09/08/2026
You’ve heard the claim: "Indexed universal life has a massive surrender rate problem."
But the actuarial data tells a completely different story.
Critics love to weaponize aggregate lapse numbers. The problem? They lump properly designed policies in with underfunded contracts and non-underwritten group coverage.
That’s like declaring a medicine useless by averaging the patients who took it with the ones who never filled the prescription.
Here is what LIMRA and the Society of Actuaries (SOA) actually found:
• Universal life lapse rates have trended downward, not up.
• Accumulation-focused IUL boasts some of the highest premium persistency in the flexible-premium market (paid-to-planned ratios up to 91%).
• When structured and funded correctly for the right buyer, IUL isn't a cautionary tale—it’s an anchor asset.
Don't let bad math drive the narrative.
Read the full analysis in my latest piece for Today: https://at.naifa.org/the-iul-surrender-myth