Is National Western a Good Insurance Company?

National Western Life Insurance Company has been serving policyholders since 1956 — nearly seven decades of operating history that spans multiple interest rate cycles, market disruptions, and economic environments. The company operates across 49 states, DC, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, with one meaningful exception: New York. It holds an AM Best A (Excellent) rating with a stable outlook, and AM Best specifically assessed the balance sheet strength as “strongest” — the highest possible category. That is a genuinely strong foundation. There is one significant recent development worth understanding upfront: in 2024, National Western Life was acquired by Prosperity Life Group (through S. USA Life Insurance Company), and subsequently redomesticated from Texas to Arizona. The acquisition brought the company under new ownership, and the Comdex composite score has declined since the transition — a metric worth watching as the organization settles under the new ownership structure. At Diversified Insurance Brokers, Jason Stolz, CLTC, CRPC, DIA, CAA, evaluates National Western products the same way we evaluate every carrier: against the full market, for your specific objective, term, and income timeline.

Company Snapshot

The 2024 Acquisition: What Changed and What It Means

The most important recent development at National Western Life is the 2024 acquisition by Prosperity Life Group, operating through S. USA Life Insurance Company. This brought National Western — which had operated as an independent publicly traded company (NASDAQ: NWLI) for decades — under new ownership, and the company redomesticated from Texas to Arizona as part of the restructuring. AM Best affirmed the A (Excellent) FSR with a stable outlook through this transition, and explicitly assessed balance sheet strength as “strongest.” That is a meaningful affirmation — AM Best’s “strongest” balance sheet designation is reserved for carriers where risk-adjusted capitalization is at the very top of the scale. The Comdex score, however, declined from approximately 71 to approximately 62 following the acquisition — a noteworthy drop that reflects changes in the cross-agency composite. Prosperity Life Group is a private financial services holding company, which introduces the same category of ownership structure considerations discussed with other PE-adjacent acquisitions in this series of carrier reviews. For a practical framework on what these rating signals mean in carrier selection decisions, our resource on what an AM Best rating means covers how to interpret the full rating profile including FSR, ICR, balance sheet assessment, and Comdex in combination.

What National Western Is Known For

National Western’s product focus centers on indexed universal life insurance and annuities — specifically the income-oriented side of the annuity market rather than pure accumulation. The carrier is known for simplified underwriting that does not require a medical exam or phone interview, which makes it particularly accessible for clients who have experienced underwriting difficulties with other carriers, who prefer the convenience of a streamlined application, or who need coverage decisions made quickly. This no-exam approach extends across its IUL, term, and whole life product lines. For clients who are otherwise healthy but have exam aversion or who have been declined elsewhere, National Western’s underwriting flexibility is a genuine advantage worth including in a multi-carrier comparison. Our resources on affordable life insurance for seniors with health issues and the right age to get life insurance cover the underwriting and timing context most relevant to clients evaluating simplified issue products like NWL’s lineup.

The Ultra Classic FIA is National Western’s flagship annuity product — a flexible premium fixed indexed annuity that accepts ongoing contributions, not just a single lump sum. Most FIAs require a single premium deposit at issue; the Ultra Classic’s flexible premium structure allows clients to continue adding funds over the contract’s life, making it more like a tax-deferred savings account with indexed crediting than a traditional single-deposit annuity. This is a genuine structural differentiator that serves clients who want to accumulate over time through regular deposits rather than committing everything at once. The product also accepts qualified and non-qualified money, and the indexed crediting strategies provide principal protection from index losses with upside participation potential.

The Honest Performance Assessment

Here is where the evaluation requires candor. National Western’s indexed annuity products — particularly the Ultra Classic — have an independent track record of modest credited interest results relative to competing FIA products from other carriers. At least one credentialed independent advisor has publicly reported owning the Ultra Classic and experiencing approximately 3% annualized returns over a multi-year period, explicitly recommending NWL’s annuities primarily for income purposes rather than growth. That is not disqualifying — income and growth are different objectives, and a product that delivers predictable guaranteed income may still be the right tool for specific retirement income planning needs. But it does reinforce the importance of carrier comparison: an FIA that produces 3% annualized credited interest over a period when competing A-rated FIAs from carriers like Allianz, Athene, or American Equity are crediting meaningfully more is a product performance gap that matters over a decade-long accumulation period. Our resources on comparable FIA products — including the Allianz 222, Allianz 360, Allianz Core Income 7, Allianz Accumulation Advantage, and American Equity AssetShield 10 — cover FIA products that compete in the same market at different crediting structures and carrier profiles. The AIG (Corebridge) Power Series covers another major carrier competing in the FIA income space. For the income annuity use case where NWL is more competitive, the comparison should include both the product’s income payout rates and its surrender flexibility against the alternatives.

Life Insurance at National Western

National Western’s life insurance lineup covers indexed universal life, term, and whole life. The IUL products are the primary life insurance focus — structured with indexed cash value accumulation and permanent death benefit, leveraging the same simplified underwriting that removes exam barriers. For clients who want permanent coverage without the traditional exam process, or who have health complexity that makes traditional underwriting uncertain, NWL’s IUL is worth comparing alongside other no-exam permanent options in the market. The term life products cover standard term periods and also benefit from the simplified underwriting program. For clients who are also evaluating LTC planning alongside life insurance — a combination that is common in the 55-to-70 age bracket — our resources on affordable long-term care insurance for retirees, affordable hybrid long-term care policies, LTC insurance after 60, and self-insured long-term care cover the planning options that run parallel to life insurance decisions in this age group. Our resource on how to find, evaluate, and apply for LTC insurance covers the due diligence process that precedes any long-term care product selection.

Consumer Service: The Reality

Consumer reviews of National Western Life are meaningfully negative in aggregate. Common themes in reviews include complex and difficult-to-understand contract language, long phone wait times, dropped calls during hold periods, and customer service personnel who are inconsistently knowledgeable. The BBB gives NWL an A+ grade, though the company is not BBB-accredited. The volume of consumer complaints relative to carrier size appears moderate but not alarming by institutional metrics. For a carrier whose products carry long surrender periods — often a decade or more — the service experience over that holding period is relevant to how the overall product experience actually plays out. Clients who anticipate regular service interactions, complex rollover coordination, or income election management at carrier level should factor the mixed service track record into their evaluation. Our resource on National Life Group covers a carrier in the same market — annuities and life insurance for retirement-focused clients — with a stronger service profile for comparison purposes, and our resource on about Diversified Insurance Brokers covers why working with an independent broker who remains your advocate after purchase provides a layer of service support that direct carrier relationships do not.