Bankers Life insurance, reviewed.
Bankers Life is the senior-market brand of CNO Financial Group, with roots back to 1879 and career agents who still sit down with clients at the kitchen table. The bottom line: a solid fit for people near or in retirement who want one local agent handling life insurance, Medicare Supplement, and long-term care questions together.
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What it does well
One agent, the whole retirement picture.
Plenty of carriers sell life insurance to seniors. Bankers Life built its whole business around them: the products, the agent model, and the service all point at the same customer.
Backed by CNO Financial Group
Bankers Life is a brand of CNO Financial Group, a publicly traded insurance holding company, with a history that runs back to 1879. Colonial Penn and Washington National sit in the same family.
Built for the retirement years
The company aims squarely at people near or in retirement. Its products, its underwriting, and its agent training are all organized around the money questions that come with that stage of life.
An agent who sits down with you
Bankers Life career agents live in the communities they serve and meet with clients in person or virtually. If you want your coverage explained across your own kitchen table, this is that model.
Term, whole, and universal life
The life shelf covers term in 5, 10, and 20-year periods, whole life with level premiums and cash value, flexible-premium universal life, and juvenile whole life for a child or grandchild.
More than life insurance
The same agent can handle Medicare Supplement insurance, long-term care insurance, and annuities. For a retiree, keeping the whole picture with one person has real practical value.
Flexibility on the permanent side
Its universal life lets you pay more when money is comfortable and less when it is tight, and a living benefit option gives you access to cash value through loans and withdrawals.
Want to see how Bankers Life prices for your age? A licensed professional will run it and compare it to the market. No obligation.
The life insurance shelf
Term, whole life, and universal life.
Bankers Life keeps its life lineup simple: three core policy types, each doing a different job, sold and serviced through its career agents (per Bankers Life). Depending on your state, the issuing company is Bankers Life and Casualty Company, Washington National Insurance Company, or Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company in New York.
Term life
Coverage for a season
The lowest-cost way to cover a set stretch of years, in 5, 10, or 20-year periods. Useful for the tail end of a mortgage or the years before a pension starts.
Whole life
A locked premium for life
A level premium that stays put, coverage that does not expire, and cash value that builds over time. A juvenile version locks in childhood rates for a child or grandchild.
Universal life
Permanent, with give
Lifelong protection with flexible premiums: pay more when you can, less when money is tight. Cash value grows tax deferred, with a living benefit option for loans and withdrawals.
Beyond life insurance, the same agent can quote Medicare Supplement insurance, long-term care coverage, and annuities. That breadth is a genuine convenience, and it is also why a second set of eyes on the life piece is worth having: when one person handles everything, nobody is comparing that piece to the wider market.
What it costs
Where Bankers Life lands on price.
There is no single answer, because premiums move with your age, sex, health, the policy type, and your state. What we can say from experience: carriers built around a career-agent model price for the service that comes with it. You are paying for a person who shows up, not just a policy in the mail. For some families that trade is exactly right. For others, a leaner carrier delivers more coverage per dollar.
The honest way to find out which side you are on is a side-by-side quote for your own profile. Our roundup of the best life insurance companies shows how the strongest carriers stack up, and a licensed professional can run the numbers with you in a few minutes.
Is it a good fit?
Best for people who want a person.
Bankers Life fits someone near or in retirement who wants an agent they can call by name: a local professional who sits at the table, explains the policy in plain English, and handles the Medicare and long-term care questions in the same conversation. If your parents bought coverage this way and it suited them, this is the modern version of that relationship.
A different buyer fits a different carrier. If you are healthy, comfortable shopping by phone or online, and chasing the most coverage per premium dollar, you owe it to yourself to compare first. And if you already own a Bankers Life policy that is doing its job at a fair price, the right move is often to keep it exactly as it is.
A carrier that sends a real person to your kitchen table is selling service as much as coverage. The question worth answering is whether your premium is buying both at a fair price.
Already have a policy?
Have it read before you change it.
Many Bankers Life policies were bought at a kitchen-table visit years ago, and the agent who sold them has since retired. A licensed professional will read yours with you, explain what it actually does today, and check whether the same premium could buy more elsewhere. Often the answer is that you are in good shape, and we will tell you so. For billing, beneficiary, or claim questions, our Bankers Life policy help guide walks through the servicing side step by step.
Free · no obligation · Mon-Sat · 10am-9pm
- Which issuing company is named on your policy
- Where the cash value stands on a whole or universal life policy
- Whether the premium still matches the job the policy does
- That your beneficiary is current and correct
Straight answers
Bankers Life questions, answered.
Reviewed by Aleen Alnono, licensed insurance agent (NPN 58310472) · Updated July 2026
01Is Bankers Life a legitimate insurance company?
Yes. Bankers Life is a brand of CNO Financial Group, a publicly traded insurance holding company, with a history dating back to 1879. Policies are issued by state-regulated insurers, principally Bankers Life and Casualty Company, headquartered in Chicago.
02What does Bankers Life offer?
On the life side: term coverage in 5, 10, and 20-year periods, whole life with level premiums and cash value, universal life with flexible premiums, and juvenile whole life. The same agent can also handle Medicare Supplement insurance, long-term care insurance, and annuities.
03Who owns Bankers Life?
CNO Financial Group, Inc. owns the Bankers Life brand. CNO also stands behind Colonial Penn and Washington National, so Bankers Life is part of a larger insurance family rather than a standalone company.
04Is Bankers Life only for seniors?
Its focus is people who are near or in retirement, and most of its products point that way. It does write coverage outside that group, including juvenile whole life that insures a child or grandchild at childhood rates, but the retirement market is its home turf.
05How do Bankers Life agents work?
Bankers Life uses career agents who live in the communities they serve and meet with clients in person or virtually. Many policies start with a sit-down visit at home. If your original agent has retired or moved on, the company can assign servicing to another local agent, or a licensed professional on our team can read the policy with you first.
06Is Bankers Life the same as Bankers Life Insurance Company?
No, and the names trip people up. The CNO Financial brand reviewed here issues coverage mainly through Bankers Life and Casualty Company of Chicago. Bankers Life Insurance Company is an unaffiliated North Carolina insurer with a similar name, and news about that company does not affect Bankers Life and Casualty policyholders. Check the exact company name on the first page of your policy.
07What is Bankers Life’s financial strength rating?
The CNO insurance subsidiaries behind Bankers Life carry financial-strength ratings from AM Best that sit in the agency’s upper tier for paying claims. Ratings can change, so confirm the current grade for the exact issuing company named on your policy, usually Bankers Life and Casualty Company, at ambest.com before you decide.
08How much does Bankers Life insurance cost?
It depends on your age, sex, health, the product, and your state. Coverage sold through a career agent is priced differently from bare-bones online term, in part because service is built in. The useful move is to get a real figure for your own profile and set it beside two or three other strong carriers, which is exactly what a free policy review does.
09Does Bankers Life whole life build cash value?
Yes. Its whole life carries a level premium and cash value that accumulates over time, and its universal life grows cash value tax deferred with a living benefit option for loans and withdrawals. An in-force illustration from the carrier shows exactly where yours stands today.
10Is Bankers Life a good choice?
For someone near or in retirement who wants a local agent to sit down, explain the options in plain English, and handle life insurance alongside Medicare and long-term care questions, it is a natural fit. If your one priority is the lowest possible term premium from the whole market, compare before you commit. A licensed professional on our team can run that side-by-side with you in a free policy review, and if what you already have holds up, keeping it is a good outcome.
This is an independent review. Policy Review Center is not affiliated with or endorsed by Bankers Life, CNO Financial Group, or their subsidiaries; product and company names are used for identification only. Plan details come from the carrier and can change; confirm current terms with Bankers Life. Educational only, not financial advice; any coverage changes are completed through licensed insurance professionals, and a review may conclude the policy you already have is worth keeping.
Keep reading
- Bankers Life policy help (billing, beneficiaries, claims, and what to do when your agent has retired).
- The best life insurance companies (how the strongest carriers compare, side by side).
- Owned the policy for years? It takes two minutes to confirm your life insurance beneficiary is still the person you intend.
- Already covered? Start with a free policy review before you change a thing.
See every option. Then choose.
Start a free review and a licensed professional will compare Bankers Life against the broader market for your age and health, and tell you straight which gives you the most.