of Monthly Deduction Rider will waive monthly payments if you experience a total disability.

This rider is an optional add-on.

Customer Service

You can use WoodmenLife’s online search tool to find a rep for questions about a new or existing policy. 

Existing members can log in to the secure online portal to manage their policies. There is also support available via phone and mail. 

WoodmenLife has customer service specialists available in two languages: English, Korean, and Spanish.

Complaint Index

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is an insurance ratings provider that tracks the number of complaints an insurance provider receives each year. Using an average score of 1.00, the NAIC assigns each insurance carrier an average score to show overall customer satisfaction.

WoodmenLife has a complaint index well below the industry average of 1.0, meaning they receive fewer complaints than an average company of their size. In 2022, the most recent scored year, they had a complaint index of 0.24. In the previous two years they also had very good scores of 0.34 and 0.32.

Third-Party Ratings

WoodmenLife is not rated by J.D. Power, another ratings provider for customer satisfaction. 

However, it is rated by AM Best for financial strength and stability. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society earns an A+ (Superior) rating, which means the company is financial strong and able to pay claims. 

Cancellation Policy

All life insurance policies carry a free-look provision. During a specific period, you can cancel your policy at any time and receive a refund of the premiums paid. This period typically lasts just 10 to 30 days, but your agent can provide more specific details. If you cancel your life insurance policy after the free-look period, specific surrender charges may apply.

For example, WoodmenLife provides surrender charges for a sample indexed universal life insurance policy. Rates are based on a 35-year old male in the standard tobacco rating class.

Ultimately, your surrender charges will depend on the number of years you have had the policy, as well as gender, tobacco class, and issue age.

Price

WoodmenLife advertises that $1 million in life insurance coverage can cost as low as $35.85 per month. Rates are based on a 10-year term policy for a 35-year-old nonsmoking female with Preferred status. WoodmenLife’s underwriting process will ultimately determine what you pay. 

To calculate your price using WoodmenLife’s online calculator, there are a few factors that WoodmenLife considers, including your age, marital status, the number of children you have, homeownership status, and the state in which you live. Gender is another factor, although most companies calculate based on an individual’s sex at birth in place of current gender identity. 

For exact pricing, contact a licensed WoodmenLife insurance agent for more details.

Competition

To evaluate WoodmenLife on an industry-wide basis, we compare it to one of the best life insurance companies of 2022, New York Life.  

New York Life is the second largest life insurance provider in the country, with a market share that dwarfs WoodmenLife's. New York Life offer more options for plans and insurance types too. New York Life also has a stronger AM Best rating. Although WoodmenLife can be a great option for life insurance, New York Life rates higher for most people.

Learn More

Our Methodology: How We Review Life Insurance Carriers

Investopedia uses our Life Insurance Review Methodology to systematically analyze and review today’s leading life insurance carriers. We evaluate providers based on a number of specific factors, such as available coverage, pricing, eligibility requirements, and availability. We also consider ratings from leading organizations like AM Best for financial stability and J.D. Power for customer satisfaction. Based on these factors and more, these are the most honest and upfront reviews of today’s life insurance companies.