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American General Life Insurance Company Review

Life insurance is a key component of most any good, solid financial plan. This is because the proceeds from a life insurance policy can be used for any number of purposes, such as paying off debts, ensuring ongoing income for survivors, and/or providing a legacy for those who you love and care about.
Before you purchase a life insurance policy, though, it is important that you do some research on how much coverage you need, as well as the type of policy that will work the best for you. It is also essential to check the insurer you are considering buying the coverage through to determine whether it is strong and stable financially and that it has a good reputation for paying out its policyholders' claims. One company that meets these criteria is American General Life Insurance Company.

The History of American General Life Insurance Company

American GeneralFor more than 160 years, American General, Life Insurance Company and its parent company, American International Group (AIG), have been in the business of helping consumers and businesses to grow and protect wealth.
Over time, the company has grown and expanded exponentially, both in the United States and throughout the world. Today, the company is considered to be one of the largest insurance and financial conglomerates around the globe.
As of year-end 2014, AIG had more than 88 million customers who hail from more than 130 different countries. For the year of 2014, the company earned in excess of $64 billion in revenue - and for 2016, AIG held total admitted assets of roughly $200 billion. The company brought in net operating earnings of nearly $700 million.

American General Life Insurance Company Review

American General Life Insurance Company offers life insurance and retirement products under many different brand names, including:

  • American General Life Companies
  • AGLA
  • SunAmerica
  • Western National

The American General Life operations are overseen by SunAmerica Financial Group, which operates as AIG Life and Retirement. In 2012, AIG simplified its overall operating structure by merging six companies that formerly comprised the American General Life Companies Group. These included the following:

  • American General Life Insurance of Delaware
  • American General Assurance
  • American General Life and Accident Insurance
  • SunAmerica Annuity and Life Assurance
  • SunAmerica Life Insurance
  • Western National Life Insurance

All of these are now considered to be American General Life Insurance. In addition, AIG took the former workplace group benefit operations from American General Life, as well as its property and casualty division, and placed them into a new division, AIG Benefit Solutions. Today, American General continues to provide life insurance to consumers, as well as institutional annuity and corporate owned life insurance products.
These products are distributed via branch offices, as well as through independent insurance and financial advisors, as well as through third-party channels, such as banks, accountants, and financial planners.
AIG, inclusive of American General Life, has a vision to lead the industry into the future and to become the most value life insurance company to its customers. The company offers leading-edge technology, which includes e-submission and e-signature capabilities, as well as a Forms Depot system, which can make finding the right paperwork easier and much more convenient. AIG is headquartered in New York, NY.
For eight years in a row, American General Life Insurance Company has received the Achievement in Customer Excellence (or ACE) award from Confirmit, which recognizes outstanding achievement in customer excellence.

Insurer Ratings and Better Business Bureau Grade

Over the past five years, AIG's member life insurance carriers have collectively paid out more than $40 billion in claims and benefits to its consumer and business customers. The company has a somewhat conservative investment balance, with nearly 92% of its invested assets in either fixed income or cash.
American General Life Insurance Company is considered to have a strong financial foothold, and because of that, the company has attained positive ratings from all of the major insurer ratings agencies. These include a(n):

  • A+ (Strong) from Standard & Poor's
  • A2 (Good) from Moody's
  • A (Excellent) from A.M. Best Company
  • A+ (Strong) from Fitch Ratings

American General Life Insurance Company is not an accredited company via the Better Business Bureau (BBB), nor is AIG. However, AIG has been given a grade by the Better Business Bureau of A+ (which is on an overall grade scale of A+ through F).
Over the past three years, AIG has closed out a total of 66 customer complaints (27 of these complaints have been closed out within the past 12 months). Of the 66 total customer complaints, 38 have had to do with problems with the company's products and/or services, 14 were in relation to billing and/or collection issues, 6 were related to delivery issues, another 6 were related to guarantee / warranty issues, and the remaining two had to do with the company's advertising and/or sales.

Term Life Insurance Products Offered by American General Life Insurance Company

Term life insurance is oftentimes considered to be one of the simplest, and most affordable, life insurance products that is available in the marketplace. One reason for this is because, unlike permanent life insurance policies, term life offers only death benefit protection, without any cash value build up.
As its name suggests, term life insurance is purchased for a set time period or term. These terms may be as short as just one year, or as long as 30 or more years. Should the insured pass away during the policy's term, a death benefit will be paid out to the named beneficiary.
Although term life insurance policies are generally in force for just a certain amount of time, these policies are frequently referred to as being "temporary" insurance coverage. However, term life insurance can be a good option for many people, especially those who want affordable protection for needs such as:

  • The payoff of a mortgage balance
  • Funding a child or a grand child's future college education

Because term life insurance provides just pure death benefit protection, the premiums for this type of coverage can be quite low - particularly if the insured is young and in good health at the time of application.
Oftentimes, term life insurance policies will come with optional riders where the plan can be more customized to fit the needs of the insured. Many of these policies can also be converted over into a permanent life insurance policy (often without the insured having to prove evidence of insurability).
American General Life Insurance Company offers a wide range of life insurance products via AIG. These policies include a one-year renewable term life insurance option, as well as the company's popular Select-a-Term plan. In addition to providing death benefit protection, the Select-a-Term policy also offers the ability, through the AG ROP Select-a-Term option, to have the paid-in premiums returned, should the insured survive the entire duration of the policy.
The Select-A-Term policy is flexible, as well as economical because the insured / policy doesn't have to pay for insurance coverage that they don't need. This means that the insured can select from a variety of time frames on the coverage in order to best fit their particular needs and goals. For example, this plan offers a ten-year duration or any length of time from 15 to 30 years. With that in mind, an insured who may be looking for assurance that his or her mortgage balance - which has 22 years left to pay on it - can purchase a Select-a-Term life insurance policy with a term of 22 years (and not 25 or 30 years, like most other insurance companies, offer). This can keep the premium lower, and it can fit nicely into the insured's overall financial plan.
Select-a-Term coverage from American General / AIG is also convertible over to a permanent life insurance policy up to the end of the level premium period - or age 70 of the insured - whichever happens first. This conversion option is available without the insured having to provide evidence of insurability or any additional underwriting procedures. And, American General / AIG will also apply a portion of the term insurance policy's premium to the new permanent life insurance policy via a "conversion credit."

Other Products and Services Offered

In addition to the term life insurance coverage that is offered through American General / AIG, there are other products and services available, too. These include a range of permanent life insurance policies, such as:

  • Universal Life
  • Indexed Universal Life
  • Variable Life

With a permanent life insurance policy, there is both death benefit protection as well as a cash value or investment build up within a component of the policy. The funds that are in the cash or investment component of the policy are allowed to grow on a tax-deferred basis.
Universal life insurance provides flexibility for the insured in that they can, within certain guidelines, decide how much of the premium to put towards the death benefit protection, and how much to put into the policy's cash value. The insured may also be able to change the policy's premium due date in order to fit in with their changing needs in the future.
An indexed universal life insurance policy will have the return on its cash value component tied into an underlying market index, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Here, when the index performs well during a given year, the positive return will be credited to the cash value - usually up to a certain cap. However, if the underlying index performs poorly during a given year, then the cash value return will simply be 0%. So, while there is no gain, there is also no loss - regardless of how poorly the index may have performed.
Variable life insurance has the return on its cash value component tied to underlying investments such as mutual funds (although the funds are not directly invested in these vehicles). Here, there is the opportunity to increase cash value a great deal, based on upward market performance. However, there is also potential market-related risk, so there is the possibility of loss as well.
Also, customers of AIG / American General can purchase retirement annuities (to help with tax-advantaged saving and ongoing income in the future), as well as accident and supplemental health insurance coverage, income protection solutions, and retirement planning programs.

How to Get the Best Premium Rates on Term Life Insurance From American General

If you are seeking the best premium rates on term life insurance from American General Life Insurance Company / AIG - or any other insurer - it is usually recommended that you meet with an independent life insurance agency or brokerage that can provide you with comparable quotes from several different insurance carriers. That way, you can pick out the policy and the price that works the best for you.
If you are ready to proceed, we can help. We work with many of the top life insurance companies in the industry today, and we can assist you with obtaining all of the details that you need to make a well-informed life insurance buying decision. We can do so for you very quickly and easily - all from your computer - so if you are ready to move forward, then just simply take a moment to fill out the quote form on this page in order to get started.
Should you still have any additional questions or concerns regarding the term life insurance coverage you are considering, our experts can work with you directly. We can be reached via phone, toll-free, by calling 877-235-9299.
We understand that the purchase of life insurance can be a bit overwhelming. There are many various factors to consider, and you want to be sure that you are moving in the right direction. So, contact us today - we're here to help.

This site provides life insurance information and quotes. Each rate shown is a quote based on information provided by the carrier. No portion of TermLife360.com may be copied, published or distributed in any manner for any purpose without prior written authorization of the owner.
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