Author Topic: Is Northwestern Mutual the "whole life for millennials" company?  (Read 2442 times)

ender

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A friend asked if I wanted to get together with someone from Northwestern Mutual for financial advice/etc.

Naturally, I was amused, as a Mustachian Personal Finance Extraordinaire™, since I'd bet most of my net worth I'm far more versed in personal finance than whoever the Northwestern Mutual person is. I still might get together if it's convenient anyways, since I might learn something, though.

But it made me think, is NW the company that pushes whole life? I obviously wouldn't buy this as a millennial with no kids but I was wondering if I should worry about my friend who is probably not as equipped to make informed decisions about such a thing. Not sure if I should care about them buying it or not.

Incidentally I am discussing with a shared mutual friend about leading an FPU class, so I actually would have some level of credibility if I were to talk with my friend.

chasesfish

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Re: Is Northwestern Mutual the "whole life for millennials" company?
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2016, 04:57:38 AM »
You should ask your friend to bring you the samples they give her before she makes a decision.

I've always thought Whole Life had neat tax benefits, but the underlying commissions inside those policies outweigh the benefits.  I've been given three NW Mutual examples and they're all the same, 7-10 years to see as much as you invested, then 20+ years before compounding interest works.   Buying term and investing the difference will always win.

ender

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Re: Is Northwestern Mutual the "whole life for millennials" company?
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2016, 06:15:57 AM »
You should ask your friend to bring you the samples they give her before she makes a decision.

I've always thought Whole Life had neat tax benefits, but the underlying commissions inside those policies outweigh the benefits.  I've been given three NW Mutual examples and they're all the same, 7-10 years to see as much as you invested, then 20+ years before compounding interest works.   Buying term and investing the difference will always win.

Whole Life is not the worst idea if you have so much money you don't know what to do with and are looking for another tax advantaged account, that is otherwise super inefficient.

Slinky

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Re: Is Northwestern Mutual the "whole life for millennials" company?
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2016, 05:15:37 PM »
But it made me think, is NW the company that pushes whole life?

Yes. They'll probably try to sell you on something and they do like their whole life. My husband and I both have term life and LT disability policies through them and I get fairly regular letters in the mail about converting. No thanks! I also think of my agent guy more as my insurance guy than any sort of financial advisor. He'll ask about my general financial picture and goals and such, but it's always more about the insurance when we meet. I'm polite but firm about what I (don't) want and I refrain from engaging on the topic of stock market vs whole life insurance returns.

Full disclaimer: I'm local and interned there and also get discounted rates for Cadillac plans from a different unrelated job I was at very briefly.