Best Life Insurance for Self-Employed People (2026)

The best life insurance for a self-employed person depends on what you need to protect. If you need a large, affordable policy for your family and debts, Banner Life and Protective publish level term up to 40 years. If you want the option of lifelong coverage later, Northwestern Mutual lets term owners convert to whole life regardless of health. If partners or a lender depend on you, Guardian, MassMutual and Principal publish key person and buy-sell planning for business owners.

We're a matching service, not an insurer; licensed agents we connect you with may offer policies from some of these companies. See how we review companies.

How did we choose these companies?

We compared six insurers that sell individual life insurance and publish material aimed at people who run their own business. We used only what each company, its rating agencies and the NAIC publish. For each one we looked at:

• Personal coverage: term lengths, coverage ranges and whether term can be converted to permanent coverage.
• Business tools: published key person, buy-sell or succession planning.
• Flexibility for uneven income: features such as stacking riders or conversion that let coverage change as needs change.
• Financial strength: AM Best, S&P, Moody's or Fitch ratings, with dates.
• Complaints: the 2025 individual life complaint index from the NAIC.

We don't give star ratings or scores, and no company paid to be included. How a company prices your health, income or type of work is decided at application, and we did not find published underwriting rules for self-employed applicants on the pages we reviewed. The full criteria are on our methodology page.

How do the six companies compare?

This table uses each company's published terms. Ratings are financial strength opinions, not reviews of service. Complaint indexes are for individual life, 2025, from the NAIC Consumer Insurance Search (data as of September 29, 2026); 1.00 is the national baseline.

Banner Life: long terms and stacked coverage

Banner Life fits self-employed people who want a large term policy and expect their needs to shrink over time. Its term life page lists terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years, coverage from $100,000 to beyond $10 million, and issue ages 20 to 75. It also lists options to renew or convert to a permanent policy.

The feature that suits uneven income is stacking. Banner says you can add one or more term riders of 10, 15 or 20 years on top of a base policy. Its example pairs a $250,000, 40-year base with a $750,000, 20-year rider, so the extra coverage drops off when, say, a business loan is paid. Term policies effective 2011 or later include an accelerated death benefit rider for a qualified terminal illness, subject to availability.

Caution: Coverage starts at $100,000, so it isn't built for small policies. Banner's ratings page lists AM Best A (Excellent), updated March 13, 2026, one step below several others here.

Protective: long terms with conversion riders

Protective fits people who want a long level term and the option to switch to permanent coverage later. Its Classic Choice term page lists terms of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years and coverage from $100,000 to $5,000,000. Protective says you can get a quote and apply online or by phone.

Protective's financials page lists Protective Life Insurance Company at AM Best A+, S&P AA-, Fitch AA- and Moody's Aa3, current as of June 30, 2026.

Caution: Protective describes conversion as coming through available riders, so ask whether the policy you are quoted includes the right to convert and until when. In New York, the product is issued by a different Protective company.

Northwestern Mutual: term you can turn into whole life

Northwestern Mutual fits business owners who want affordable term now and lifelong coverage later without new health questions. Its term life page says term owners can convert some or all of their coverage to whole life, and approval is guaranteed regardless of health. It also notes that the longer you wait, the more the whole life premium will cost.

For partners, the company's article on funding a buy-sell agreement explains entity-redemption and cross-purchase plans funded with term or permanent insurance. Northwestern Mutual's term page lists ratings of A++ from AM Best (November 2025), Aa1 from Moody's, AA+ from S&P and AAA from Fitch.

Caution: The term page sends you to a Northwestern Mutual financial advisor to get coverage, so you would apply through one of them.

Guardian: key person planning for owners

Guardian fits owners whose business would struggle without them. Its key person guide explains that the business owns the policy, pays the premiums and is the beneficiary. It also says insurers require the insured person's written consent first. For sizing, Guardian suggests adding the person's salary to their direct contribution to profit, then multiplying by at least five.

Guardian's guide for small business owners separates needs by structure. It says a sole proprietor's main need is income replacement, winding down the business and paying debts, not a buy-sell plan. Guardian lists AM Best A++, Moody's Aa1 and S&P AA+ as of December 31, 2025, on its financial highlights page.

Caution: Guardian notes that key person premiums generally aren't tax-deductible.

MassMutual: buy-sell and succession with cash value

MassMutual fits owners who want permanent coverage to fund a succession plan. Its business life insurance page describes funding a buy-sell agreement and a one-way buy-sell, where a chosen successor can use the policy's cash value toward buying the company at the owner's retirement. It also covers key person coverage, executive bonus plans and borrowing against whole life cash value.

MassMutual's ratings page lists AM Best A++, Fitch AA+, Moody's Aa3 and S&P AA+, as of September 1, 2026.

Caution: Whole life costs more than term for the same death benefit, and MassMutual says buying may require a medical exam.

Principal: key person life and disability

Principal fits businesses that want to protect against both the death and the disability of a key person. Its key person protection page offers key person life insurance and key person replacement disability insurance, which pays for recruiting, training and temporary staff after a total disability claim. Its business succession page says buy-sell agreements can be funded with permanent or term life insurance or disability buy-out insurance.

Principal's credit ratings page lists Principal Life and Principal National Life at AM Best A+, Fitch AA-, Moody's A1 and S&P A+.

Caution: Principal warns that if the notice and consent rules in Internal Revenue Code Section 101(j) aren't met, employer-owned policy death benefits may be taxable.

How should self-employed people compare quotes?

Compare the same coverage amount and term length across insurers, and bring proof of income. The questions that matter most for self-employed buyers:

1. What income will the insurer count? Use your net profit, not gross sales, averaged over two or three years if it swings. Our pillar guide for the self-employed explains what insurers may ask for.
2. How long does each need last? Match a long term to family income and a shorter term or rider to a loan. The life insurance calculator can help with the total.
3. Who should own each policy? Family coverage is usually owned personally. Business-owned coverage needs notice and consent first; see key person life insurance and buy-sell agreement life insurance.
4. Can I convert, and until when? Conversion lets you keep coverage later without new health questions.
5. Does a lender require coverage? See the SBA loan life insurance requirement.
6. How are the premiums taxed? See whether life insurance is tax deductible for business owners.

For more guides, visit our self-employed life insurance hub.