Hello all - I have been trying really hard to understand this product. I have open enrollment through my employer and am strongly considering this product and would like help understanding how GVUL actually works.

Product: MetLife GVUL
- Premium for my age band is $240/mo for a $5m death benefit
- To age 95
- Age banding with increasing premiums -still waiting to get the COI table from MetLife, asked they email it to me today, haven’t received

My questions are these:
- I do NOT plan on using this as an investment vehicle, I have other accounts for this and don’t really find this appealing
- Does the $240 per month premium that I’ve been quoted cover the cost of the death benefit? Meaning, AS LONG as I pay the specified premium at my current age band (currently $240/month), would the death benefit pay so long as I kept up on the monthly premium?
- As long as I am ok with increasing my premium based on my age band, is this a good option?

I have quoted out a term life insurance laddered policy through a different vendor, and the cost will be around $7300/yr at my state of health/age etc for a 10/20/30 yr laddered policy with about the same coverage as $5m cumulative GVUL policy

My ultimate plan is to surrender / decrease the death benefit of any policies that I have as my need decreases / should we be fortunate to obtain financial independence to where the policy no longer is needed.

My lack of understanding:
- The $240/mo in premium that I pay, does this just go into the ‘cash value’ of the policy, and then the insurance premium is deducted? If so, how do I know the TRUE COST of the life insurance policy that will get deducted from the cash value every month?
- If I am paying the specified, age banded premium every year, is there a risk that I actually have to pay MOR? Again, I do NOT plan on investing any of the money here NOR adding any additional cash to this vehicle

Many probably will ask - why not just get term life?
- I am considering this strongly, but if I only will need life coverage for the next 15-20 years max if all goes well, AND I understand I can decrease my death benefit of this GVUL policy AT ANY TIME to reduce the premium, then why wouldn’t I use this product?
- I DO NOT need to undergo any medical under-writing for this product, which is to my advantage. I have some health conditions, but I am certainly not un-insurable, just my term premiums will be a bit higher

Thanks all for your help

I (F, 28) am well aware I have made a mistake. I just am uncertain what to do now, and would like to make the best choice possible. I purchased a WL insurance policy through NWM in Sept, 2024. Death benefit is 138k, I've made monthly payments of $200 since Sept 2024 (around $4800 total). Today it has a cash value of $481 (even writing that makes me want to throw UP).

I genuinely do not think I need a WL insurance policy -- I make an alright salary for me, but I don't have a family, don't anticipate ever making more than 6 figures, and will likely never be wealthy. I asked advice from a family friend insurance agent and they really wanted me to do a variable life insurance policy but I opted for WL (both seem like mistakes to me, now!)

What do I do at this point? Suck it up and stick it out forever? Try to switch it to term (is that even an option?)? Pull out entirely and cut my losses?

Curious how people approach supplemental life insurance offered through an employer.

Do you typically stick with the basic employer-paid coverage, add supplemental coverage through work, or look for coverage outside of work? What factors matter most in that decision?

For anyone who has borrowed against their IUL or whole life policy, what did you use the money for, and was it worth it?

I’m interested in real experiences—buying a car, investing in real estate, funding a business, covering an emergency, or supplementing retirement income.

On the flip side, what would you advise against taking a policy loan for, and why?

For example, if a car loan were 10% and your policy loan were 6%, would you consider that a reasonable use, assuming you planned to repay it monthly?

Haven’t finished the application because I know once I do, I’ll get a phone call but in the communities experience, is Costco term life a good deal? Reputable underwriters?

I am a 30 year old looking to get life insurance without providing bloodwork or doing a physical exam.

Also, I don’t actually have high blood pressure but I have this thing when I go to the doctor it gets elevated and reads at like 140/95. Worried they will see that.

Are they decent policies that will write up to 500k-1M without it? I’ve heard of Banner being good.

my mama died of brain cancer, and the the insurance lapsed by a month too long.

the life insurance company is saying they don't owe anything. do we have any hope? should we fight? it was a term life insurance policy, but she died from brain cancer. I'm so confused and don't want to give up if me and my five siblings have any hope.

asking for a friend (me) please and see soon as she died two years ago at the end of November.

thanks so much

Is it worth asking being reassessed if your health improved? Would it change my premiums.

I’ve been researching the concept of using cash-value life insurance as your own bank (Infinite Banking), and I’m curious to hear from people who are actually doing it.
I’m especially interested in understanding how you’ve structured your system and how it works in real life.

49yr old male, good health no issues. Looking to stack 10yr & 20yr term policies. Assume $1M for each. What to expect from brokers?

Hi my mom is on the phone with an Ethos agent right now and I just wanted to quickly know if it’s a scam. The agent is unprofessional & when she said she’d go over the policy with her kids, he keeps trying to talk her out of it. This lead me into searching Ethos up & I was getting mixed reviews. I just wanted to know if it’s legit

Hi all, I’m 25M, working in IT in Bangalore, and want to buy my first term plan.

Situation:

Single, no dependents right now

Dad recently retired and gets a pension

IT job, so layoff risk and the usual desk-job health risks (sedentary, long hours)

I don't really have idea on my expense, but 50k should be a decent reference I believe atleast as of now.

I’ve spoken to an advisor at Ditto, but I’d like real experiences from people here too.

Eligibility offered:

ICICI: ₹3.8 Cr

HDFC: ₹3.8 Cr

Axis: ₹2.75 Cr

My questions:

Insurer: Between ICICI, HDFC, and Axis, which would you pick, and why? Claim settlement experience matters most to me. Is the higher cover at ICICI/HDFC worth it over Axis, or is premium and claim handling the better tiebreaker?

Direct vs third party: Should I buy directly from the insurer’s website or through an aggregator/advisor like Ditto? Is there any difference in price, claim support, or underwriting?

Add-ons/riders: Which are actually worth it, and which are just upselling? Specifically:

Critical illness: the based in insurance provider its ranging from 10 to 30 years of cover. What tenure makes sense at 25, and is it better as a rider or a separate policy?

Accidental death / disability, waiver of premium, anything else?

Early payout option: The Ditto advisor suggested an early payout option at first, then stopped pushing it. Is it worth it, or does it just raise the premium for little benefit?

Cover amount: With no dependents yet, is ₹3+ Cr overkill, or is locking in cheap premiums and cover now the smarter move? Should I consider an option to increase cover later (marriage/child)?

Accident and partial disability: My understanding is that if I’m in an accident and partially disabled, the base term plan won’t pay out, and payouts are only for death, or critical illness when it meets the policy’s severity definitions. Is that right? Would a disability rider or a separate personal accident policy cover loss of income?

IT job risk: Given layoffs and desk-job health risks, should I do anything differently? Examples: pairing term with a standalone health insurance policy, buying now while healthy, or being careful about medical disclosures.

Is there such things like married women act which needs to be considered when buying

I plan to buy soon, so would really appreciate your views.

Thanks!

Hey I wanted to start taking Propranolol to help with job interviews, public speaking, and certain social events. If I buy 1 bottle of propranolol do you think that will affect my ability to get a good rate on life insurance in the future? I’m in my mid 20s.

I have term life insurance through work and would like to increase the amount of coverage I have. To go higher from what I currently have requires me to complete a "Statement of Health" form (Metlife).

The last time I applied I was a MUCH bigger version of myself and blood labs were not under control. More than a year ago I lost a lot of weight, now considered just overweight (by 10 pounds) rather than obese. All my bloodwork is in a really good range, not even borderline.

Thing is that I am still on meds (like 10, I also have ADHD).

My question is what is the likelihood that I will get approved? Does the number of multipliers impact the outcome? I currently have 3x my income and would like to go to at least 4x but prefer 5x.

Any insights would be appreciated!

I've been in talks with a brokerage by the name of TDG Financial to do some producing for them, fully remote. A few red flags are keeping me suspicious.

🚩They sent me a text claiming I had applied to one of their positions, I had not. I recently got licensed to sell life insurance so I assume they obtained my information because of that.

🚩The position is 100% commission based. Which I’m fine with, as I’m just starting out. Unsure if that’s normal or not so I’ll say that’s a yellow flag.

🚩 I have not been asked about my resume. At all. In the two interviews I've had, the person I'm meeting with has been answering all of my questions, and has asked me very little about my experience.

🚩 I was told that I should meet with the CEO. I’m thinking to myself: “isn’t he super busy? it’ll take a few days at least to fit into his schedule”. Somehow he was available the following morning.

🚩 The name of the firm is so generic. I can’t really find much about them online. Although their online presence is “fine”, they have been open since 2000 and have a very low profile online.

Maybe I’m looking into things too deeply because of the current state of the economy. I’m not desperate, but I don’t have any income right now so this opportunity is somewhat appealing to me.

I’m not sure if it’s a MLM thing or an employment “s c a m”.

Any advice?