Transamerica is considered to be one of the world's leading insurance and financial services companies. The firm offers insurance and investments to more than 19 million customers worldwide. As Transamerica's slogan suggests, the company – and its customers – are “Tomorrow Makers.” This is because the company strives to make its customers' tomorrows everything that they plan for.
The History of Transamerica
The company has been in the business of providing insurance and financial advice for more than 100 years and it began its operation in 1904 when Amadeo Giannini started the Bank of Italy in a converted saloon in San Francisco, California. He strived to make financial services available to everyone of all financial classes, not just the wealthy. His business really ramped up following the 1906 San Francisco earth quake when he was able to provide loans to residents for rebuilding their properties.
Several years later, in 1928, the company merged with Bank of America, and two years after that, it acquired Occidental Life Insurance via Transamerica Corporation. In 1956, the banking and life insurance companies were separated, with the insurance component maintaining the Transamerica name. Today, customers of Transamerica have access to a wide variety of insurance and financial products and services.
The firm is licensed to provide insurance in all U.S. states, and the District of Columbia, and it has approximately $223 billion of premiums in force. Transamerica has a roughly $29.5 billion in assets under management.
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Products Offered By Transamerica
Transamerica offers a wide variety of products to both consumers and businesses. On the insurance side, the company provides numerous options, including the following types of coverage:
- Term Life – Term life insurance offers pure death benefit protection for a specific period of time. This is typically 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, or 30 years. Should the insured pass away during the time that a term life policy is in force, the named beneficiary will receive the stated amount of death benefit. Because term policies do not offer any type of cash value or savings component, the premiums for this type of coverage are typically more affordable than other, “permanent,” forms of coverage. For example, you can get a $1 million term policy for less than 20% of a permanent policy with the same face value. Term life is sometimes referred to as “temporary” life insurance coverage as it is often used for covering temporary needs such as the balance of a mortgage.
- Whole Life – Whole life insurance offers death benefit protection as well as cash value build up. The funds that are inside of the cash value are allowed to grow on a tax deferred basis, meaning that no tax is due until the time of withdrawal. The cash grows at a guaranteed rate over time. Whole life is considered permanent coverage, because as long as the premium is paid, coverage will remain in force – oftentimes for the “whole” of a person's life.
- Universal Life – A universal policy is also considered to be permanent life insurance protection. It, too, offers death benefit protection and cash value build up. However, it provides more flexibility than whole life in that the policy holder can choose to pay higher or lower premium amounts as their financial needs change over time. The policy value may simply increase or decrease accordingly. Like with whole policies, the cash value is allowed to grow on a tax deferred basis.
- Variable Universal Life – Yet another type of permanent life insurance, variable life, provides death benefit protection and cash value. With variable universal life, however, the cash value's return is based upon underlying investments in market related “subaccounts.” These can allow the funds in the account to grow a great deal – provided that the market moves upward. These accounts can also be more risky in a downward moving market.
- Accidental Death – With accidental death coverage, policy holders can add additional benefit coverage to their policies should they pass away in a covered accident. This can help to ensure that their loved ones will be taken care of should the unthinkable occur. (It is important to note that this benefit will not typically pay out in the event of death that is caused by sickness or other natural causes).
- Final Expense – Final expense coverage focuses on paying for a person's funeral and related expenses. Today, the cost of a funeral – including the burial plot, headstone, and other related expenses – can exceed $10,000. Unfortunately, many families are not able to pay these costs immediately upon the death of a loved one. Having final expense insurance allows for a way to do that – eliminating stress on loved ones, in an already stressful and emotional time.
In addition to life insurance, Transamerica also offers a number of other financial products, including long-term care insurance, annuities, and retirement / investment savings options for those who are planning for retirement, as well as those who are already there.
Financial Strength Ratings
Transamerica has been given very good ratings by the insurer ratings agencies. These ratings include the following:
| A.M. Best | Moody's Investor Services | Fitch | Standard & Poor's |
| A+ | A1 | AA- | AA- |
Advantages and Considerations
When seeking life insurance, it is important that the insurer is able to offer choice and flexibility – especially such that it meets with your specific needs. Many have the misconception that they cannot find a policy for them because of their lifestyle choices, such as, one looking for life insurance for a smoker, there are options out there for you and I can help with finding the best for your needs. Transamerica provides an extremely flexible and diverse product line up, including term, whole life, universal life, variable life, final expense, and accidental death. This, coupled with the company's excellent customer support team can make for a nice mix – especially for customers who may need assistance in figuring out the details in terms of how much to purchase and what type of coverage may be best for their specific needs.
In addition, Transamerica's policies also come with a nice assortment of riders – which can make their plans even more customizable. For example, the firm offers an estate protection rider that can help in protecting loved ones from estate tax obligations that may arise from the payment of the policy's own death benefit.
The company's website provides additional information on both policies and policy riders so that interested potential applicants can obtain more information on how these may work in their specific scenario.
Yet, even with all of the good, there are some considerations that should be taken into account when searching for coverage – especially when doing so through just one single insurer. This is especially the case if you have certain health issues and / or you possess other factors that may deem you as being a higher risk applicant. This may lead you to need to look into a company that offers no medical exam life insurance policies.
In these cases – or in any case – it is always good to do some comparison shopping. Otherwise, you are essentially “locked in” to whatever price the insurer presents you with. This can be somewhat similar to only going to one car dealer or one computer dealer when shopping for these items, and never even checking prices elsewhere before moving forward with your ultimate purchase. With this in mind, regardless of how good the product, it always makes good sense to shop around first.
How and Where to Get the Best Life Insurance Coverage for Your Needs
When you're in the process of searching for the best life insurance coverage – regardless of your current health condition or status – it is important that you compare the type of policies that are available to you, as well as the premium cost from different carriers. This is because there could be a significant variation between one insurer and another – even for the very same type and amount of coverage.
Shopping for life insurance is typically best carried out through an agency or company that has access to more than just one insurer, this is true for other covers of insurance as well such as auto insurance and health insurance. This is because your application can be “shopped” to many different carriers in order to obtain the very best coverage and premium rate for your specific needs. To help you with this I have partnered with a top life insurance agency who will shop all the best rated companies for you and deliver your customized quotes.
If you are ready to start searching for a policy that will work for you and those you love, You can get started by using the form on this page. The form will take your information and provide you with a set of quotes. If you have any special considerations our partner, Root Financial, will be in touch with you to help run more detailed quotes that meet your needs. They work with the best carriers in the market place today, and can get you all of the important information that you need quickly and easily – directly from your home computer – without the need to ever meet in person with an agent.
I understand that the purchase of life insurance can be a big decision – and knowing the insurance company that will be protecting your loved ones is essential to making that decision. So, contact us today – we're here to help.
