The Goldstein Index: How Life Insurance Is Graded Here

Written and reviewed by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance producer, NPN 20602398 · CA Insurance License #4273294
Last reviewed October 3, 2026 · Published October 3, 2026

Editorial review by a licensed agent who may earn a commission. No insurer pays for placement or grades. Hans is paid a commission by the insurer if you buy a policy through him. For life insurance, ask and he will tell you what he earns on your specific policy.

Why a published method

A grade means nothing unless you can see how it was made. Most "best life insurance" lists rank companies with no stated method, and many are paid placements. I would rather show my work: here are the dimensions, the weights, the scale, the sources and the rules for when a grade goes stale. If you think a grade is wrong, the correction policy at the bottom says how to tell me and what happens next.

Two names, kept consistent across the site: the Goldstein Index is this method and the overall letter grade. The Goldstein Scorecard is the table on each review page that shows the Index grades for one product.

Dimensions and weights by product type

Every product of a type is graded on the same keys, so an IUL grade on one page compares directly with an IUL grade on another.

Indexed universal life (IUL)

Guaranteed universal life (GUL)

Term life

Whole life

Accidental death

ILIT fit is shown on every permanent product but not graded: strong (GUL or survivorship UL with long guarantees), conditional (an IUL funded to a guarantee and monitored every year) or weak.

The grade scale

Each dimension maps a measured value to a percentile among peers of the same type:

Absolute floors apply, so a strong feature is never graded down just because peers are also strong. For example, a 0% floor on index crediting is always at least a B. The overall grade is the weighted average of the dimension grades (on a 4.3 point scale, A+ = 4.3, A = 4.0, B = 3.0 and so on), converted back to a letter.

Carrier strength uses the AM Best financial strength rating with its date: A++ grades A+, A+ grades A, A grades B+, A- grades B. A rating placed under review is noted as a watch item.

Standardized cases

Some dimensions can only be measured by running the same case on every product. I run these in the carriers' illustration software and keep the full illustrations on file; pages show only labeled excerpts with the assumptions printed.

• IUL: male 45, preferred nonsmoker, $12,000 a year to age 65, max-funded with Option B switching to Option A, plus a minimum-funded case at the same death benefit.
• GUL: male 60, preferred nonsmoker, $1,000,000 to age 121, single pay and 10-pay.
• Term: male 45, preferred nonsmoker, $1,000,000, 20-year level.
• Whole life: male 45, preferred nonsmoker, $500,000.

Until a product's standardized case is run, its cash value, charge and illustration grades read Pending, and its overall grade is labeled provisional with the share of the Index weight actually graded. If less than half of the weight can be graded, no overall letter is shown at all (the scorecard reads Incomplete). In this pilot every overall grade is provisional.

Sources, and how grades are dated

Grades come from public, dated sources: carrier consumer pages, cap and rate sheets, policy forms, AM Best rating actions, the NAIC complaint index, regulator and court records, and the standardized illustrations above. Materials an insurer marks for financial professionals only are not quoted.

• Every grade carries an as-of date and a source.
• A grade older than 180 days shows a "re-grading" badge.
• A product whose data is older than 365 days is pulled from best-of lists automatically.
• Caps, participation rates, loan rates, charges and dividends are not guaranteed and can change. They are shown as "as of" a date, never as permanent.
• A best-of list publishes only when at least six products of the type are graded.

Independence and pay

Negative points are stated as trade-offs with a documented basis (a rating action, a cap change on record, a regulator order or a court filing), linked on the page.

Grade your own policy: a checklist

You can do a rough version of this yourself with your annual statement and an in-force illustration:

1. Find the guaranteed column. Does the policy stay in force to at least age 95 on guaranteed assumptions at your planned premium?
2. Compare the current illustrated rate with the maximum the illustration rules allow (about 6% on most S&P accounts under AG 49-A). Closer to the max means less margin.
3. Check the death benefit option. Option B (increasing) while you fund, switched to Option A later, usually helps accumulation.
4. Divide your premium by the policy's guideline or 7-pay limit. Far below it means a thin, minimum-funded policy; at it means max-funded.
5. Read the loan provisions: fixed, variable or indexed, and the current rate. Indexed and participating loans on current IULs typically charge about 5 to 5.5% (maximums up to 8%); fixed loans often net 0 to 1%.
6. List your living-benefit riders and whether each is a discount design or a charged rider.
7. Look up the carrier's current AM Best rating and date.
8. Note the surrender charge schedule: how many years remain?

Or send it to me and I'll do it for you: free policy review.

Corrections and changelog

If a fact or grade is wrong, email hans@hansgoldstein.com with the source. I check it promptly, and if it is wrong I fix the data, re-grade, and log the change here.

Want your policy graded on the Index?

Send your annual statement or in-force illustration. You get a written grade within one business day.

First name

Email *

Your policy

Face amount or premium

Send me the read

Rather talk it through? Or book 15 minutes on Hans’s calendar, or call 213-414-2808.

Hans Goldstein · 213-414-2808 · NPN 20602398, independent licensed insurance producer

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. NAIC Actuarial Guideline 49-A (IUL illustrations)
2. Society of Actuaries, 2017 Loaded CSO, Nonsmoker Male ANB (table 3291)
3. LIMRA: 2025 full-year top 20 IUL company rankings
4. 10 CCR §2547.5 (life insurance advertising, comparisons), Cornell LII
5. NAIC Model 830 (secondary guarantee designs)