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Regulators and Laws guides
AI regulation in insurance: Colorado, the NAIC bulletin and New YorkHow regulators govern insurers' use of AI and outside data in life underwriting: Colorado's rules, the NAIC model bulletin, and New York's 2024 circular letter.Best interest rules for annuity salesWhat the NAIC annuity best interest model (#275) requires of agents and insurers, how states adopted it, how Reg BI and New York differ, and what to ask.Careers in life insurance: agents, underwriters and actuariesWhat life insurance agents, underwriters and actuaries do, what they earn and how each job is changing, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 outlook.How to check that an insurance agent is licensedStep-by-step: verify an agent's license with the NAIC lookup, your state insurance department, NIPR and, for securities, FINRA BrokerCheck.Closed blocks: what happens to policies a company stops sellingTwo uses of the term: the pool protecting dividends after a demutualization, and run-off policies an insurer no longer sells. How each works and what it means.Corporate- and bank-owned life insurance (COLI and BOLI)What COLI and BOLI are, why employers buy them, the notice-and-consent rule (IRC 101(j), Form 8925), IRC 264 interest limits, and bank regulator oversight.Community property states and life insuranceHow community property law in nine states can give a spouse a claim to life insurance bought with marital earnings, even when someone else is the beneficiary.Cost-of-insurance lawsuits against life insurers: cases and outcomesWhy policyholders sue over universal life cost-of-insurance increases, with documented verdicts and settlements and the status of the Lincoln case.Do life insurers check your credit?Some life insurers use credit-based mortality scores in underwriting under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What they are, what they are not, and your rights.Can creditors take life insurance money?Most states shield life insurance paid to a named beneficiary from the insured's creditors, but not if the estate is named. Cash value rules vary by state.Cross-purchase vs entity-redemption buy-sell plansCompare cross-purchase and entity-redemption buy-sell plans on policies, cost, basis step-up, creditors and estate tax, including the 2024 Connelly ruling.Demutualization: when a mutual insurer goes publicHow a policyholder-owned mutual becomes a stock company, what policyholders received, and the 2000-2001 wave: MetLife, John Hancock, Principal, Prudential.The DOL fiduciary rule and annuity sales: where it stands in 2026The 2024 Retirement Security Rule never took effect and was removed from the federal rulebook in 2026. What that means for annuity and rollover advice today.Embedded life insurance: coverage at checkoutHow life insurance sold inside banking, lending and other apps works, who actually issues the policy and what to check before accepting an offer.Estate liquidity: paying taxes and debts without a fire saleWhy estates rich in property but short on cash are forced to sell, what bills come due after a death, and how life insurance and other tools supply the cash.Divorce and your ex as beneficiary: revocation-on-divorce lawsWhether divorce removes your ex as life insurance beneficiary depends on state law, the type of policy and your decree. Compares Texas, Florida and the UPC.AM Best, S&P, Moody's and Fitch ratings explainedHow the four insurer financial strength rating scales work, what each letter means, what a rating cannot tell you, and how to look up and read one.Genetic testing and life insurance: what insurers can askGINA does not cover life insurance, so state law decides. What insurers can ask, how Florida's 2020 law differs, and what to do before you test.Gift tax and life insurance premiumsWhen paying premiums or transferring a policy is a gift, how the 2026 $19,000 annual exclusion and $15 million exemption apply, and when to file Form 709.The Goodman triangle: an expensive ownership mistakeWhat happens when the owner, insured and beneficiary of a life policy are three different people: a possible gift of the full death benefit, and how to fix it.How annuities are taxedAnnuity earnings grow tax-deferred and are taxed as ordinary income at payout; rules differ for qualified, non-qualified, early and inherited annuities.How cash value is taxed: withdrawals, loans and surrendersCash value grows tax-deferred. Withdrawals are tax-free up to your premiums paid, loans usually are not income, and a surrender above basis is taxable income.How life insurance companies make moneyThe five profit sources of a life insurer (spread, mortality, fees, expenses, lapses), a hypothetical example, and how mutual and stock companies differ.How life insurance is regulated in the U.S.States regulate life insurers under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. What state regulators check, where federal agencies step in, and how it protects you.How life insurers invest your premiumsWhere life insurers put premium dollars: NAIC year-end 2025 data on bonds, mortgages and private assets, plus what it means for the safety of your policy.How to file a complaint against a life insurerStep-by-step: go to the insurer first, then your state insurance department. What to gather, what to write, what happens next and what a complaint can't do.Group life over $50,000 and imputed incomeEmployer group term life above $50,000 creates taxable imputed income. How the IRS Table I math works for 2026, a worked example, and what appears on your W-2.Insurable interest: who can buy life insurance on whomInsurable interest is the family or financial tie that lets you insure someone else's life. Who qualifies, when it must exist, and the consent rule.Interest on late life insurance claimsMany states make insurers add interest to late death benefits, some from the date of death, some with penalty rates. How the rules work and how to check yours.Irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs)An ILIT owns your policy so the death benefit stays out of your taxable estate. How it works, Crummey gifts, the three-year rule, costs and who needs one.Is life insurance taxable?Death benefits are usually free of federal income tax, but interest, estate tax, policy sales, cash value gains and some transfers can create a tax bill.IUL illustrations and Actuarial Guideline 49How the NAIC's Actuarial Guideline 49 limits the returns an IUL illustration may show, what changed in 2015, 2020 and 2023, and what it cannot do.Life insurance and the federal estate taxDeath benefits are included in your taxable estate if you own the policy or it pays your estate (IRC §2042). How the 2026 $15 million exemption applies.Life insurance class actions: documented cases and what they paidDocumented life insurance and annuity class actions with sources and outcomes, plus how to handle a settlement notice, opt out, or check that one is real.Privacy and your life insurance data: who sees it and your rightsWhat data life insurers collect, which privacy laws apply (not HIPAA), how to get your MIB and prescription reports, and what to do after a data breach.The free-look period: returning a policy for a refundA free-look period lets you return a new life policy for a refund, commonly 10 to 30 days. State examples, what is refunded and how to use it.Using life insurance in an estate planThe jobs life insurance does in an estate plan, from income replacement to paying estate taxes, and the ownership choices that decide whether it helps.Life insurance industry trends to watchSeven trends reshaping U.S. life insurance in 2026: record annuity and life sales, private-equity ownership, block deals, a big merger, and tighter oversight.Jobs in life insurance: hiring, layoffs and automationWhere life insurance jobs are shrinking or growing and how automation is changing underwriting, claims and sales, using BLS and industry survey data.Life insurance laws and regulations that changed in 2026Dated list of enacted or adopted 2026 changes for life insurance buyers: estate tax, DOL fiduciary rule, IUL illustrations, lapse notices and AI laws.Life insurance mergers and acquisitionsHow life insurer deals work, the 2022-2026 wave (Corebridge-Equitable, Brighthouse, Banner Life, Resolution Life) and what they mean for policyholders.Life insurance sales trends: who is buyingLIMRA data on record 2025 life sales, the tilt toward whole life and IUL, Q2 2026 results, ownership rates and the coverage gap, and what the figures miss.Life insurance startups and what they changedHow digital life insurance startups like Ethos, Ladder and Bestow changed applications and underwriting, which models survived and what buyers should check.Life insurer failures in U.S. historyFrom Executive Life and Mutual Benefit in 1991 to Penn Treaty and recent long-term care and universal life cases, what failed, why and how policyholders fared.Life insurers and the economy: rates, recessions and marketsHow interest rates, inflation, recessions and market crashes affect life insurers and policyholders, and how insurers in turn fund the economy.Market conduct exams: how regulators audit life insurers and issue finesWhat a market conduct exam covers, how MCAS data and multistate exams work, and documented fines on life insurers in Pennsylvania and Connecticut.Medicaid eligibility and life insurance cash valueHow Medicaid counts life insurance in its asset test: term vs whole life, the $1,500 face-value rule, burial exemptions, the look-back and estate recovery.The MIB report: what insurers know about your historyWhat MIB is, what its coded file contains, how to get your free copy once a year under the FCRA, and how to dispute errors before applying for life insurance.Modified endowment contracts and the 7-pay testA policy funded too fast becomes a MEC under IRC §7702A: loans and withdrawals are taxed gain-first, with a possible 10% penalty. How the 7-pay test works.The NAIC and how insurance rules are writtenThe NAIC is the group of state insurance commissioners that writes model laws, runs accreditation and keeps shared data. What it can and cannot do.The NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator: how to use itHow the free NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator works, who can use it, what to expect after you submit a request, and what it cannot do.Offshore reinsurance and Bermuda: why it matters to policyholdersWhy U.S. life insurers use Bermuda reinsurers, what the Fed, BIS, IMF and NAIC worry about, how Bermuda responds, and what policyholders can check.Preneed funeral insurance and funeral contractsHow prepaid funeral contracts and preneed insurance work, what the FTC Funeral Rule does and does not cover, and the questions to ask before you sign.Principle-based reserving and what it means for pricesHow principle-based reserving (VM-20) replaced formula reserves for new life policies from 2020, and why its effect on your premiums is indirect.Private equity's push into life insuranceWhy investment firms own life insurers and annuity writers, what the Fed, IMF and NAIC worry about, the industry reply, and what policyholders should check.Qualified longevity annuity contracts (QLACs)A QLAC moves IRA or 401(k) money into a deferred income annuity that starts by age 85 and is excluded from RMDs. The 2026 premium limit is $210,000.Reading a life insurer's earnings reportA plain-English guide to life insurer earnings: GAAP vs adjusted income, assumption reviews, spread, RBC ratios and the filings where each number lives.Reinsurance: the insurers behind your insurerHow life reinsurance works, why insurers buy it, who the big reinsurers are and what it means for your policy, with figures from their own 2025 reports.Replacing a life insurance policy: when it makes senseReplacing a policy can save money or fix a poor fit, but it restarts clocks and can cost you coverage. The NAIC replacement rules, the risks and a checklist.Risk-based capital and life insurer solvencyHow the NAIC's risk-based capital formula sets a minimum cushion for life insurers, what its action levels mean, and why an RBC ratio is not a company ranking.Section 162 executive bonus plansHow a Section 162 executive bonus plan works: the employer pays a bonus, the executive owns the policy, and who pays the tax, plus costs and alternatives.Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI)SGLI gives eligible service members up to $500,000 of term life for $26 a month. Who qualifies, family coverage, TSGLI and what happens at separation.Social Security survivor benefits and the $255 death paymentWho gets Social Security survivor benefits, what they pay (71.5-100% for widows, 75% for children), the $255 death payment and the gaps to insure.Split-dollar life insuranceHow split-dollar life insurance works, the two tax regimes under Treas. Reg. 1.61-22 and 1.7872-15, and where it is used in employer and family planning.State estate and inheritance taxes and life insuranceWhich states tax estates or inheritances in 2026, with thresholds, sources and as-of dates, and how life insurance you own can push an estate over a state line.State life and health guaranty associationsEvery state has a guaranty association that pays policyholders when a life insurer fails, up to a limit. How they are funded and what they cover.State insurance departments: what they do for youYour state insurance department licenses insurers and agents, checks insurer finances, reviews policies and takes complaints for free. What to expect from it.Premium taxes and the DAC tax: the taxes inside your premiumStates tax insurers on premiums collected, and the federal DAC tax delays their deductions. How both feed into what you pay, with dated rates.The three-year rule for transferring a policyGive away a life insurance policy and die within three years, and IRC §2035 pulls the death benefit back into your taxable estate. How to plan around it.The transfer-for-value ruleSelling a life insurance policy can make most of its death benefit taxable under IRC §101(a)(2). What counts as a transfer, the exceptions and the traps.Unclaimed life insurance money and state unclaimed propertyHow life insurance proceeds end up in state unclaimed property programs, how to search for them for free, how to claim them and how to avoid finder scams.Variable life insurance and the securities rules that govern itVariable life is both insurance and a security. How SEC registration, the prospectus, FINRA licensing and state insurance law apply, and how to check a seller.Viatical settlements for the terminally or chronically illHow a viatical settlement lets a seriously ill policy owner sell a life insurance policy for cash, how it is regulated and taxed, and what to compare first.Wearables and wellness programs in life insuranceHow programs like John Hancock Vitality reward activity and checkups with premium savings, what data they use and the privacy questions to ask first.What happens if your life insurance company failsHow an insurer insolvency unfolds: rehabilitation or liquidation, what guaranty associations do, whether your policy keeps going and what to do in the meantime.When your life insurance policy is sold to another companyWhat changes and what does not when your insurer is bought, merged, or reinsures your block, with real examples and a checklist for reading the notice.