Description: Whole life insurance nonforfeiture options may be actuarially equivalent at the time premium payments end. When the entire remaining lifetime of the policy is fully considered; however, significant differences emerge in expenses between paying the cash surrender value, converting to reduced paid-up, or converting to extended term insurance. This article explores how a company might manage its existing nonforfeiture options and consider what to continue to offer after a product refiling with that entire lifetime in mind.

Description: The article summarizes 2013 survey results of company assumptions for term products in the post-level period. The focus is on product design, shock lapse assumptions, and mortality deterioration assumptions. This article features highlights from the larger SOA-sponsored research project on this topic published in 2013 that compiled end-of-2012 assumption data from 41 companies. This content may prove useful to product development actuaries as they consider their current post-level term assumptions.