Prudential Life Insurance vs. Pacific Life Insurance

Prudential Life and Pacific Life are both A+ rated life insurance companies by A.M. Best, and both have been around for more than 140 years. They have long-standing reputations and offer a diverse suite of life insurance products. Which company is the best fit for your family depends on several factors, such as your needs and budget. Here are the most important things you should know when deciding whether to take out a Prudential Life insurance vs. a Pacific Life insurance policy.

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What Products Are Offered by Prudential Life Insurance vs. Pacific Life Insurance?

Life insurance comes in many flavors, and not all companies offer all of them. The list below describes the most popular types of life insurance and tells which company offers each.

Products Offered by Both Companies

• Term life insurance: Term life insurance provides coverage for a fixed term, such as 10 or 20 years. Once this term ends, so does the coverage, but some term policies can be converted to whole life or rolled over into a subsequent term. Term life policies taken out by younger and even middle-aged people most often expire while the policyholder is still alive. Because these policies never actually pay a death benefit, insurers are able to charge very low premiums on term life compared to whole life insurance.
• Universal life insurance: Universal life insurance is a variation on whole life that lets the policyholder adjust the death benefit up or down by raising or lowering the amount of premiums they pay. If a policyholder decides they don't need coverage anymore, they can even stop paying premiums altogether. For this reason, the death benefit isn't always guaranteed for life like it is with whole life insurance. As a policyholder pays premiums toward a universal life insurance policy, it builds up a cash value, from which the policyholder can make withdrawals to cover unexpected expenses.
• Variable universal life insurance: Variable universal life insurance is a form of universal life where the cash value that accrues over time can be invested in the market, potentially providing greater returns but also subjecting it to greater risk.
• Indexed universal life insurance: Indexed universal life insurance is like a hybrid of traditional and variable universal life insurance. Its cash value accrues in both fixed and equity-indexed accounts. The policyholder can decide how much to allocate to each.

Products Offered by Pacific Life Insurance Only

• Whole life insurance: Pacific Life is the only one of these two companies that offers regular whole life insurance. This type of policy provides permanent coverage at a fixed monthly premium. As long as the policyholder keeps up with their premiums, a whole life policy will pay a death benefit no matter how many years have gone by since the policy was taken out. Because the insurance company knows a whole life policy will eventually pay out, the premiums are much higher than they would be on a term life policy for the same benefit amount.
• Survivorship insurance: Survivorship insurance is a whole life policy for couples that doesn’t pay out until both partners die. It can be useful for estate planning purposes, as it keeps the surviving spouse from having to pay taxes on the benefit amount when the first partner dies.

Which Company Has Lower Costs?

Both Pacific Life and Prudential Life offer products at an array of price points. A policyholder's exact premiums depend more on factors such as their age, medical history and tobacco use than on the company they choose.

That said, Pacific Life tends to be cheaper across the board than Prudential Life when comparing products as close to apples-to-apples as possible. But that doesn't automatically make it the best choice for every consumer. Pacific Life is less expensive, but it also offers a more limited array of riders and add-ons. That means it might be best for budget-conscious consumers, but those who want more flexibility or need custom-tailored coverage might have an easier time finding it with Prudential Life.

The following table breaks down each company's average monthly premium amounts by age and gender for a 20-year term life policy with a $250,000 death benefit:

What Riders Are Offered by Each Company?

A rider on a life insurance policy provides an additional benefit in specific situations. Policyholders can use riders to tailor their life insurance to their unique needs. This is an area where Prudential Life shines over Pacific Life, as it offers a more diverse array of riders.

Riders Offered by Both Companies

• Waiver of premium rider: This rider waives the policyholder's premiums if they become critically ill or physically impaired.
• Accelerated death benefit rider: This rider lets the policyholder access their death benefit while still alive if they become critically ill.

Riders Offered by Prudential Life Only

• Accidental death benefit rider: This rider increases a policy's death benefit if the insured dies in a covered accident.
• Serious illness rider: This rider is similar to an accelerated death benefit rider, but it only requires the policyholder to be seriously ill, not critically ill, to access their death benefit.
• Estate planning rider: This rider provides an additional benefit that offsets the taxes due if a life insurance policy is included in the deceased's estate.
• Early cash value rider: This rider allows for early withdrawals from a universal life policy's cash value without incurring a surrender charge.
• Disability income rider: This rider provides a monthly income if the policyholder becomes permanently and totally disabled while the policy is in force.
• Additional death benefit rider: This rider provides an additional benefit if the insured dies from a specific cause listed in the rider.

Riders Offered by Pacific Life Only

• Conversion rider: This rider lets you convert a term life policy to whole life insurance without undergoing a medical exam.
• Child rider: This rider pays an additional benefit to cover funeral expenses if the insured's minor child passes away.
• Long-term care rider: This rider lets a policyholder access their death benefit while still alive to pay for the cost of home care or assisted living.

Choosing the Right Life Insurance Policy for Your Family

Prudential Life and Pacific Life are two of the most reputable companies in the life insurance industry. Both offer competitive products and high levels of financial stability. A life insurance advisor can review your needs and help you find the right policy to protect your family.