Lincoln Financial life insurance review: Affordable rates

Lincoln Financial is one of our top-rated life insurance companies for its affordable rates and favorable underwriting for many health conditions.

Headshot of Logan Sachon
Headshot of Jessica Sillers

By

Logan SachonSenior Managing Editor, Life Insurance & ResearchLogan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.&Jessica SillersContributing WriterJessica Sillers is a contributing writer at Policygenius who specializes in life insurance. Her writing as also appeared in Business Insider, Prudential, Haven Life, Fabric by Gerber Life, MoneyGeek, Credit Sesame, and elsewhere.

Edited by

Adam MorganAdam MorganEditorial DirectorAdam Morgan is an editorial director at Policygenius who leads the life insurance and annuities team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.

Updated|2 min read

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2024 Policygenius award winner

Lincoln Financial

Lincoln Financial logo

Policygenius rating

Our proprietary ratings methodology takes multiple factors into account, including customer satisfaction, cost, financial strength, and policy offerings. See the “Ratings methodology” section for more details.
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4.8

AM Best rating

AM Best is a global credit rating agency that scores the financial strength of insurance companies on a scale from A++ (Superior) to D (Poor).

A

Cost

Using a mix of internal and external rate data, we grade the cost of each insurance company's premiums on a scale from least expensive ($) to most expensive ($$$$$).

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$

$

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Policygenius awards

  • Best life insurance for pre-existing conditions 2023

The bottom line

Lincoln Financial is an excellent life insurance company with affordable premium rates across age groups and risk classifications. It also offers competitive rates for people with a variety of health conditions and is our top pick for marijuana users.

Pros

  • Affordable rates

  • Good for many existing health conditions, including depression, stroke, and heart conditions

  • Good for marijuana users, including daily users

Cons

  • Term life not available in New York

Basic coverages offered

  • Term life insurance: Lincoln LifeElements® is Lincoln Financial’s traditional term life insurance policy. It’s available for people age 18 to 80 in terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years, with coverage amounts starting at $250,000 and up to $60 million with financial justification.

  • No-medical-exam term life insurance: Lincoln TermAccel® is Lincoln Financial’s no-med-exam policy, available to qualifying applicants age 18 to 60. Coverage is available in amounts from $100,000 to $2,500,000 in terms of 10, 15, 20, or 30 years. (Note: This product is not currently available through the Policygenius marketplace.)

  • Indexed universal life insurance: Lincoln Financial has three indexed universal life insurance products: Lincoln WeathAccumulate® 2 IUL, Lincoln WeathPreserve®2 IUL, and Lincoln WealthPreserve® Survivorship IUL. (Note: These products are not available through the Policygenius marketplace.)

  • Variable universal life insurance products: Lincoln Financial has a number of variable universal life products available, including Lincoln VUL ONE, Lincoln AssetEdge® VUL, Lincoln AssetEdge® Exec VUL, and Lincoln SVUL ONE, a survivorship policy. (Note: These products are not available through the Policygenius marketplace.)

Additional coverages offered

  • Accelerated benefits rider: Included in Lincoln Financial's term policies, an accelerated death benefits rider allows you to access a portion of the death penalty if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

  • Children’s level term insurance rider: For an extra cost, Lincoln Financial's child rider provides up to $15,000 life insurance coverage per child.

  • Waiver of premium rider: For an extra cost, a waiver of premium rider waives premium payments during a period of disability.

Ratings methodology

Price

5.0/5

Our price rating scale looks at the average cost of life insurance for a sample 20-year term policy with a $1 million coverage for a 35-year-old female non-smoker with a Standard Plus (or Standard if no Standard Plus is available) risk classification, the rating an insurance company gives you that determines your rates. The quote we got from Lincoln Financial Life puts it in the least expensive category for our rating system.

Customer experience

4.9/5

Lincoln Financial earned an excellent score on our customer experience scale. We determine customer experience by assessing how many complaints a company gets compared to the industry average, based on data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) complaint index. The average is set at 1.00, with lower scores being better. Lincoln Financial scored 0.31, which means it receives almost 70% fewer complaints than expected for a company of its size.

Transparency

4.1/5

Lincoln Financial offers a phone and email contact on its website. The company provides information about term lengths and the coverage amounts you can find in a policy, and even displays financial strength ratings from A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s. Lincoln Financial could earn more points in our transparency scale by publishing premium rate info or adding even more contact options, but the company offers a solid collection of information.

Financial strength

3.9/5

Organizations like A.M. Best, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), and Moody’s rate companies' financial strength. We use a weighted combination of these ratings to calculate our financial strength rating for an insurance provider.

Lincoln Financial earned an A from A.M. Best, an A1 from Moody’s, and an A+ from S&P. These ratings mean the company has an excellent ability to meet its obligations and low credit risk.

A closer look at Lincoln Financial life insurance

Who is Lincoln Financial best for?

Lincoln Financial is an excellent option for almost anyone applying for term life insurance, but especially people who have certain health conditions. its rates are competitive for people with conditions like arthritis, some forms of cancer, heart conditions, diabetes, mental health conditions, or stroke. 

What makes Lincoln Financial unique?

Lincoln Financial is our pick for the best life insurance company for people with pre-existing conditions. It's also our top pick for people with depression or people who are in remission from breast cancer, as well as our top choice for daily marijuana users seeking a life insurance policy.

Finally, Lincoln Financial earns our top recommendation for term life insurance for high-net worth individuals, thanks to coverage amounts as high as $60 million, depending on your income and assets.

Who should consider a different life insurance company?

While Lincoln Financial is our top recommendation for life insurance policies for green card holders, it has almost no options available for non-U.S. citizens who don’t have a green card.

Also, Lincoln Financial doesn’t consider unearned income for financial justification. That means assets like investments, a pension, social security income (SSI), or disability payments wouldn’t factor toward the income calculation the company uses to establish how much coverage it will offer you.

Expert opinions on Lincoln Financial

"Lincoln Financial is one of our top picks for many people who have pre-existing conditions, including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, mental health diagnoses, and stroke. It also offers especially competitive rates for applicants in their 40s and 50s." Eloise Spinello, licensed life insurance specialist at Policygenius

Lincoln Financial life insurance rates

The chart below shows average monthly premium prices for a 20-year term life insurance policy with $500,000 in coverage for non-smokers in a Preferred health classification; quotes are based on the Policygenius Life Insurance Price Index methodology.

Age/sex

Lincoln Financial average

Industry average

25-year-old female

$22.41

$21.08

25-year-old male

$27.95

$26.90

35-year-old female

$27.43

$25.58

35-year-old male

$32.49

$30.34

45-year-old female

$45.64

$47.86

45-year-old male

$58.41

$60.76

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Lincoln Financial history, reputation, and social responsibility

Lincoln Financial was founded in 1905 as Lincoln National Life Insurance Company. Its solid financial foundation quickly stood apart from the competition; of the 55 insurers founded in 1905, only 11 survived the Great Depression. At the time, Lincoln’s $1 billion of life insurance in force was more than the other 10 combined. [1]

In 2006, Lincoln Financial acquired the Jefferson-Pilot Corporation, expanding to offer disability, group life, and dental insurance divisions and becoming one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S. It is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania. [2]

Lincoln Financial is among just 8.8% of the Fortune 500 companies who have a female CEO. In fact, when Ellen G. Cooper became CEO in May 2022, Lincoln Financial became the 44th company on the list to have a female CEO, a new record. [3]

The company’s 2021 Corporate Social Responsibility Report details the ways in which Lincoln Financial has committed to a variety of environment, social, and governance (ESG) goals. The company’s recent accomplishments include contributing $9.5 million to nonprofit partners, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and following a racial justice action plan that includes committing to diversity in leadership. [4]

Lincoln Financial in the news

  • In December 2022, Newsweek named Lincoln Financial to its list of America’s Most Responsible Companies for its work toward its ESG goals. (Newsweek)

  • In November 2022, Lincoln Financial released results from a survey that found that while nearly half of Americans are adult caregivers, fewer than 20% have planned for their own care. (InsuranceNewsNet)

  • In July 2022, Lincoln Financial was named one of America’s Best Employers for Women by Forbes. (Forbes)

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Lincoln Financial vs. other companies

Compare Lincoln Financial to similar life insurance companies using the table below.

Company

Policygenius rating

AM Best rating

Cost

Lincoln Financial

4.8/5

A

$

State Farm

5.0/5

A++

$

Legal & General America

4.9/5

A+

$

MassMutual

4.9/5

A++

$$$

Pacific Life

4.8/5

A+

$

Protective

4.8/5

A+

$

Corebridge Financial

4.6/5

A

$

New York Life

4.6/5

A++

$$

Transamerica

4.6/5

A

$

Guardian

4.5/5

A++

$$

Thrivent

4.5/5

A+

$$

Symetra

4.3/5

A

$$

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References

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Policygenius uses external sources, including government data, industry studies, and reputable news organizations to supplement proprietary marketplace data and internal expertise. Learn more about how we use and vet external sources as part of oureditorial standards.

  1. Lincoln Financial

    . "

    A story of integrity

    ." Accessed December 21, 2022.

  2. Insurance Journal

    . "

    Lincoln National to Buy Jefferson Pilot for $7.5 Billion

    ." Accessed December 21, 2022.

  3. Fortune

    . "

    The number of women running Fortune 500 companies reaches a record high

    ." Accessed December 20, 2022.

  4. Lincoln Financial

    . "

    Corporate responsibility

    ." Accessed December 20, 2022.

Authors

Logan Sachon is a former senior managing editor of life insurance and research at Policygenius. As a journalist, her work has appeared in The Guardian, Business Insider, CNN Money, BuzzFeed, Money Under 30, VICE, New York Magazine, and elsewhere.

Jessica Sillers is a contributing writer at Policygenius who specializes in life insurance. Her writing as also appeared in Business Insider, Prudential, Haven Life, Fabric by Gerber Life, MoneyGeek, Credit Sesame, and elsewhere.

Editor

Adam Morgan is an editorial director at Policygenius who leads the life insurance and annuities team. Previously, he led editorial teams matrixed across multiple financial publications at Red Ventures — including Bankrate, NextAdvisor, Million Mile Secrets, and others. As a journalist, his work has appeared in Esquire, Scientific American, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.

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