National Life FlexLife IUL Review (2026)
Written and reviewed by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance producer, NPN 20602398 · CA Insurance License #4273294Last reviewed · 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.
What FlexLife is, in plain English
FlexLife is an indexed universal life (IUL) policy issued by Life Insurance Company of the Southwest (LSW), part of National Life Group. Like every IUL, it has two jobs: a death benefit, and a cash value that earns interest credits linked to a market index, with a floor that keeps a bad index year from being credited as a loss. Charges (the cost of insurance, policy fees and premium loads) come out every month whether the index is up or down.
National Life is one of the biggest names in this market. LIMRA ranks it No. 3 in 2025 IUL new premium ($522 million) and No. 1 by number of policies sold (LIMRA 2025 rankings). AM Best upgraded National Life Group to A+ in July 2025 and affirmed it in July 2026 (AM Best).
AI voices. Education, not tax or legal advice. Hans is paid a commission if you buy a policy through him. Comment REVIEW on the video for the checklist.
Goldstein Scorecard: FlexLife IUL
Goldstein Scorecard · Goldstein Index v1 · graded Oct 3, 2026 · how we grade →
National Life Group · vs. other indexed universal life policies · Draft grades on public data. Grades are shown on the page only and are Hans's editorial view.
| Dimension (weight) | Grade | One-line take |
|---|---|---|
| Cap / participation strength (15%) | Pending | No current public cap sheet found; Hans to pull the current rate sheet |
| Floor and guaranteed minimums (5%) | A- | Guaranteed minimum cap of 3% to 3.1% depending on the S&P 500 account, among the higher published guaranteed minimums. [1] as of Jan 2026 re-grading |
| Loan options and current loan rate (15%) | B | Four loan types including a fixed 5% participating loan; variable and standard loans float with Moody's yields (3% minimum). [2] as of Jan 2026 re-grading |
| COI and charge drag (15%) | Pending | Charge schedules are in the policy form and illustration, not public; graded from the standardized case |
| Living-benefit riders (10%) | B | No-charge accelerated benefits are broad but discounted at claim. The charged Premium Chronic Care Rider pays near full value, but it is not available in California. [3] as of Oct 29, 2025 re-grading |
| Overloan protection (5%) | Pending | No overloan protection rider found in public materials; confirm |
| Illustration conservatism (AG 49-A/B) (10%) | Pending | Graded from the illustrated rate in the standardized case vs peers |
| Carrier strength (10%) | A | AM Best A+, affirmed 7/30/2026, stable (Life Insurance Company of the Southwest); upgraded from A in July 2025. [4] as of Jul 30, 2026 |
| Cash value at years 10/20 vs peers (standard case) (15%) | Pending | Needs Hans's standardized illustration (WinFlex/iPipeline), on file before grading |
| Guaranteed minimum cap disclosed (disclosure, not weighted) | Yes | 3% lowest guaranteed minimum cap (on the S&P 500 1-yr PTP Participation Focus); up to 3.1% on other accounts; guaranteed minimum participation 100% (lowest account); loan rate guarantee: Participating Fixed loan 5% set at issue; Standard loan Moody's-based, min 3%. [5] as of 2026-01 |
| OVERALL | Incomplete | No overall grade yet: only 40% of the Index weight can be graded from public data (those dimensions average B+). The overall grade waits for Hans's standardized case (M45 preferred nonsmoker, $12,000/yr to 65, max-funded Option B to A, plus a minimum-funded case at the same death benefit). |
On public data, FlexLife IUL grades strongest on floor and guaranteed minimums, carrier strength. 5 of 9 dimensions wait for a standardized illustration, so treat this as a starting point, not a verdict. Neutral summary of the scorecard, not a personal recommendation.
Best for: Middle-income families who want permanent coverage with living-benefit riders and room to fund for cash value over 15+ years.
Look elsewhere if: You live in California and want a charged, full-value chronic illness rider (the Premium Chronic Care Rider is not offered here), or you need published caps before you buy.
- Ask: what is the guaranteed minimum cap and the guaranteed minimum participation rate in the contract for each index account? Not today's cap, the floor the cap can never go below.
- Why it matters: today's cap is not guaranteed. The insurer can lower caps on your policy over time, all the way down to that contractual minimum. Guaranteed minimum caps we have seen published run from 0.25% to 4% (insurer documents, 2024 to 2026), and several insurers don't publish theirs at all. That is a very different worst case.
- Many agents cannot answer this question on the spot. If yours can't, ask them to find it in the policy form or the illustration's guaranteed assumptions before you sign.
Where the insurer publishes it, the Goldstein Scorecard shows the guaranteed minimum cap; otherwise it says "not publicly disclosed". Caps, participation rates, loan rates, charges and dividends are not guaranteed and can change.
An honest presentation of anything non-guaranteed uses words like "up to", "could" or "illustrated at". If you hear "will" about cash value, index credits, loan income or a living-benefit payout ("this policy will pay you 80%", "you will have $1 million at 65"), treat it as a red flag. Only the guaranteed column and the contract's stated guarantees are promises; ask the person to show you where the word "guaranteed" appears.
Get your FlexLife graded.
Send your email and I'll send the in-force illustration request letter. Return the illustration and I'll grade your policy within one business day.
We’ll email it to you. Hans Goldstein · NPN 20602398.
Rather talk it through? Or book 15 minutes on Hans’s calendar.
Living benefits: read "up to" carefully
FlexLife's standard accelerated benefit riders let you take part of the death benefit early for a terminal, chronic or critical illness, with no upfront charge. The trade-off is how they pay. These are discount riders: the carrier pays the present value of the death benefit you accelerate, based on your new life expectancy, minus a fee. National Life's own agent guide puts it simply: that is why terminal illness has the highest benefit amount (LSW accelerated benefits guide).
For a sense of scale, Transamerica's published examples on a similar no-charge design paid 92% of the amount accelerated for a terminal illness, 54% for a heart attack at 48 with a 10-year life expectancy, and about 30% for a chronic illness at 45 (Transamerica FFIUL II brochure). Those are another carrier's numbers, shown only to explain the mechanism; ask for FlexLife's own sample calculation at your age.
In October 2025 National Life added a Premium Chronic Care Rider: a charged rider that can pay up to the full death benefit (up to $3 million) for a qualifying chronic illness, paid as 2% or 4% of the death benefit a month, with no waiting period. It is not available in California or New York (National Life, 10/29/2025). California buyers who want a charged, near-full-value chronic benefit should compare products that offer one here; see living benefits vs long-term care.
Fact sheet: FlexLife IUL
| Item | Detail | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| AM Best rating | A+ (affirmed 7/30/2026, stable (Life Insurance Company of the Southwest); upgraded from A in July 2025) | Jul 30, 2026 | source |
| Issuer | Life Insurance Company of the Southwest (LSW), a National Life Group company | Oct 29, 2025 | National Life Group, 10/29/2025: FlexLife Premium Chronic Care Rider and Value Added Services Rider |
| Living benefits | Accelerated benefit riders at no upfront charge; payout is discounted at claim based on life expectancy | Oct 3, 2026 | LSW (National Life Group) accelerated benefits rider guide |
| Premium Chronic Care Rider | Premium Chronic Care Rider (charged): up to the full death benefit, up to $3 million, paid up to 2% or 4% of the death benefit monthly. Not available in California or New York | Oct 29, 2025 | National Life Group, 10/29/2025: FlexLife Premium Chronic Care Rider and Value Added Services Rider |
| Value Added Services Rider | Value Added Services Rider (no charge, caregiving support from Homethrive). Not available in New York | Oct 29, 2025 | National Life Group, 10/29/2025: FlexLife Premium Chronic Care Rider and Value Added Services Rider |
| Loans | Participating declared loan (declared rate, 8% maximum); participating variable (Moody's-based, 3% minimum); participating fixed 5%; standard loan Moody's-based, 3% minimum (advisor guide 104727, 1/2026; secondary source) | Jan 2026 | source |
| min_face | $50,000 minimum face (advisor guide, 1/2026; secondary source) | Jan 2026 | source |
| Caps and floor | Current caps not publicly disclosed. Guaranteed minimum cap 3.1% on the S&P 500 Cap Focus account and 3% on the Participation Focus account (National Life product help pages, 1/2026) | Jan 2026 | source |
Caps, participation rates, loan rates, charges and dividends are not guaranteed and can change. Confirm current figures in the carrier's latest disclosure and the California policy form before you buy.
Cash value: the hockey stick, and why funding level decides it
An IUL's cash value is flat for the first years and bends upward later, once the early charges and surrender charges are behind it. How steep the bend is depends on how much you put in relative to the death benefit. A FlexLife bought for the lowest premium on the largest face (a "semi-truck with an empty tank") builds little cash and carries the most risk of lapsing late in life. The same premium on a smaller face, funded close to the tax-law limit, builds the most cash (max-funded IUL explained).
Hans has not yet published FlexLife's standardized case (male 45, preferred nonsmoker, $12,000 a year to 65). Until he does, the cash value grade stays pending. When it posts, it will show the guaranteed, midpoint and illustrated-scale columns side by side.
Where the premium goes, and the cost of insurance ladder
In this model a male 45 paying $10,000 a year loses about 15% of the first 10 years of premium to charges when the policy is max-funded, and about 22% when the same premium buys three times the death benefit. The surrender charge is extra: in year 1 the cash surrender value is about $4,245 of $10,000 (max-funded) and $0 (target-funded), which is why early cash value can feel like half the premium disappeared. A common rule of thumb is that roughly half of early premium goes to charges; in this model that is close for year-one surrender value, and too high for the ongoing charges in a well-funded design.
Hypothetical. Not an illustration of any specific policy. Not a quote. Model on current (non-guaranteed) charges: premium load 10% (years 1-10) then 5%, $10 a month fee, per-$1,000 charge for 10 years, current COI at 80% of 2017 CSO select rates, 6% illustrated crediting. Guaranteed maximum charges are higher. Ask your insurer for the policy's actual charge schedule.
Read it like a ladder. The insurance part of the policy gets more expensive every year: the guaranteed maximum rate is about $8 per $1,000 at 65, $24 at 75 and $82 at 85 (2017 CSO). Each step is small until the late 70s, then the ladder curves up sharply. In a well-funded policy the cash value grows faster than the charges, so the policy carries itself with no extra premium (green). In an underfunded policy the charges eat the cash value from the inside, and the owner must pay more or the policy lapses (red, at 79 here). Real results usually land between those lines, which is why an in-force illustration every few years matters.
Hypothetical. Not an illustration of any specific policy. Not a quote. Male 45, preferred nonsmoker. Charges per the stated model; COI is charged on the net amount at risk (death benefit minus cash value), so the dollar cost depends on both the rate and how much coverage the cash value has not yet replaced. Source for rates: Society of Actuaries, 2017 CSO table 3291.
Loans right now
FlexLife offers four loan types, according to National Life's advisor guide (1/2026, hosted by a brokerage, so treat it as a secondary source; advisor guide 104727): a participating declared loan (declared rate, 8% maximum), a participating variable loan (Moody's-based, 3% minimum), a participating fixed loan at 5%, and a standard loan (Moody's-based, 3% minimum). The statutory cap on variable loan rates is tied to the Moody's corporate bond yield average, 6.25% in September 2026 (NAIC), and regulators cap the spread an illustration can assume between the loan rate and the index credit at 0.5% (AG 49-A). Borrowing is a way to access cash, not an arbitrage, and not always the cheapest way to borrow. Policy loans and withdrawals up to your basis are generally not taxed if the policy is not a modified endowment contract (IRC §7702A) and stays in force; a lapse or surrender with a loan outstanding can create taxable income.
Who FlexLife fits, and who should look elsewhere
- Fits: a 30 to 55 year old who wants lifelong coverage, likes having living-benefit triggers built in, and can fund the policy for 15+ years.
- Fits less well: a California buyer who specifically wants a charged, full-value chronic illness benefit (not offered here), or anyone who wants published caps before buying.
- Usually not a fit: someone 65 or older buying mainly for cash value; at that age an IUL is a death benefit tool (why).
Compare it with Mutual of Omaha IUL Express (no exam, smaller faces) and the best IUL by buyer type list. For the bigger choice between guarantees and potential, read GUL vs IUL and IUL vs whole life.
Ballpark ranges by age, sex, health class and face amount, with dates and sources: What an IUL costs, by funding level →
Get your exact number in 15 minutes on a call with Hans.
Taxes, briefly
As with any life insurance policy that qualifies under IRC §7702, the death benefit is generally income-tax-free to your beneficiaries under IRC §101(a). Policy loans and withdrawals up to your basis are generally not taxed if the policy is not a modified endowment contract (IRC §7702A) and stays in force; a lapse or surrender with a loan outstanding can create taxable income. Accelerated benefits for the terminally or chronically ill are generally excluded from income under IRC §101(g), subject to per-diem limits for chronic illness ($430 a day in 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32).
Own a FlexLife, or were you quoted one?
Send it over. Within one business day you get a written read on the Goldstein Index: funding level, lapse risk, living-benefit value in California, and two alternatives.
Already own one? Ask National Life for an in-force illustration (current and guaranteed). The request letter is on the policy review page.
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
- National Life Group, 10/29/2025: FlexLife Premium Chronic Care Rider and Value Added Services Rider
- LSW (National Life Group) accelerated benefits rider guide
- AM Best: National Life Group rating action (July 2026)
- LIMRA: 2025 full-year top 20 IUL company rankings
- Transamerica Financial Foundation IUL II living benefits brochure (07/25)
- NAIC: Moody's corporate bond yield averages (policy loan benchmark)
- NAIC Actuarial Guideline 49-A (IUL illustrations)
- IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments)
- 26 U.S.C. §101 (death benefits, accelerated benefits), Cornell LII
- 26 U.S.C. §7702A (modified endowment contracts), Cornell LII
Hans Goldstein, CA Insurance License #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services, CA License #6016830
Contact: hans@hansgoldstein.com · 213-414-2808
General education, not tax or legal advice. Tax treatment depends on your facts and on current law, which can change. Talk to your CPA or estate attorney. Guarantees are backed by the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Guarantees apply only to the contractual terms of the policy. Caps, participation rates, loan rates, charges and dividends are not guaranteed and can change. 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. Product and company names are trademarks of their owners. Goldstein Insurance Services is an independent agency, not affiliated with or endorsed by any insurer named here. Life insurance requires underwriting; not everyone qualifies. This page describes products in general terms; read the policy and the insurer's disclosures before you buy.