Is Midland National a Good Insurance Company?

Midland National Life Insurance Company is one of the more widely recognized carriers in the independent insurance and annuity marketplace — and for good reason. The company holds an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, an A+ (Strong) rating from S&P Global Ratings, and an A+ Stable rating from Fitch. Midland National has held A+ rated status from AM Best continuously since 1980 — a 45-year track record of maintaining the top tier of financial strength ratings. It operates as a member of Sammons Financial Group, one of the largest privately held financial services organizations in the United States, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa.

But the real question isn’t whether Midland National is a credible carrier — it is. The real question is whether a specific Midland National product, at a specific point in time, is the right fit for your objective, your timeline, and your state. That’s a fundamentally different question, and it’s the one that actually determines outcomes. At Diversified Insurance Brokers, we help clients evaluate Midland National the right way — at the contract level, comparing specific products to equivalent alternatives from 100+ carriers — so you can make a decision based on facts rather than brand recognition alone. If you want broad market context before narrowing your focus, our current annuity rates page shows what today’s most competitive carriers are offering across term lengths and product types.

The Right Way to Evaluate Any Insurance Company

“Good” means different things depending on what you’re buying. If you’re shopping an annuity, the quality test is largely contractual: how competitive are the guarantees today, how restrictive is the surrender schedule, what are the free withdrawal rules, and how stable are the renewal terms for indexed crediting strategies? If you’re shopping life insurance, the evaluation includes underwriting philosophy, pricing competitiveness for your age and health profile, policy flexibility, and long-term service experience. A carrier can be outstanding for one category — like a specific annuity term length — and average for another. The smartest approach is to evaluate Midland National at the product level rather than making a blanket assumption that the “best carrier” is the same for every objective.

Midland National is commonly associated with the Sammons Financial Group family of companies and competes most visibly in the annuity market — particularly fixed indexed annuities (FIAs) and multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGAs) — while also offering life insurance solutions. This structure matters because product competitiveness can vary by state and by product cycle. When our advisors compare Midland National to alternatives, we start by clarifying your target outcome: are you prioritizing guaranteed accumulation, predictable income, principal protection, legacy protection, or a blend? Then we match the product style to the goal. That conversation naturally includes fixed-rate MYGAs, fixed indexed annuities, and sometimes income annuities depending on the retirement timeline and risk preference.

Midland National Financial Ratings: What They Actually Mean

Most people start with ratings because they want reassurance that the carrier will honor long-term promises. That’s reasonable — but ratings alone don’t select the best annuity or life insurance policy for your situation. The more useful way to apply ratings is as a screening tool: confirm the carrier clears a stability threshold, then move to the contract features that actually drive your results.

Midland National clears that threshold decisively. Here is what the ratings actually say as of 2025:

AM Best: A+ (Superior) — This is the second-highest rating of 15 possible categories. AM Best has rated Midland National A+ continuously since 1980 — 45 uninterrupted years in the superior tier. AM Best evaluates financial strength, operating performance, and ability to meet policyholder obligations.

S&P Global Ratings: A+ (Strong) — This is the fifth-highest rating of 22 possible categories. S&P evaluates insurer financial strength and claims-paying ability. The rating reflects Sammons Financial Group’s strong business profile, low financial leverage, very strong statutory capitalization, and strong operating profitability.

Fitch Ratings: A+ Stable — This is the fifth-highest rating of 19 possible categories. Fitch awarded the Insurer Financial Strength rating to Midland National with a stable outlook.

The practical takeaway: Midland National carries top-tier ratings from all three major agencies — AM Best, S&P, and Fitch — with the same A+ designation from each, all affirmed within the past 12 months. That is a strong and consistent financial strength signal. It means Midland National has the capitalization and operating performance to meet long-duration policyholder obligations — which is precisely what matters for annuities and life insurance contracts designed to perform over decades.

However, even a carrier with perfect ratings can offer a specific annuity with a surrender schedule, renewal structure, or indexed crediting design that doesn’t fit your timeline or liquidity needs. That’s why the contract details matter equally to the company name, and why professional comparison across carriers is the appropriate decision-making process.

Midland National Product Lineup: What They’re Known For

Midland National competes across two major product categories — annuities and life insurance — with the annuity segment representing their highest-profile presence in the independent distribution market.

Fixed Indexed Annuities (FIAs) are the product category most closely associated with Midland National in the independent advisor channel. FIAs credit interest based on the performance of a market index — commonly the S&P 500 — subject to caps, participation rates, or spreads that determine how much of the index’s upside the contract captures. The defining feature is a floor of zero: the contract does not participate in index losses, so a negative year for the index produces no loss to the annuity’s account value. FIAs are designed for people who want principal protection with the potential for index-linked growth — more upside potential than a fixed-rate MYGA, but with less certainty than a guaranteed rate structure. Many FIA contracts also offer optional income riders that can help frame lifetime income planning, though riders add cost and complexity that must be evaluated carefully. Our annuities hub explains how FIAs work across the major structural variations.

Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs) are Midland National’s simpler and more straightforward annuity offering. A MYGA credits a fixed interest rate for a defined term — commonly 3, 5, 7, or 10 years — providing the predictability of a guaranteed rate with tax deferral advantages over the same period. MYGAs are frequently compared to CDs and treasury instruments because the outcome is known in advance: if you deposit a specific premium at a specific rate for a specific term and hold the contract to maturity, the accumulation result is calculable from day one. The key comparison points are rate competitiveness, surrender schedule terms, free withdrawal provisions, and renewal rate guarantees at the end of the initial term. Our current annuity rates page shows how Midland’s MYGA terms compare against the broader market in real time.

Life Insurance is Midland National’s second major product category. Midland competes in term life, universal life, and indexed universal life (IUL) segments depending on the state and product cycle. For consumers comparing Midland for life insurance, the evaluation includes underwriting philosophy, rate competitiveness for your specific age and health profile, and whether permanent cash-value designs align with your long-term planning objectives. The “best” Midland life product for one person may not be the best fit for another — which is why comparing across carriers using identical assumptions is the appropriate methodology.

Midland National Pros and Cons: How They Typically Compare

Midland National is often evaluated positively for having a broad annuity menu, a long-standing presence in the independent advisor channel, and the financial strength of a top-rated carrier that has been in business since 1906. That combination can translate into competitive options in certain product cycles — particularly for consumers who want principal protection and structured guarantees with a carrier whose ratings they can trust over a long contract period.

At the same time, annuity competitiveness is not permanent. Caps, participation rates, spreads, and rider terms can shift over time, and state availability can differ. That means the best Midland contract for one person in one state and one product cycle may not be the best fit for another — especially if timelines, liquidity needs, or income objectives differ. The most common advantages of Midland National in the annuity market are access to a variety of product styles, the ability to structure around accumulation or income objectives, and the credibility that comes with holding A+ ratings from all three major rating agencies. The most common trade-offs are typical of the annuity category: surrender schedules can limit early liquidity, income riders add cost that must be offset by rider performance, and indexed crediting terms can change at renewal. None of those items are automatically negative — but they need to be acceptable for your specific strategy.

One of the most reliable ways to make a confident decision is to compare Midland National to a small set of similar carriers using identical assumptions: same term length, same premium band, same surrender schedule length, and similar rider structure. That makes the differences that actually matter visible — net effect of fees, withdrawal flexibility, and how each contract behaves under your expected use pattern. When our advisors run these comparisons, we keep them apples-to-apples so you’re evaluating meaningful distinctions rather than comparing a 7-year contract to a 10-year contract and wondering why the rates differ.

When Midland National May Be a Strong Fit

Midland National can be a strong consideration when its products are competitively priced relative to equivalent alternatives in your state, and when the contract terms align with how you plan to use the funds over your specific time horizon. Several scenarios where Midland commonly competes well:

Principal protection with index-linked growth potential. Consumers who want a floor of zero — no market-loss participation — but want more upside potential than a fixed-rate MYGA provides often find FIAs compelling. When Midland’s indexed crediting terms are competitive in the current product cycle for your state, their FIA lineup can offer a meaningful combination of protection and growth opportunity.

Guaranteed accumulation for a defined period. If your priority is predictable, tax-deferred growth for a set number of years — similar to how a CD works but with tax deferral and potentially higher rates — a MYGA from Midland can be a clean, straightforward solution. The key is confirming that the rate is truly competitive for the term length and premium band you’re considering, and that the surrender schedule and free withdrawal provisions are acceptable for your liquidity plan.

Income planning with a rider structure. If your priority is guaranteed lifetime income, the conversation may include FIAs with income riders, depending on your age, liquidity needs, and whether you want to preserve principal access for beneficiaries. Midland offers income rider options on certain FIA products, though the economics of any rider — the annual cost, the roll-up rate on the income benefit base, and the payout percentage — must be evaluated against rider-free alternatives to determine which approach produces the better long-term outcome for your specific situation.

Long-term legacy and life insurance planning. Midland’s life insurance offerings can be relevant when permanent coverage, cash value accumulation, or indexed universal life design is the objective. Underwriting competitiveness for your health profile and the policy’s long-term performance assumptions both require comparison against alternatives before any commitment is made.

How We Compare Midland National to Other Carriers

Our comparison process starts with the outcome you want. If the objective is accumulation, we focus on guaranteed rate strength, surrender schedule alignment, and free withdrawal features. If the objective is income, we focus on payout factors, rider roll-up and payout mechanics, and how the contract performs over time — not just the first-year illustration. We also confirm whether any Midland product available in your state is currently competitive against equivalent offerings from other highly rated carriers. The answer changes by product cycle, which is why we run live comparisons rather than relying on historical impressions of which carrier tends to be competitive.

We also coordinate annuity choices with broader retirement decisions, especially when timing and income sequencing matters. Someone mapping annuity income alongside Social Security timing may benefit from reviewing how delayed claiming affects lifetime benefits — our guide to delayed retirement credits and Social Security payout increases provides context that often affects income planning decisions in meaningful ways. If you are building a retirement paycheck strategy, our lifetime income planning page explains how people commonly structure guaranteed income, how to think about longevity risk, and why product selection should be tied to cash flow needs rather than chasing a single rate or feature.

Bottom Line: Should You Choose Midland National?

Midland National is a financially strong, long-established carrier holding A+ ratings from AM Best, S&P, and Fitch — all affirmed within the past 12 months. It is a credible and widely used carrier in the independent annuity and life insurance market, and it can be an excellent choice when its current product offerings are competitively priced and aligned with your specific planning objective.

The most reliable way to decide is not to rely on brand recognition or generic reviews — it’s to compare the specific Midland product you’re considering against a small set of equivalent alternatives using the same assumptions: same premium, same term, same surrender schedule length, similar rider structure. If Midland wins on rate, flexibility, or contract clarity for your situation, it’s worth pursuing. If another carrier offers a better overall fit for your objective, you’ll want to know that before committing to a contract that may run for 7 to 10 years or longer. We do that comparison work for clients every day — and the answer is different for different people.