Can I rollover whole life policy to another company?

Question

I have a 20 year old MONY policy. AXA recently purchased them. AXA called me and suggested I roll over policy to another company to reduce payments. I am 58 and healthy non-smoker.

I have a good death benefit and cash surrender with a loan of $29,000. Premiums are $2,938. and I pay 6 % on the loan.

AXA claims they can roll my policy and make the loan "go away" and reduce my premium to $1,800. per year. The dividends do not seem like they will ever pay the premiums.

What should I do?

Answer 1

No, you'd have to cash it out and start a new policy.  

What they're doing is possibly "churning" the policy.  See, the vast majority of the commission on a life policy is made the FIRST year.  So it's worth the agent's while, to have you keep getting new policies - they'll make A LOT more money that way.

Cash surrender and loan values are a crock.  You're paying interest to the insurance company, for borrowing your own money back.  

What AXA is going to do, is cash out your policy, pay off the loan, and switch you to TERM life insurance.  

What you need to do, is re-evaluate your need for life insurance.   Then you have AXA put their insurance deal in writing - GUARANTEED.  THat means, they do all the underwriting UP FRONT, before you cancel the old policy.

Then you look at what the old policy is costing you, vs. what the new policy is costing you, and figure out if you're going to want insurance when the new policy term is up (likely 10 years).  And if you want insurance in 10 years, you probably stick with the old plan.

Answer 2

Be suspicious.  They're not trying to talk you into this because its good for you - there's a nice commission in it somewhere for someone.

Answer 3

Sweetheart, I have a suspicion the dividends from Mutual of NY won't pay for the policy you have now.  Get an "inforce illustration" to be sure and make sure they include the loan on the inforce illustration.  Make sure you study it carefully and understand it.  

Then compare it to what's available on the open market.  The Axa Network agents I know have a limited number of companies they can access.  Compare what they have to offer with what *at least* one other independent insurance broker can offer.

If you have doubts about what will meet your goals best, a "fee-only financial planner" might be your best bet.  They should be very affordable for a single issue like this.

Good luck

Answer 4

This is called 1035 exchange and you can do it. Be very carefull and make sure you understand all the details. Doing this will create a very nice commission for the agent and may not be good for you. Your existing policy is based on your age 20 years ago, your new policy would be based on your current age.

I can't think of a good reason for you to do this. But I can think of a few thousand $$$ reasons for the agent to.

My Father was convinced to do the same thing and the moved him into a VUL and years later the market crashed (2000) and he lost his life insurance that he had for over 20 years, but the agent made a very nice commission.

Do you have a financial planner? If so they could review the offer for you. Feel free to contact me once you get more details

If someone else can think of a good reason to do this please post.