AARP Guaranteed Life Insurance Review

Written by Jeff Root

If you would like to instantly compare quotes across carriers for your exact birthdate, use the free quote tool on this page.

In this life insurance review, we will show you everything you should know about the AARP guaranteed life insurance product.

Specifically, you’ll learn about AARP, their financial ratings, and the pros & cons of the AARP guaranteed acceptance life insurance policy. After that, we’ll show you why we do not typically recommend AARP and who to choose instead.

What You’ll Learn

About AARP Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance
AARP Financial Ratings
AARP Policy Overview & Rates
Pros of AARP Life Insurance
Cons of AARP Guaranteed Life Insurance
Other Guaranteed Life Insurance Choices For Seniors

AARP Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance ReviewHave you recently received something in the mail from AARP?

Maybe you saw one of their TV commercials, online ads or their name on the back of a bus station bench. The four-letter acronym is everywhere, or at least it seems that way the older you get and the more they seem to find you.

Before we dive into the AARP guaranteed life insurance product, it’s important to know that every guaranteed acceptance company is unique and so are all the policies on the market. No matter what, there really is no perfect policy that works for everyone, just like no two people reading this are the same. You may decide that AARP is right for you, or you may not, and that’s okay. This review and our free services can help you find out.

Now let’s go ahead and dive in.

Disclaimer: We are not AARP nor we contracted with AARP. If you would like to receive an AARP quote or want to apply, you need to contact them directly or go to https://www.nylaarp.com.

About AARP Guaranteed Issue Life Insurance

AARP is a powerhouse name with over 37 million members and a huge budget for marketing. AARP however, is NOT an insurance company. We repeat, they DO NOT sell insurance.

Instead, AARP partners with other companies and sells their image rights to various insurance companies. Truthfully, whichever insurance company offers the most money, that is who AARP will partner with. At the moment, AARP’s life insurance is underwritten through NY Life, their car insurance is through Hartford and their health insurance is through United Healthcare.

Seems a bit strange, huh?

It is, especially when you’re talking about one of the most important purchase decisions you’ll make for your family: life insurance.

When you buy AARP, you’re buying marketing.

Is AARP Life Insurance The Right Choice?AARP Life Insurance Logo

Despite this, do we like AARP at Guaranteed Issue Life?

The short answer is no.

For their life insurance products geared towards seniors or those with declining health, AARP is not competitive on price.

AARP insurance rates are higher than competing companies, even though their product is practically the same. The reason they are able to justify the higher premium is that of the perceived value that comes along with their brand name.

Pro Tip: NEVER buy an insurance policy just because of a brand name. At the end of the day, what matters is the reputation of the carrier and the quality of the product, which includes its affordability.

If you’d like to quickly compare affordable life insurance rates right now, you can use the complimentary quoter on the side of this article. A selection of the top guaranteed issue policies will be presented on the next screen.

AARP Financial Ratings

Every review we include on this website discusses the carriers ratings. With AARP, we are unable to provide an A.M. Best Rating, because it is not a life insurance company. That said, we can provide ratings for New York Life.

Founded in 1845, New York Life has an A.M. Best Rating of “A++”. This is the highest rating possible and means that the company is financially secure. So on the upside, if you purchase a plan through AARP, you can be sure that the policy will be paid out.

AARP Guaranteed Life Insurance Policy Overview & Rates

Policy Amounts Range: $2,500 – $25,000

Age Availability: 50 – 80 (spouses ages 45 – 80 can apply)

State Availability: All states except NJ and WA (alternative policy offered in NY)

Graded Period: Two years

Return of Premiums: 25%

Riders: Spousal Benefit and Accelerated Benefit

How to Apply: Through AARP

The Pros of AARP Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance

There are several benefits to choosing AARP for guaranteed life insurance.

Guaranteed Acceptance Whole Life

This type of policy is only offered on a guaranteed basis, which means that no matter what you cannot be denied coverage. However, you MUST be an AARP member to have a policy.

Since it is also a whole life policy, it comes with built-in whole life benefits. These include:

  • Fixed monthly premiums forever
  • A fixed death benefit that will never decrease
  • Policy will not expire, at any age
  • Graded death benefit for first two years of the policy being in force

This last point means that if you die from natural causes within the first two years, AARP (or rather, NY Life) will refund the policy premiums plus 25% interest.

If death is accidental, they will pay out the full death benefit even if it does occur during the first two years.

If death is by suicide in the first two years (one year in MO), then the premiums will be returned without additional interest.

They Offer a High Interest Payment of 25%

As mentioned, the accidental death benefit interest is 25%. This is a whopping 15% more than other leading no questions policies available.

If the two-year graded period is something that makes you uneasy because of health reasons, having a higher interest payout may be something to consider.

AARP Premium Payments Stop at Age 95

One unique aspect of AARP’s guaranteed acceptance product is that premium payments end at age 95 yet coverage continues for the rest of your life. This is considered a “paid up” policy. In other words, if you live past age 95, you no longer have to make monthly premium payments in order to keep the policy active. Since the last age at which you can qualify for an AARP policy is 80 years old, this does mean that you’ll need to survive at least 15 years in order to take advantage of this deal. Something to keep in mind as you shop for a no questions policy.

The Cons of AARP for Guaranteed Life Insurance

Even with the benefits offered above, we actually typically find better policy options with other carriers. Here are several issues we find with AARP guaranteed issue life insurance.

Higher Premiums

AARP is more expensive than some of the competition. For instance, a 52-year-old male applying for $15,000 in guaranteed acceptance coverage will pay $67.00 a month.

We represent a handful of more affordable, high-quality insurance companies. Do yourself a favor and compare guaranteed acceptance quotes that have level premiums and death benefit, build cash value, and also offer two year graded death benefit. You could get a similar or better policy for $57.15. That’s over $9 a month in savings or roughly $108 a year, or $1,080 in savings over 10 years!

Long Claims Processing Times

As stated by AARP on their website, claims take an average of 1-2 MONTHS to process. This does include contestable claims (ones that require an investigation). All around, this is significantly longer than many other companies who do their best to pay within a week or two of a claim being filed.

Quality life insurance companies understand the burden that family members have to endure once a loved one passes. Waiting for money only furthers the pain and prevents the family from moving forward.

AARP is Not an Insurance Company

We can’t stress this enough. AARP is a marketing logo, not an insurance company. This is why they can charge more and have amassed such a large, elderly client base. They are not focused on working with the best-guaranteed acceptance product necessarily, just the highest bidder. If you buy a policy with them now, they could very easily switch to someone other than New York Life next week. It’s hard to have confidence in such a system.

Other Guaranteed Life Insurance Choices For Seniors

The best alternative to AARP is to call an independent agency that specializes in life insurance for seniors and high-risk candidates, such as Guaranteed Issue Life. By working with independent agents, you will receive quotes and detailed policy information across multiple carriers, not just one. With AARP, you have to purchase direct and do not receive options.

Life insurance an incredibly important decision that you must make during your lifetime, which is why having options is always a good idea. You and your loved ones deserve to know what options are available to you so you can make the right decision with peace of mind.

Applying for Guaranteed Acceptance Life Insurance

The people behind this website are independent life insurance agents with decades of combined experience. As we’ve mentioned, we do not technically represent AARP, which means you’ll have to contact them directly if interested in a policy.

That said, we represent many of the top insurance companies throughout the country, many of which are the highest rated and most trusted household names in insurance. Our team is skilled when it comes to the nuances of policies, carriers and differing application processes. We can easily help you during the decision process so that you only need to make this decision and apply ONCE.

Since no one is getting any younger (including us), do not wait one more day. Both you and your family should enjoy the highest amount of coverage that fits your unique needs and in a timely fashion.

Working with Guaranteed Issue Life

Let’s begin exploring your options on the phone today.

If you call 949-480-9638, we’ll run quotes for you and answer any questions absolutely free of charge.

In fact, there’s no charge at all, even when you apply. Another complimentary service we offer is the free quote tool at the top of this page. Here you can instantly compare dozens of rates across many of the nations top carriers.

Thanks for reading more about AARP Guaranteed Whole Life. Before you head out, you can also look at our reviews of the top guaranteed acceptance plans that are available on the market today.

About Jeff Root & Guaranteed Issue Life
About Jeff Root & Guaranteed Issue Life

Jeff Root is the author of The Digital Life Insurance Agent and host of the Modern Life Insurance Selling Podcast.

Guaranteed Issue Life is a nationally licensed agency, that has helped over 1500 consumers purchase guaranteed issue life insurance. We represent over 30 life insurance companies & transact business in every state.

All content on this site has been written by life insurance experts & licensed life insurance agents.

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