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Principal Financial Group

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4.5

Overall Score

LAST UPDATED: March 6th, 2024

Principal Financial Group offers excellent term life insurance policies in addition to universal life, variable universal life, and survivorship insurance around the world.

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Principal Financial Group began in 1879. Over the years, the company expanded beyond the United States into many countries around the world. Principal is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.

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The Good

  • Term and Permanent Policy Options
  • High Financial Strength Ratings
  • Group Life Insurance Plans Available

Term and Permanent Policy Options

Principal offers term, universal, and survivorship life insurance. Its term policies offer term lengths of 1, 10, 15, 20, and 30 years. Policyholders can convert their term life policies into permanent ones without needing to undergo underwriting again.

Underwriting is how insurance companies assess the risk of insuring applicants to determine premium rates and whether or not the insurer will issue a policy. The process considers medical history, lifestyle, age, and more. Some insurers require a medical exam to complete underwriting.

Principal offers three kinds of universal life insurance: universal, indexed universal, and variable universal. These policies offer a lifetime of coverage as long as premium payments are met. They also grow cash value over time that can be used during your life.

Principal's universal life insurance policies offer flexibility with death benefit amounts and premium payments. The cash value grows based on investment performance with a minimum rate guaranteed.

The indexed universal life policies grow cash value from stock market index investments. 

The variable universal life insurance policy is a good fit for people looking for more aggressive cash growth. The cash value for this policy can be converted to an annuity to supplement retirement income.

Survivorship insurance protects two lives. The death benefit is paid out after both of the insured people have passed away. This policy can be good as for tax and estate planning.

High Financial Strength Ratings

Principal has earned high financial strength ratings. High ratings are important to look for when choosing a life insurance company. These ratings combined with Principal's longevity show that Principal is a financially stable company and able to meet claims obligations.

Group Life Insurance Plans Available

Principal also offers term life insurance policies that employers can include in their benefits packages. Employers can fully fund a life insurance policy or offer it as a voluntary benefit.

However an employer offers group life insurance, it can be converted into individual policies, which is a great feature since employer-sponsored life insurance coverage typically ends when your employment does.

An accidental death and dismemberment rider can also be added to these policies to provide additional coverage if the insured passes away in an accident.

Group life insurance from Principal also offers flat levels of coverage for your employees' spouses and children.

If the employer fully funds the life insurance policy, coverage can be as high as $1 million. Coverage amounts can be offered with flat levels, a percentage of employee salary, or a combination of the two.

If employers offer term life policies as a voluntary benefit, the coverage maximum is $500,000. The coverage limits for a spouse and children are $250,000 and $25,000 respectively.

However employers choose to offer life insurance, Principal includes the following additional services:

  • Travel assistance
  • Will and legal document assistance
  • Identity theft kit
  • Beneficiary support
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The Bad

  • Insufficient Customer Insight
  • Limited Online Information
  • No Whole Life Insurance

Insufficient Customer Insight

There are not very many Principal Financial Group reviews on BestCompany.com. Because of this limitation, conclusions about customer satisfaction are not available.

However, it's promising that a majority of Principal Financial reviews are positive. Praise includes good customer service, regular communication, and satisfaction with policies.

Complaints in reviews include difficulty completing a rollover and difficulty resolving errors.

Limited Online Information

While it's easy to find an overview of what life insurance policies Principal offers, information on policy features, cost, and riders is limited. While Principal isn't the only life insurer with limited online information, it's still frustrating if you're gathering information and exploring your options.

For more details, you'll need to contact Principal.

No Whole Life Insurance

Principal does not offer whole life insurance. Whole life is a kind of permanent life insurance. It has a guaranteed death benefit and level premiums. Whole life policies tend to have higher premiums because the policyholder assumes less risk with cash value growth. If you prefer a whole life policy, you'll need to find another insurance company.

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The Bottom Line

Principal is a trustworthy life insurer. It has stood the test of time and earned high financial strength ratings. You can be confident when purchasing a policy from Principal.

The only drawbacks to choosing Principal as a life insurer are that no whole life policy is available and there is limited information on policy details available online.

However, if you're looking for a survivorship, universal, or term life policy, it's worth reaching out to Principal for more information.

View Best Life Insurance Companies

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Star Rating

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1.0

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43 Reviews

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5 grade

12%

4 grade

5%

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0%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

81%

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Review Source

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Shawn American Fork, UT

We have used Principal for Life insurance and investing and it is a solid trustworthy company. The team that would help us when reviewing our accounts were very helpful and precise and made sure they answered all of my questions.

5 years ago

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Review Source

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Kristiane R Durfey Pleasant Grove, UT

We have multiple Principal life insurance policies for myself and my husband and each of our 6 children. The policies they offer were within our budget and we have been pleased with the updates we get on the balances every quarter.

5 years ago Edited September 14, 2021