MetLife Launches New Whole Life Insurance Product

According to LIMRA, individual life ownership reached a 50-year low in 2010, with only 44 percent of U.S. households owning individual life insurance. To help consumers address their life insurance protection needs, MetLife today announced the launch of its new Whole Life product, MetLife Promise Whole Life ^SM. In addition to providing permanent life insurance coverage and traditional guarantees on premium, cash value and death benefit, MetLife Promise Whole Life ^SM offers the new, optional Flex Term Rider with a competitive premium and an innovative rider death benefit guaranteed to age 85.

“Our new whole life insurance product offers clients and families the benefits of long-term protection and the advantages of guaranteed cash value that grows each year, tax-deferred, along with dividend participation,” states Gene Lunman, senior vice president, Individual Life Products, for MetLife U.S. Business. “MetLife Promise Whole Life ^SM adds flexibility through the optional Flex Term Rider, which, when combined with a base policy, offers the benefits of traditional whole life at a lower total premium—providing the cornerstone for a solution that may best meet an individual’s specific needs now and create a foundation for a strong financial safety net going forward.”

MetLife Promise Whole Life ^SM insurance is a permanent life insurance policy that offers lifetime protection, as long as the policy remains in-force, and is an attractive protection tool for those looking for guaranteed level premiums, guaranteed cash value and guaranteed death benefits. The policy also features annual non-guaranteed dividend payments, which, if paid, may increase the cash value and death benefit of the policy over time.

MetLife Promise Whole Life’s ^SM optional riders include:

• Flex Term Rider – this optional rider offers policyholders additional premium flexibility. The Flex Term Rider allows policyholders to purchase a combination of base whole life protection along with additional coverage that starts out in the form of term protection. The rider allows the term portion to be gradually replaced over time to paid-up whole life protection. If premium payments are made as planned, the policyholder will receive any dividend payments that are paid, which can further enhance the rider’s values. Policyholders who purchase this rider are guaranteed coverage until the insured is age 85 as long as the required premium is paid each year, even if the term costs increase or if dividends decrease.
• The Enricher® – this optional paid-up additions insurance rider allows the policyholder to pay additional premiums, if desired (subject to rider limits). It includes a premium payment duration to age 100, and a premium load of 5%.
• Several other optional riders are available including Disability Waiver, Accidental Death Benefit, Acceleration of Death Benefits, Children’s Term, Applicant’s Waiver of Premium and a Guaranteed Issue Rider.

MetLife Promise Whole Life is issued by MetLife Investors USA Insurance Company (Policy Form 5E-12-10) and in New York only by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Policy Form 1E-12-10-NY) (together “MetLife”).