Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) Life Insurance Review

Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation, and its affiliates. Lincoln Financial Group’s policies are issued by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, and in New York, under the Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York. We at I&E are fans of LFG and would rank it as one of the best life insurance companies. In the following Lincoln Financial Group life insurance review we will take a look at the Company’s history, financials, ratings, products and riders.

About Lincoln Financial Group

LFG is named after one of our greatest American leaders, President Abraham Lincoln. In 1905, a group of businessmen wanted to start a company that was focused on *dependability, honesty and service*, and Lincoln National Life Insurance Company was formed. The company was even able to get Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, to grant LFG the right to use his father’s name and likeness. According to the company:

[LFG] is the first and only company in the world that freely carries Abraham Lincoln’s name, image and ideals at the heart of our brand.

From its auspicious beginning in 1905, LFG was destined for success. This is evident in the fact that during the Great Depression, Lincoln Financial navigated those difficult times with no layoffs. The company weathered the worst financial storm in our nation’s history, and by 1955, Lincoln Financial was the ninth largest life insurance company in the U.S.

By 1983, the company had surpassed over $100 billion of life insurance in force. Today the company enjoys the prestige of being one of the nation’s best life insurance companies.

Financial Ratings & Strength

LFG is a top rated life insurance company. The various life insurance ratings agencies have given high marks to Lincoln Financial across the board.

Lincoln Financial’s current financial ratings:

• A.M. Best: A (Excellent)
• Fitch: A+ (Strong)
• Moody’s: A1 (Good)
• Standard and Poor’s: AA- (Very Strong)
• Comdex Ranking: 90

These fantastic ratings reflect Lincoln Financial Group’s commitment to long term stability, providing peace of mind to all policyholders of LFG.

Products Overview

Lincoln Financial Group has a large array of financial products and services, serving both individuals and businesses. For employers and organizations, LFG offers everything from short-term and long-term disability, to life and accident insurance, dental insurance, critical illness and vision insurance.

The company’s products and services for individuals feature:

Insurance for Individuals and Family:

Life Insurance

• Term life insurance
• Universal life insurance
• Indexed universal life insurance
• Variable universal life insurance
• Long term care life insurance

Annuities

• Traditional Fixed Annuities
• Fixed Income Annuities
• Fixed Indexed Annuities
• Variable Annuities

Lincoln Financial Life Insurance Policies

LFG offers both term life and permanent life insurance. There is not one size fits all policy so each type of coverage offers benefits. What type of life insurance you need will be largely determined by your personal or business needs and goals. It is important to know which product is right for you, specifically term vs whole life insurance and whole life vs universal life.

Term Life Insurance

Lincoln offers term products called TermAccel Level Term and LifeElements Level Term.

TermAccel Level Term:

• Coverage from $100,000 to $2.5 million
• Term lengths of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years
• Streamlined application process, sometimes without lab work
• Best fit for ages 18-50
• Not available in New York

LifeElements Level Term:

• Higher minimum coverage ($2.5 million+)
• Designed for larger cases and high-net-worth clients
• Best fit for ages 45+
• Available term lengths of 10, 15, 20, and 30 years

Both term products offer convertible term life insurance, allowing you to convert all or a portion of the face amount to permanent coverage before the end of the term or by age 70, whichever is less.

Besides the conversion option, you can also benefit from an accelerated death benefit rider, waiver of premium rider and child term rider.

Universal Life Insurance

LFG, through Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York, provides a range of Universal Life options:

Universal Life Offerings:

• Lincoln LifeGuarantee UL: Provides lifetime coverage with guaranteed premiums and death benefit
• Lincoln LifeCurrent UL: Offers flexible premiums and death benefit options, with cash value growth at guaranteed or declared rates
• Lincoln LifeGuarantee Survivorship UL: Covers two lives, paying out upon the second death, ideal for estate planning

These universal life policies offer flexible premiums and death benefit options, with cash value that grows at either guaranteed or declared rates. They can be customized with riders for long-term care, critical illness, and more.

Indexed Universal Life Insurance

Ranking as one of the best indexed universal life insurance companies, LFG offers several different IUL policies.

• Lincoln LifeReserve Indexed UL Accumulator: Focuses on cash value accumulation with market index-linked growth potential
• Lincoln WealthAdvantage Indexed UL: Offers flexibility and potential for higher returns through index-linked performance
• Lincoln WealthPreserve Survivorship Indexed UL: Covers two lives with indexed-linked growth potential

IUL policies work by providing permanent coverage with cash value growth linked to market indexes (with downside protection), premium flexibility, and a range of rider options.

Variable Universal Life Insurance

LFG also has a full variable universal life insurance product line.

New for 2025:

• Lincoln AssetEdge® VUL (2025): Enhanced investment flexibility, two new hedged equity options, and a new Enhanced Overloan Protection Endorsement (no upfront fee) to help prevent lapse on heavily loaned policies. Indexed account allocations are now available earlier, and model portfolios have reduced fees.
• Lincoln AssetEdge® SVUL: A survivorship VUL insuring two lives, designed for estate planning and legacy needs. Offers competitive short-pay pricing, a no-lapse guarantee, and the same investment lineup as AssetEdge VUL.

Other VUL Options:

• Lincoln AssetEdge Exec VUL: Designed specifically for executive benefits
• Lincoln SVUL^ONE: Survivorship variable universal life option
• Lincoln PreservationEdge SVUL: Focus on preservation with survivorship benefits

Long Term Care Life Insurance

Long term care insurance provides financial asset protection and wealth preservation by providing income benefits if you are unable to perform 2 of 6 activities of daily living or have a cognitive disease, such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s. The rising costs associated with long term care can demolish even the best laid financial plans.

Lincoln National Life Insurance Company offers an excellent combination long term care life insurance policy called Lincoln MoneyGuard in all states except NY. In New York, the LTC+Life hybrid policy is called Lincoln MoneyGuard Reserve.

Lincoln MoneyGuard Features and Benefits:

• Combines universal or variable universal life insurance with long-term care benefits
• Policyholders can accelerate the death benefit for qualified LTC needs
• Access to additional LTC funds after the death benefit is exhausted
• Available as single premium or flexible payment options
• Issue ages from 40-79
• Value protection rider provides a no-lapse guarantee and return of premium options
• Inflation protection rider available at 3% or 5% compound growth
• LTC benefit periods ranging from 2 years up to 7 years
• Reimbursement income benefit method

According to widely available statistics on long term care, people over the age of 65 have around a 50% chance of requiring long term care. The younger you are when getting your LTC policy, the lower your long term care insurance rates will be.

Indexed Universal Life vs Variable Universal Life

Both IUL and VUL policies provide permanent coverage, pay a lump sum death benefit to your beneficiary and provide cash value growth and access to your cash value via withdrawals or loans.

In addition, both IUL and VUL policies provide flexibility. You can change your premium payments by paying larger premiums or smaller and adjust your death benefit up or down.

The main differences between an IUL policy and VUL policy are in the way your premiums are allocated:

Indexed Universal Life (IUL):

• You are not investing in the stock market
• Premium is transferred to the policy’s fixed account, where it will earn interest based on the company’s declared rate
• Option to transfer all or a portion of your premium to an indexed account
• Indexed account tracks a particular major index, such as the S&P 500
• Interest credited based on a formula that takes into account the performance of the index
• Growth limited by a cap, but downside protected by a guaranteed floor
• Some companies offer no-cap indexed accounts

Variable Universal Life (VUL):

• Premiums allocated from a fixed account into variable investment options (sub-accounts)
• Sub-accounts function similar to mutual funds
• Direct investments in the market
• No minimum floor and no maximum cap
• Cash value may go up or down based on market performance
• Lincoln’s 2025 VUL products offer enhanced investment flexibility and new hedged equity options

Benefits of Cash Value Life Insurance

There are distinct advantages of cash value life insurance, including the following:

Tax free life insurance policy loans

Life insurance loans are available with permanent life policies. Policy loans are not taxable. You have the right to borrow from the insurer, using your policy’s cash value as collateral, for whatever you want. If you die with an outstanding loan, any amount still owed, plus interest, will be taken from your death benefit before your beneficiary receives the remainder.

Tax deferred cash value growth

Under IRC 7702, cash value in your policy grows tax deferred. Apart from withdrawing your cash value above your basis or having your policy lapse, your cash value is yours income tax free by utilizing policy loans.

Tax free death benefit

The death benefit payout of your life insurance is not taxed to your beneficiary. As long as your estate is under the federal exemption limit, or your own state inheritance tax level, no tax from your life insurance proceeds will be taxable. For larger estates, careful asset protection planning is necessary.

Life Insurance Riders

The following life insurance riders from Lincoln Financial are not available on all policy types:

Accelerated Benefits Rider (with Critical Illness Coverage): Covers qualifying specific illness or critical illness or conditions.

Accelerated Benefits Rider (terminal illness only): Pays out a portion of the death benefit for a qualifying terminal illness.

Disability Waiver of Monthly Deductions Benefit Rider: After a 6-month elimination period, the rider waives cost of insurance, expense charges, and rider charges if the insured is permanently disabled.

Guaranteed Insurability Rider: A must-have rider if you are considering life insurance for children, it provides the owner the opportunity to purchase more life insurance coverage at specified ages or alternatively, at certain special occasions, such as marriage or the birth or adoption of a child.

Supplemental Term Insurance Rider on Primary Insured: 10, 15, and 20-year term life rider that can be converted.

Enhanced Overloan Protection Endorsement (New for 2025): Available on the new AssetEdge VUL policies, this feature helps prevent policy lapse on heavily loaned policies with no upfront fee.

Annuity Products

Lincoln Financial offers a comprehensive suite of annuities for retirement income and wealth accumulation:

Fixed Annuities:

• Guaranteed interest rates
• Principal protection
• Predictable income options

Fixed Indexed Annuities:

• Growth potential tied to market indexes
• Downside protection
• Optional income benefits

Variable Annuities:

• Market-driven growth potential
• Wide range of investment options
• Optional living benefits available

Income Annuities:

• Immediate or deferred income streams
• Customizable payout options
• Lifetime income guarantees available

Lincoln’s annuities are known for their flexibility, variety of income options, and strong financial backing.

Customer Experience & Recognition

Low Complaint Volume:

Lincoln draws fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size, indicating strong customer satisfaction and service quality.

Application Process:

Lincoln’s policies must be purchased through a financial professional, with no direct online sales available. This ensures customers receive personalized guidance but may not appeal to those seeking a fully digital experience.

Customer Satisfaction:

Lincoln scored just below average in the 2023 J.D. Power U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study (788 out of 1,000 versus the industry average of 790).

Ethics & Recognition:

Lincoln has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for three consecutive years (2022-2024), highlighting its commitment to ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.

Contact Information

Conclusion

LFG is a top-rated company, providing some unique life insurance products and riders. Each of these can be tailored to create a great life insurance policy. The company continues to innovate, as evidenced by its 2025 launch of enhanced Variable Universal Life products with new features like overloan protection and reduced-fee model portfolios.

Lincoln’s financial strength remains solid, with an A (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best and AA- (Very Strong) from Standard & Poor’s. With total life reserves of $55.9 billion and net investment income of $4.03 billion, the company provides the security and stability policyholders seek.

What sets Lincoln Financial apart is its comprehensive product lineup, particularly in the universal life space. From traditional universal life to indexed and variable options, Lincoln offers solutions for a wide range of needs and risk tolerances. The company’s MoneyGuard hybrid life/LTC product remains an industry leader for those concerned about long-term care costs.

While Lincoln’s customer satisfaction scores are slightly below the industry average, the company draws fewer complaints than expected for its size and has been recognized for its ethical business practices for three consecutive years.

Is Lincoln Financial Group the best choice for your insurance needs and objectives?

Without speaking to you and discovering your goals, needs and objectives we cannot say which company will best suit your needs.

Do you have questions or would you like to see an illustration of LFG or any of the other companies we represent? Give us a call today for a free life insurance consultation with an advanced markets professional.