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TruStage offers a variety of life insurance options, but they are rarely the best option for someone.
In this TruStage life insurance review, you’ll learn how their policies work, the cost, and the pros & cons of buying coverage through them.
Topics Covered in this article
TruStage Life Insurance Products Overview
TruStage Insurance Agency offers three life insurance plans:
- Guaranteed acceptance whole life
- Simplified issue whole life
- Increasing premium term life
Both of their whole life products offer lifetime coverage at a fixed cost. However, their term plan has a rate increase every five years, and it completely expires at age 80.
All their products allow you to apply 100% online without undergoing a medical exam.
TruStage life insurance policies are extremely similar to the AARP New York Life Insurance program.
TruStage Life Insurance Pros & Cons
- 100% online application
- Insurance quotes displayed online
- No medical examination required
- Quick underwriting decisions
- Backed by a financially sound life insurance carrier
- Trusted by thousands of credit unions
- An easy-to-use website with good product information
- Thousands of positive online reviews
- Potentially up to $100K of no exam whole life coverage offered
- Competitively priced no-exam term coverage
- Online access to manage your policy on their website
- Eligible credit union members who use tobacco can qualify for non-tobacco prices
- Prices are higher than most competitors
- Their licensed agents ask for copious amounts of unnecessary information before providing a free quote
- Low amounts of term life insurance coverage offered
- Strict underwriting seems to be challenging to qualify for
- The name of the actual life insurance company is difficult to find
- Only one insurance company to choose from
- No add-on riders are available
- Only one policy option between 80-85
- Guaranteed acceptance coverage is not offered after 80
- No options at age 86+
- No coverage for children
TruStage Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life Review
TruStage’s guaranteed acceptance life insurance is a straightforward whole life policy with no health questions.
Regardless of your health, you cannot be denied.
It’s critical to understand that it will come with a mandatory two-year waiting period if you buy this plan.
If you die for any nonaccidental reason during the waiting period, your loved ones will not receive a cash benefit to cover your funeral expenses.
Instead, TruStage will only refund your premiums plus 10% interest.
You’ll have to live for more than two years before the policy will pay out the full death benefit.
You should not buy TruStage guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance for two reasons.
First, if for some medical reason you do need a guaranteed issue life insurance policy (which very few people do), then multiple other companies offer the same thing for a lower price.
For example, AIG, Gerber, and Mutual of Omaha offer guaranteed life insurance at a lower monthly rate.
For example, a 65-year-old female will pay $67.00 per month from TruStage for $10,000 in guaranteed acceptance coverage. Mutual of Omaha would charge $50.00, Gerber would charge $62.61, and AIG would charge $66.42.
Secondly, most people don’t need a guaranteed acceptance policy.
Most people needing life insurance can qualify for coverage that has underwriting.
That leads to coverage that has no waiting period and very likely a lower cost too.
| TruStage Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance Product Details | |
|---|---|
| Policy Type | Whole Life Insurance |
| Policy Duration | Forever |
| Premiums | Remain the same |
| Builds Cash Value | Yes |
| Health Questions | No |
| Higher Rates For Tobacco Usage | No |
| Medical Exam | No |
| 2-Year Waiting Period | Yes |
| States Available | All Except New York & Washington |
| New Applicant Age Range | 45-80 |
| Coverage Options | $2,000-$20,000 |
TruStage Whole Life Insurance Review
TruStage whole life insurance requires you to qualify medically.
There’s no medical exam, but you must answer health questions.
Additionally, TruStage will analyze your medication history to understand your past health issues.
You’re fully covered the day you make your first payment (no waiting period) if approved.
One major upside is that they offer high burial insurance coverage amounts.
Most final expense insurance companies will only sell up to $30K-$50K in coverage.
TruStage offers up to $100k if you’re 70 or younger.
So if you want higher amounts of coverage, TruStage is an excellent option to explore.
From a pricing perspective, you can undoubtedly get lower whole life final expense insurance premiums elsewhere.
For example, Mutual of Omaha’s whole life burial insurance is less expensive.
For a 70-year-old non-tobacco-using female, TruStage will charge $154.25 per month for $25,000 in coverage.
Mutual of Omaha would charge only $128.29 per month.
Lastly, after speaking with dozens of clients who previously applied for TruStage’s whole life insurance, it seems as if their underwriting is rather strict.
So if you have some moderate to serious health issues, TruStage will likely decline you for this whole life policy.
It’s just like Colonial Penn life insurance for seniors. They make it sound nice on TV, but very few people seem to qualify.
It’s nice that they offer such large amounts of coverage with no exam requirement (like National Family Insurance), and you can apply online.
However, the price you pay for each $1,000 in coverage (if you qualify) is much more expensive than most other insurance companies.
Similar to Ethos final expense coverage, it sounds nice, but you can do much better.
| TruStage Whole Life Insurance Product Details | |
|---|---|
| Policy Type | Whole Life Insurance |
| Policy Duration | Forever |
| Premiums | Remain the same |
| Builds Cash Value | Yes |
| Health Questions | Yes |
| Higher Rates For Tobacco Usage | Credit Union Members: No Non Credit Union Members: Yes |
| Medical Exam | No |
| 2-Year Waiting Period | No |
| States Available | All Except Montana & New York |
| New Applicant Age Range | 18-85 |
| Coverage Options | Age 18-70: $5,000-$100,000 Age 71-75: $5,000-$50,000 Age 76-85: $5,000-$25,000 |
TruStage Term Life Insurance Review
TruStage term life insurance is an increasing premium policy with a rate jump every five years.
The policy expires on your 80th birthday, and you no longer have coverage.
This policy is not guaranteed acceptance. You must medically qualify.
If approved, there is no waiting period.
If you need up to $300K in term coverage issued very quickly, TruStage’s term life insurance is a great option to consider.
Also, your initial price is competitive (before the 5-year rate increases) relative to other no-exam term life insurance options on the market.
You’d likely need to apply with a company where you complete a medical exam to get a much lower rate.
If term life insurance is what you’re in the market for, TruStage has a decent product.
However, if you need more than $300,000 in coverage, you’ll have to find another insurance company.
Also, if you plan on keeping your term coverage for the long haul, you should opt for a term policy with another company with a fixed rate for the life of the term.
Just make sure you’re not buying a term life policy to cover funeral costs.
If you want life insurance to pay for a funeral, a term life plan is a bad idea because there is a very high chance you’ll live longer than 80.
If you buy a term policy and outlive it, you’ll have no coverage to pay for your burial or cremation costs.
Yes, seniors can get life insurance in their 80s, but the options are minimal. Plus, it can get quite costly because you’re in your 80s.
| TruStage Term Life Insurance Product Details | |
|---|---|
| Policy Type | Term Life Insurance |
| Policy Duration | Until age 80 |
| Premiums | Increase every 5 years |
| Builds Cash Value | No |
| Health Questions | Yes |
| Higher Rates For Tobacco Usage | Credit Union Members: No Non Credit Union Members: Yes |
| Medical Exam | No |
| 2-Year Waiting Period | No |
| States Available | All Except New York |
| New Applicant Age Range | 18-69 |
| Coverage Options | $5,000-$300,000 |
TruStage Reviews, Complaints & Ratings
TruStage has an A (Excellent) rating with A.M. Best.
Overall, TruStage has over five thousand custom reviews that can be found online.
Sadly, they have no Better Business Bureau accreditation and a higher than average complaint ratio with the NAIC.
Here are their ratings and reviews as of 11/15/2022:
- Trustpilot: 4.7 out of 5 with 6,172 reviews
- Better Business Bureau: No accreditation with a B overall rating, 32 complaints in the last 36 months, and a 1.83/5 score from 6 reviews
- NAIC: 2021 Complaint index (individual life) of 1.35, which is slightly higher than the average of 1.0
Who Is TruStage Life Insurance Company?
TruStage life insurance agency is the consumer-facing brand of CMFG Life Insurance Company, both of which are owned by Cuna Mutual Group.
TruStage is a
CMFG Life Insurance Company underwrites all TruStage life insurance products. That’s not bad or alarming.
Truthfully, most life insurance companies sell their products via licensed agencies.
TruStage has a unique position in the market because they exclusively partner with credit unions. It appears that they will not partner with traditional banks.
At present, they have successfully partnered with over 3,500 credit unions across the nation. That said, non-credit union members are still eligible to purchase their coverage.
TruStage’s life insurance rating is “A” with A.M. Best, the third highest possible rating they could achieve.
TruStage offers much more than just life insurance.
For example, the TruStage auto & home insurance program is a partnership with Liberty Mutual for home and auto insurance.
They also offer accidental death & dismemberment insurance (AD&D insurance).
Qualifying credit union members can actually get some TruStage accidental death coverage at no-cost.
You can find all of TruStage’s contact info below:
- Corporate Headquarters: 5910 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705
- Phone: 1-877-649-1311
- Website: www.trustage.com
How To Find The Best Life Insurance Policy
There are lots of reasons why people need life insurance. It could be to pay off a mortgage or other debt or just pay for your final expenses.
Regardless of your reason(s), it’s essential that you work with a broker that represents more than one insurance company.
Ideally, they should partner with ten or more life insurance companies.
The biggest downfall by far with TruStage is that they only have one insurance company.
They don’t have the freedom to shop for other carriers to see if one of them could offer you a better plan.
If TruStage doesn’t have a good offer for you (which is usually the case), you’re out of luck since they can’t offer you another insurance provider.
It’s helpful to remember that life insurance companies compete with one another via price and underwriting.
Some life insurance companies charge higher prices for people with high blood pressure or diabetes. On the other hand, many companies won’t.
If you have diabetes or high blood pressure, you don’t want to be stuck with carriers that don’t have great offers for you.
You want companies that will look upon you favorably because that means you’ll get more coverage for the dollar spent.
This is why you need to work with an independent agency that can shop the market for you.
Working with an independent agent is free. Their services cost you nothing. They get paid by the insurance company since, without the agency, they wouldn’t have a customer.
If you want insurance to pay for your final expenses, call us at 1-800-644-2926.
At Choice Mutual, final expense insurance for seniors is our specialty. We partner with over 15 different insurance companies so that we can find you the best deal.
Below are some sample reviews of real customers we have helped in the past.
If you need term insurance for some reason, we may be able to help you. We’ll refer you to the best term life agency that can help you if we cannot.
Trustage Insurance Agency, LLC earned 2 stars out of 5 for overall performance. Choice Mutual’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The scoring formula considers consumer experience, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and financial strength ratings.
Learn about our rating methodology.