Thrivent Life Insurance Review 2024: Pros & Cons

Thrivent earned 5 stars out of 5 for overall performance due to its superior financial strength and low number of consumer complaints. Thrivent was founded in 1902 as a Lutheran organization and is now a not-for-profit fraternal benefit society serving Christian consumers.

Like a mutual life insurance company, Thrivent is owned by its members and may pay dividends to qualifying permanent policyholders. But the organization also promotes social responsibility, providing resources to help its members volunteer in their communities or make charitable donations.

Thrivent sells a variety of term and permanent life insurance, including joint policies for spouses or business partners. In addition to insurance, Thrivent offers annuities, investments and other financial products.

You must be a Christian or the spouse of a Christian to become a Thrivent member and buy its life insurance. You’ll be asked to attest to your faith (or your spouse’s) in your membership application.

Term life insurance. Thrivent offers term life insurance lasting 10, 15, 20 or 30 years with coverage starting at $100,000. Age eligibility depends on where you live and the length of the term. You can convert a term policy into any of the permanent life insurance options below.

Whole life insurance. Thrivent sells several whole life insurance policies, all of which accumulate cash value and offer essentially lifelong coverage.

• Whole Life Insurance. This policy has multiple options for payment. You can pay a level premium until you reach age 95, or you can make higher payments for a set amount of time, such as for the first 10 years of the policy. You can also choose to pay a single lump-sum premium. Most of these options are available to applicants up to age 90. Minimum coverage amounts start at either $10,000 or $100,000, depending on your life insurance risk class.

• Whole Life Plus Term Protection. This hybrid policy includes whole life coverage plus some extra term insurance that expires after a set period of time. You may be interested in this policy if you want a certain amount of lifelong coverage but have financial obligations with a set end point (such as a mortgage). The policy is open to people between 18 and 75, with a starting value of $75,000.

• Survivor Whole Life Insurance. This joint life insurance policy is designed to cover two people, such as spouses or business partners. The death benefit is paid when the second person dies. Coverage is available to those aged 18 to 90, with amounts starting at $100,000.

Universal life insurance. Thrivent’s universal life insurance is open to applicants up to either 75 or 85 years old, depending on the policy you choose. Another type of permanent life insurance, universal policies have flexible premiums and an adjustable death benefit. Coverage amounts start at $50,000 for adults or $25,000 (in most states) for those under 18.

Variable universal life insurance. When you buy variable universal life insurance, you can choose how you want to invest your policy’s cash value. Coverage is permanent as long as you maintain enough cash value. Thrivent’s variable universal life policy is available to applicants up to age 80, with a minimum coverage amount of $100,000 for adults or $25,000 (in most states) for those under 18.

All Thrivent life insurance policies include an accelerated death benefit rider, which allows you to access part of your death benefit early if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.

• Guaranteed purchase option. Lets you buy another life insurance policy without a medical exam.

• Guaranteed increase option. Gives you the opportunity to raise the coverage amount on your existing policy without an exam.

• Waiver of premium for disability. Allows you to stop paying your policy premiums without losing your coverage if you become disabled.

• Paid-up additions. Enables you to build cash value within your whole life policy faster by investing your dividends back into your policy.

• Insurance split option benefit. Lets you split your joint life insurance policy into two separate policies in the case of a divorce or business dissolution.

Below are monthly rates for a 20-year, $500,000 term life insurance policy from Thrivent. These are sample rates for a nonsmoking man and woman in excellent health — the final quote you’re offered will depend on factors like your age, health, lifestyle, occupation and driving record.

Over three years, Thrivent has drawn far fewer than the expected number of complaints to state regulators for a company of its size, according to a NerdWallet analysis of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

You can get a quick online quote for term life insurance with Thrivent, but you’ll need to work with a financial advisor to finish your application or to buy any other type of life insurance. Thrivent doesn’t make it easy to find its online quote function. On its main term life insurance page, it’s promoted as a “free calculator tool” rather than an online quote.

Screenshot captured by our editorial team on October 14, 2024.

The quote process consists of about half a dozen questions including which state you live in, your height and weight, your nicotine use and when you were born. Thrivent will then suggest a coverage amount and term length based on your answers, along with an estimated rate. You can adjust the premium by customizing the coverage and term.

Screenshot captured by our editorial team on October 14, 2024.

If you want to buy the policy, you’ll need to contact the company, schedule a call or request an email from a representative. Your final price may change.

Thrivent’s website is relatively easy to navigate, with general information about the various types of life insurance the organization offers. However, there are few specifics about Thrivent’s policies, such as which riders are available or how much coverage you can buy. The site does include various links to find a financial advisor who can help answer these questions.

We called Thrivent’s customer service number to get more information about its term life insurance product. After navigating the automated menu, we were connected with a live representative within a minute. When we asked a couple of specific coverage questions, the rep offered some basic information but said we’d need to contact a financial advisor to find out which options were available to us.

Thrivent’s highly rated mobile app is available for both iPhone and Android. You can use it to view your policies, pay bills and contact your financial advisor.

You can manage your Thrivent account online, including paying bills, updating personal information and viewing policy information.

As a member-owned organization, Thrivent pays out a portion of its profits to clients in the form of dividends. In 2024, the organization paid $542 million in dividends, the highest annual payout in its history .

In addition to life insurance, Thrivent offers:

Thrivent can be reached by:

• Phone: Call 800-847-4836 on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT. 

• Email: Fill out the form on Thrivent’s contact page.

• Live chat: Not available.