Overview of the Whole Life Product Portfolio

Participating whole life insurance from MassMutual^® offers a combination of features and benefits that differentiates it from most other financial products. Consider what MassMutual whole life insurance offers your clients:

Permanent Life Insurance Protection

Whole life is designed to provide lifetime protection with guaranteed level premiums.

Cash Value

Over time, the policy builds cash value, which is guaranteed to increase each year and will never decline in value due to market conditions.

Policy Dividends

Policyowners are eligible to receive annual dividends, which are not guaranteed. They may receive dividends in cash, use them to reduce their out-of-pocket premiums or increase their life insurance protection and cash value.

Income Tax Advantages

Whole life insurance provides valuable income tax advantages that include:

• An income tax-free death benefit.
• Tax-deferred cash value accumulation.
• Tax-advantaged access to cash values.¹

In addition, certain policies allow for face amount increases. This feature supports term conversions and Guaranteed Insurability Rider (GIR) option increases within the original policy.

MassMutual Products

MassMutual’s Whole Life portfolio offers a number of policies to meet the needs of a variety of prospects.

Whole Life

Balanced Performance

Whole Life 8 Pay

Whole Life 10 Pay

Whole Life 12 Pay

Whole Life 15 Pay

Whole Life 20 Pay

Whole Life 65

High Early Cash Value (HECV) - Whole Life 85

Whole Life 100

Whole Life 100

Whole Life 100 is our lowest premium whole life policy, with level premiums payable to age 100. Face amount increases are available with Whole Life 100.

Whole Life 65

Whole Life 65 offers level premiums payable to age 65, after which the policy is guaranteed to be paid up. Face amount increases are available with Whole Life 65.

Whole Life 8/10/12/15/20 Pay

Whole Life 8/10/12/15/20 Pay policies have premiums payable for 8, 10, 12, 15, or 20 years. In general, these policies build cash value more quickly than Whole Life policies with longer premium paying periods.

Whole Life High Early Cash Value^SM

Whole LifeHigh Early Cash Value (HECV) was designed for businesses to use in connection with selective benefit programs for key employees and executives.

Premiums for HECV are payable to age 85. Face amount increases are available with HECV.

Product Specifications

MassMutual Whole Life products are level premium, participating life insurance policies that provide a level, guaranteed face amount and guaranteed cash value accumulation for the lifetime of the insured. Learn more about how each policy differs in the chart that follows:

MEC Considerations for Face Amount Decreases

Federal tax law identifies a Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) as a life insurance policy with premium payments that have exceeded certain limits. Once classified as a MEC, a policy will always be a MEC. Partial surrenders and loans from a MEC are taxed as gain first and may be subject to a 10 percent tax penalty if the policyowner is under age 59½.

A face amount decrease may result in a retroactive reduction in the MEC limit, causing previously paid premiums to exceed the reduced MEC limit. Limited payment products, such as Whole Life 8³, 10, 12, 15, and 20 Pay are more vulnerable to becoming MECs because their annual premium requirements are quite large and often approach the MEC limit. For this reason, a face amount reduction on these policies is more likely to result in the policy becoming a MEC, especially when the policy has ALIR or PALIR attached.

Dividends and Dividend Options

Dividends vary based on gender, risk class, face amount band, issue age, duration and tax-qualified status. Dividends are not guaranteed. Dividend options currently available include:

Alternate Payment Option (APO)

The Alternate Payment Option, or APO, is a strategy to reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket premiums while maintaining a policy’s status as an active premium-paying contract. Under APO, dividends and, if necessary, partial surrenders of accumulated paid-up additions (PUAs) are used to pay premiums. It’s important to note that a dividend schedule change may increase or decrease the number of out-of-pocket premiums required to keep the policy in force.

Under a full APO, the policy must be on annual billing mode and must have sufficient dividends, plus cash value from paid-up additions to carry the policy for a full year.

Under a partial APO, a portion of the premium is paid in cash and the balance is paid from dividends and cash value of paid-up additions. A policy on partial APO can be billed annually, semi-annually or quarterly but cannot be paid monthly (preauthorized check, or PAC). The policy will be removed from APO if it does not have sufficient funds for the APO portion of the premium payment.

Even if a policy is being paid under an APO strategy, clients can still make out-of-pocket premium or rider payments (other than for LISR). APO is not available with group-billed policies.

1035 Exchanges and 1035 Exchanges with Loans

1035 exchanges are permitted as well as 1035 exchanges with loans. 1035 exchange amounts can be applied toward base premium (including RTR, GIR and WP), ALIR and/or LISR purchase payments.

1035 funds received will be applied to base policy, ALIR and LISR premiums as directed. The ALIR and LISR expense charges will be deducted from amounts applied to ALIR and LISR premiums.

If the policy being surrendered has a loan, the loan may be carried over to the new policy with the 1035 exchange, under the following conditions:

Note — If a policy with a loan is exchanged and the loan does not qualify for carry-over, the amount of the loan will be taxable to the extent of gain in the policy being exchanged.

Some riders, such as the RTR, LISR and ALIR or PALIR, may require or allow premium payments beyond the base policy premium paying period.

Rider specifications and features outlined here only apply to certain policies. Some riders are not available in all states.

Blending Term for the Right Amount of Coverage

MassMutual offers two term riders that provide life insurance protection with a lower premium than a whole life policy alone through a mix of permanent and term life insurance. The Life Insurance Supplement Rider (LISR) and the Renewable Term Rider (RTR) can each be attached to base whole life coverage to:

• Get the total coverage desired that may make coverage more affordable for your client;
• Increase the potential for premium flexibility; and
• Increase the policy’s Modified Endowment Contract (MEC) limit.

Life Insurance Supplement (LISR)

The Life Insurance Supplement Rider (LISR) allows clients to get the coverage they need at a price they can afford by providing a level death benefit composed of one-year term insurance and paid-up additions. This is called the Target Face Amount (TFA). LISR is available at or after issue. For policies with the LTCR, LISR is not available after issue. The LISR is funded with a combination of LISR premium payments and dividends. Since both the LISR term charges and dividends are not guaranteed, LISR premiums are not guaranteed. Each year, the mix of one-year term and paid-up additions (PUAs) changes — as the PUA face amount increases, the term decreases by the same amount, keeping the TFA level. At the crossover date, the paid-up additions balance equals the TFA, the term amount is zero and LISR is fully paid. LISR premiums may continue to be paid after the crossover date, subject to certain limitations.

The crossover target date can be selected by the policyowner and must be less than or equal to the insured’s attained age 100. A dividend reduction or increase in the LISR term rates may result in an increase in the crossover age, an increase in the LISR premium, or a decrease in TFA.

A whole life policy with the LISR will generally compete with a universal life insurance policy based on both premium and cash value accumulation. In addition, the term portion of the LISR may be converted to permanent insurance without evidence of insurability for up to 10 years, depending upon the issue age of the insured.

PUAs purchased by the base policy and LISR PUA dividends, LISR premium payments and, if applicable, a LISR lump sum purchase payment are all included in the LISR TFA. ALIR PUAs are not included in the LISR TFA.

Rider Specifications:

Issue Ages:

• 0 – 90 with Whole Life 100
• 0 – 60 with Whole Life 65
• 0 – 75 with Whole Life 8, 10, 12, 15 and 20 Pay
• 0 – 75 with Whole Life HECV

Target Face Amount:

• The LISR Target Face Amount (TFA) (death benefit) equals the combination of:
• One-year term insurance.
• LISR premium payment PUAs.
• Base policy dividend PUAs.
• LISR dividend PUAs.
• Minimum initial TFA is $50,000.
• Maximum TFA is 300% of the base policy face amount, subject to underwriting and reinsurance.

Conversions:

• The term portion of LISR may be converted in part or in total during the conversion period.
• The conversion period is the lesser of 10 years from the LISR effective date or to the insured’s attained age 65, if earlier.
• LISR may be converted to a non-qualified permanent policy with a level face amount, or to an increase segment on the base whole life policy.
• The LISR TFA will be reduced by the amount of term converted.

Rider Specifications:

Issue Ages:

• 18 – 60 Whole Life 65
• 18 – 75 Whole Life 100, Whole Life 8, 10, 12, 15, and 20 Pay, Whole Life HECV

Availability:

• Available only at issue.
• Available only in the non-qualified market.

Minimum and Maximum Rider Size:

• RTR minimum face amount is $100,000.
• RTR maximum face amount is 20 times the base policy face amount, subject to reinsurance and retention limits.
• The minimum face amount of a whole life policy to which the RTR can be attached is $25,000 ($100,000 for Whole Life HECV).

Premium Billing:

• Billing frequency must be the same as the base policy.
• Premiums are payable to attained age 95.

Premium rates:

• The RTR has both current and guaranteed maximum premiums.
• The current premiums are the rates paid by the policyowner. They are not guaranteed and can be changed in any policy year, but can never exceed the guaranteed premium.
• The current rates are level for 10 years, then increase annually. The guaranteed rates increase annually in all years.
• The rider is rated the same as the base policy with Table Ratings through P and permanent or temporary flat extra premiums.
• Permanent substandard extra premiums, as well as flat extras, are payable to attained age 65 or for 20 years, if later (not to exceed age 100).

Conversions:

• The RTR may be converted in full or part on an original age basis during the first five policy years.
• The RTR may be converted for the earlier of the first 10 policy years or to age 65, but not less than two policy years.
• Partial RTR conversions must leave at least $50,000 of the rider in force.
• A term policy or rider can be converted to a whole life policy with the RTR attached.
• However, the maximum RTR on the new policy may not be more than the base policy face amount.

Waiver of Premium (WP)

The Waiver of Premium Rider (WP) provides that premiums for the base policy and all riders (excluding any ALIR or PALIR premium) will be waived if the insured becomes totally disabled, as defined in the rider. If the insured qualifies for the WP benefit, the policy cash value growth and dividend payments will be the same as if policyowner were paying premiums out of pocket.

Premiums:

• Rates vary by issue age, gender, risk class and band.
• Rider rates per $1,000 of face amount vary depending on if the rider coverage is for the base policy, RTR or GIR.
• For LISR, rider rates are per $100 of LISR premium.
• Premiums are payable to attained age 65 with the last premium due at attained age 64, or for the base policy premium payment period, if earlier.

Availability:

• Available at or after issue.
• Rider terminates at age 65 (or at the end of the premium payment period, if sooner).
• Available on rated policies:
• No higher than Table F.
• Flat extra not greater than $10 per $1,000.
• May be rated 1.5, 2 or 3 times the standard rate.
• Rating may be permanent or temporary.

Limits:

• For Whole Life 8, 10, 12, and 15 Pay:
• The maximum limit is $6 million of total face amount for issue ages 0-49, and $4 million of total face amount for issue ages 50-59, but cannot exceed the Company retention limit.
• For Whole Life 20 Pay, Whole Life 65, HECV, and Whole Life 100:
• The maximum limit is $8 million of total face amount for issue ages 0-49, and $5 million of total face amount for issue ages 50-59, but cannot exceed the Company retention limit.
• The maximum limit includes the base face amount, plus the LISR target amount, plus the RTR face amount.
• No face amount increase will be allowed if it pushes the sum of these over the limit.
• A new policy without the WP must be issued for any face amount that exceeds the maximum limit.

Additional Life Insurance (ALIR)

The Additional Life Insurance Rider (ALIR) allows the policyowner to purchase additional participating paid-up whole life insurance, also called paid-up additions (PUAs). ALIR increases the policy’s death benefit and accelerates cash value growth. Policyowners often choose to make Scheduled ALIR Payments in order to accumulate additional PUAs that they can later surrender and use the cash value to pay premiums.

Specific durations for Scheduled Payments can be set at issue, up to a maximum of age 90. For example, policyowners can apply to pay their Scheduled Payment for 10 years, which could result in less financial underwriting for larger cases. The amount and/or duration of Scheduled Payments can be increased, subject to satisfactory evidence of insurability and the maximum duration up to attained age 90.

There are limits on the amount of ALIR premium that we will accept at issue that are based on the whole life policy premium. For details regarding the current ALIR premium limits see the ALIR Fieldnet page. ALIR is available at or after issue. ALIR purchase payments may be increased, decreased or skipped and caught up within limits, and may be Scheduled or Unscheduled. ALIR premiums can result in the policy becoming a MEC.

Availability:

• Can be attached at or anytime after issue.
• Available with table ratings OR flat extras.
• Flat extras are converted to table ratings.
• Multiple ratings (table and flat extra together) are not allowed.
• ALIR is available with the LTCR. However, the ALIR face amount cannot be accelerated as rider benefits.

Premium Expense Charge:

• For Whole Life 8, 10, and 15 Pay:
• An expense charge of 7.5% is deducted from each ALIR premium payment, guaranteed not to exceed 7.5%.
• For Whole Life 12 Pay and 20 Pay, Whole Life 65, HECV, and Whole Life 100:
• An expense charge of 10% is deducted from each ALIR premium payment, guaranteed not to exceed 10%.

Billing Frequency:

• Billing frequency must be the same as the base policy.
• If money from a 1035 exchange is used for the first Scheduled ALIR payment, the billing frequency must be annual in the first year.
• Beginning with the next anniversary, ALIR will be changed automatically to match the policy’s billing frequency.

Payments for an amount greater than the Scheduled Payment will be accepted without written request or evidence of insurability if all of the following conditions are met:

• The attained age of the insured is less than 65.
• The rider payment is made after the third policy year.
• The rider payment is made on a policy anniversary date.
• The increase in the Scheduled Payment over the prior year does not exceed the lesser of:
• 10% of the Scheduled Payment, or
• 10% of the total rider payments made in the prior policy year, less any applicable modal charges, and then modified to reflect the premium frequency in effect for the policy.

Total increases in the Scheduled Annual Payment obtained without evidence of insurability from the rider issue date may not exceed 100% of the initial Scheduled Annual Payment in effect when the rider was issued. For example, if the Scheduled Annual Payment is $1,000 at the time the rider is issued, the Scheduled Annual Payment may be increased by 10% each year up to $2,000 in total but not more, assuming the Scheduled Annual Payment has not decreased.

If the above conditions are not met, evidence of insurability is required to increase the Scheduled Payment amount.

Scheduled Payments will be used to purchase paid-up additions effective on the policy anniversary.

Unscheduled Payments:

In addition to the Scheduled Payment, an Unscheduled “catch-up” Payment may be made without written request or evidence of insurability if all of the following conditions are met:

An Unscheduled Payment will be used to purchase additional PUAs as of the effective date of the payment.

Order of Rider Payments:

Rider payments made on a policy anniversary date will be applied in the following order:

1.   | Scheduled Payment.
2.  | Unscheduled Payment without evidence of insurability.
3.  | Increase in Scheduled Payment without evidence of insurability.
4.  | Unscheduled Payment with evidence of insurability.

ALIR Premium Payment Examples:

Termination:

The rider will terminate if:

• The base policy terminates for any reason.
• The base policy is no longer in full force (Extended Term or Reduced Paid-Up).
• The face amount of all ALIR PUAs is surrendered.

Waiver Benefit:

• ALIR payments are not waived under the WP rider.

Planned Additional Life Insurance (PALIR)

PALIR is a version of ALIR that provides additional flexibility. All of the provisions of ALIR apply to PALIR, except as outlined below.

Unlike ALIR, PALIR Premium Payments are not required to coincide with the base policy Premium Payments. PALIR premiums may be paid anytime during the policy year, over a specific number of years. The maximum PALIR payments allowed during the first two policy years will be the amount we approve at issue. Beginning in policy years three and later, the maximum PALIR payments allowed will be the greater of the total PALIR payments received during either of the previous two policy years. The catch-up provision and flexibility of scheduled ALIR are not available with PALIR.

Availability:

LTCAccess^SM Rider (LTCR)

The LTCAccess Rider (LTCR) allows policyowners to accelerate the payment of a portion of their policy death benefit during their lifetime to help pay for covered long term care services. Accelerating benefits under the LTCR will reduce the policy’s death benefit and the cash surrender value. The LTCR is available for an affordable additional premium.

The rider provides coverage for both home and facility care, on a reimbursement-type basis. It allows policyowners to accelerate the payment of both a portion of their base policy face amount and, if elected, the face amount of paid-up additions purchased by base policy dividends. Dividends are not guaranteed.

The LTCR adds a valuable living benefit to a Whole Life Series policy, and it is an additional reason for your clients to own MassMutual whole life insurance.

Issue Ages:

• The rider is available for issue ages 18–79, or maximum issue age for the base product, if less.
• For issue ages 64 and older, a cognitive assessment via telephone interview will be required.
• The LTCR is issued on a gender-distinct basis in all states except Montana, where it is issued unisex.

How the Rider Works:

Policyowners may elect to make up to 90 percent of their policy face amount available for acceleration as rider benefits. This is their Base Benefit Pool. The portion that is not available for acceleration is their Residual Face Amount, which must be at least $25,000.

The initial Maximum Monthly Benefit amount for the rider is determined by choosing a Selected Benefit Period of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 10 years. The Base Benefit Pool divided by the Selected Benefit Period (in months) equals the initial Maximum Monthly Benefit (MMB). The MMB is the most that the policyowner can accelerate as LTCR benefits in a given month. The minimum MMB is $3,000, and the maximum at issue is $30,000.

Policyowners who elect to use their dividends to purchase paid-up additions (PUAs) may choose to make the face amount of these additions available for acceleration. This is called the Dividends Benefit Pool, and it can be accelerated once the Base Benefit Pool has been exhausted. The Dividend Benefit Pool is not available on policies with LISR. There is a charge against each dividend applied to purchase PUAs that are included in the Dividends Benefit Pool. The Base Benefit Pool plus the Dividends Benefit Pool (if any) represents the Total Benefit Pool. If paid-up additions that are in the Dividends Benefit Pool are surrendered, they will no longer be available for acceleration as LTCR benefits.

Policyowners may elect the Maximum Monthly Benefit Increase Option (MMBIO), which increases the MMB each year by a flat amount equal to 4% of the MMB at issue. MMBIO increases begin on the insured’s attained age 61 policy anniversary (or on the first anniversary for issue ages 61 and older) and continue for 25 years. MMBIO increases will continue even if the policyowner is receiving LTCR benefits.

There will also be an Annual Premium Credit based on the face amount that has been accelerated as benefits. This will reduce the amount of premium that the policyowner needs to pay each year. The Annual Premium Credit is equal to the premiums associated with the face amount that has been accelerated, excluding any substandard (table or flat extra) base policy premiums.

Since the policy face amount is not actually reduced when benefit payments are made, the policyowner continues to earn dividends for the full base policy and PUA face amounts, even if LTCR benefits have been paid.

The policyowner may borrow against the policy cash value that is not subject to an LTCR cash value lien at any time.

Care Coordination Services

MassMutual will provide Care Coordination services at no cost to a policyowner with the LTCR. Care Coordination is an additional benefit designed to help relieve some level of stress for the insured and their family when it comes to initiating and maintaining various care services.

A Care Coordinator will:

• Assist in developing a plan of care.
• Coordinate appropriate services.
• Monitor ongoing delivery of such services.

Care Coordination services may begin prior to satisfying the 90-day Elimination or Waiting Period. The cost of these services will be billed directly to MassMutual and will not reduce the LTCR Benefit Pool. The insured is not required to use Care Coordination services in order to receive LTC benefits under the rider.

Reduced Paid-Up Policy with LTCR

Reduced Paid-Up (RPU) is the only non-forfeiture option available for a policy with the LTCR. Reduced Paid-up LTCR benefits may continue to be available.

The Base Benefit Amount will be reduced in the same proportion as the reduction in the base policy face amount (excluding any Paid-up Additions). Any Paid-up Additions that were available for acceleration will be added to the Base Benefit Amount. If Accelerated Benefit Payments were made from the Base Benefit Amount prior to lapse, they will be deducted from the new Base Benefit Amount for the RPU policy.

If the policy had a loan, and the loan is not carried over to the paid-up policy, the Base Benefit Amount will be further reduced based on the amount of paid-up insurance that could be purchased by the amount of the loan.

The Maximum Monthly Benefit (and any annual increases from the MMBIO) will be reduced by the same proportion as the ratio of the base policy value at the time of lapse to the net single premium for the base policy face amount just prior to lapse.

The Residual Face Amount will equal the RPU face amount less the new Base Benefit Pool. The Dividends Benefit Pool will be set to zero, and any future paid-up additions purchased with policy dividends will not be available for acceleration as LTCR benefits. The Maximum Lifetime Rider Benefit will be equal to the new Base Benefit Pool.

If you have a policyowner with the LTCR who wants to lapse to a reduced paid-up policy, you should provide them with an inforce illustration showing the impact of the lapse to RPU on both the policy and LTCR benefits.

Accelerating the payment of the policy death benefit under the LTCR may affect eligibility for public assistance programs and may be taxable. Clients should consult with their tax advisor when accelerating benefits.

Rider Specifications:

Issue Ages:

• 0–40

Availability:

• GIR may be attached at or after policy issue.
• If the rider is attached after policy issue and not on a policy anniversary, the date of attachment will be the rider issue date, and option dates will correspond to the rider issue date.
• The risk class must be the same or better than the original class for after-issue attachment.
• GIR is not available with table ratings.
• GIR is available with non-medical flat extras up to $50 per $1,000.
• When a new policy is issued, the new policy will carry the same rating as the original.
• If the flat extra is temporary and has expired, the new policy will be standard.
• GIR is not available if the policy’s waiver of premium is rated.

Premiums:

• GIR premiums vary by issue age and gender.
• The GIR has a level premium from the issue date of the rider through the insured’s attained age 45, not to exceed the base policy premium payment period.
• GIR premium is added to the base policy’s premium, along with any other rider premiums.

Waiver Benefit:

• If a disability occurs and the base policy premiums are waived, the GIR premiums are waived.
• If a policyowner is on disability at the time of regular option dates, the GIR will still be eligible for exercise.
• Premiums on the new policy will be waived during the period of disability.

Other Riders

Transfer of Insured Rider

The Transfer of Insured Rider (TIR) allows the owner to substitute a new insured for the current insured under the policy. There must be an insurable interest between the owner and the new insured. The new insured cannot be older than 75 and evidence of insurability must be provided.

There is no cost for this rider. However, there is a fee to exercise it. It is automatically included at issue in approved states.

Exercising the TIR results in a policy exchange that does not qualify as an IRC Section 1035 exchange. As a result, the cash value of the policy being exchanged will be taxable to the extent of any gain.

Accelerated Death Benefit for Terminal Illness Rider

The Accelerated Death Benefit for Terminal Illness Rider (ABR) allows the policyowner to receive an advance of the policy death benefit if the insured has a terminal illness, expected to result in death within 12 months (in most states). The proceeds may be used for any purpose, including to pay medical and living expenses of the insured. In most instances, more funds will be available through this rider than through a loan or surrender.

There is no cost for this rider. However, the benefit amount will be reduced by any applicable interest charge and processing fee. In approved states, the ABR is automatically included at issue.

Accelerating the payment of the policy death benefit under the ABR may affect eligibility for public assistance programs and may be taxable. Clients should consult with their tax advisor when accelerating benefits.

Yearly Term Purchase Rider (YTP)

When the one-year term dividend option is selected, the Yearly Term Purchase Rider (YTP) is automatically attached to a whole life policy. At the beginning of each policy year, all or part of the base policy dividend (including any dividend paid on paid-up additions) for the previous year is used to purchase one-year term insurance.

If the dividend is sufficient, the amount of term insurance purchased is equal to the policy’s guaranteed cash value at the end of the year. Any excess dividend is applied to the secondary dividend option specified.

If the dividend is not sufficient to purchase one-year term for the full guaranteed cash value, the amount of term insurance will be the amount the dividend can purchase.

The YTP has the same issue age limits and ratings as the base policy. It can be attached at or after issue, subject to underwriting.

The term coverage purchased by the YTP is not convertible.