Evaluating a Life Insurance Company

You'll find that the large majority of life insurance companies are very safe and secure. You still may want to check with a service that rates the financial strength of insurance companies, such as A.M. Company, Standard & Poor's Insurance Rating Services, Duff & Phelps Inc., and Moody's Investor Services Inc.

A company's rating can vary from one service to another. You may wish to look at ratings from several reliable services when evaluating a company. Be aware that not all companies choose to be rated by every service, since rating services usually charge a substantial fee for a comprehensive review.

Avoid overreacting to slight variations in ratings -- for instance, between AAA and AA, or A+ and A. Slightly lower ratings may not indicate significant risk.