We haven't heard of any large life insurance companies becoming insolvent in about 16 years, since Executive Life and Mutual Benefit were seized by government regulators in 1991.

There were five life insurance company failures in 2005 and only two in 2006. These were mostly small companies with very little geographic diversification. The rest of the industry has continued to do well because of years of prudent underwriting, solid investment results and strong capitalization.

In fact, the number of companies earning our top safety ratings of A-plus, A or A-minus has increased nearly 30% over the past year. Consolidation in the industry over the last decade or so has led to many large insurance companies becoming the "low-cost providers" of life insurance as many smaller firms have found it too costly to compete. But large total asset size does not necessarily equate to financial safety.

Life insurance, the product, can be used as an estate planning tool, but more often it is used to purchase protection for one's family in the event of one's passing. Your dependents and heirs can sleep soundly if your life insurance protection is purchased from a financially strong company.

All the more reason to periodically check the financial safety of your life insurance carrier. Our ratings are based on many factors, including an insurer's level of capitalization, the trend in its profitability, the quality of its investments and its ability to deal with mild and severe economic adversity and potential liquidity problems.

The top three insurers on the list are State Farm Life Insurance Company, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and American Family Life Insurance Co. All three earned A-plus ratings.

The chart below shows the top 10 U.S. Life insurance companies on the basis of their respective ratings, total assets and total life insurance premiums (including group and individual life insurance).

These companies have all maintained excellent ratings over the last five years due to their strong management, excellent capitalization and liquidity positions and relatively solid profitability. You can sleep soundly if you've got your life insurance with any of these highly rated life insurers.