Riders and Programs for Life Insurance

How can you tailor a life insurance policy to meet your unique needs?

You add something extra to it − like an optional rider or program. Riders and options offer additional coverage and protection on select life products at an additional charge.

Accidental Death Benefit rider

This rider pays an additional amount on top of the regular death benefit if the insured person dies in an accident.

Adjusted Sales Load rider

This rider lets the policy owner defer the usual sales load charge and spread it out over a selected number of years.

The rider must be elected when the policy is issued. The rider cost increases with the amount of sales load that is deferred. Please refer to your insurance contract, product prospectus, or investment professional for specific details. Your investment professional can answer your questions and provide you with illustrations demonstrating the impact of purchasing the rider.

Child rider

This rider pays a benefit upon the death of the children of the insured person.

Nationwide Allocation Architect^® (NAA)

NAA is an asset allocation service, sponsored by Nationwide Investment Advisors, LLC, that lets you invest your variable life contract assets according to one of five asset allocation models ­ saving you time and effort. You and your investment professional choose a model that fits your needs and goals, and leave the rest to the pros. Read more about NAA (PDF).

The use of diversification and asset allocation as part of an overall investment strategy does not assure a profit or protect against loss in a declining market.

Nationwide Investment Advisors, LLC (NIA), an SEC-registered investment advisor, serves as the investment advisor to each participating policy owner solely for the purpose of offering the Nationwide Allocation Architect^® (NAA) program models. NIA has limited discretionary investment authority over a contract owner’s NAA program account, to allocate and rebalance variable contract assets in accordance with the model selected by the policy owner.

Premium Waiver rider

If the insured person becomes disabled, this rider credits a monthly premium to a policy after the six-month elimination period is met. There is a maximum premium amount that this rider will pay that is based on the policy amount, and this rider does not guarantee that the policy will not lapse due to insufficient premium or market experience. Please refer to your insurance contract or talk to your insurance or investment professional for details about this rider.

Waiver of Monthly Deductions rider

This rider pays all monthly deductions while the insured person is disabled. It doesn’t pay the full premium, just the monthly deductions, and it won’t add to cash value.

Additional Protection rider

This rider provides additional term coverage on the insured person. The amount of additional protection coverage you can buy depends on the amount of the base policy coverage. Please refer to your insurance contract, product prospectus, or investment professional for specific details. Your investment professional can answer your questions and provide you with illustrations showing the impact of purchasing coverage under the rider.

Change of Insured rider

This rider allows the policy owner to change the insured on the policy while it’s in force. This is usually used by businesses that insure a key person and may want to switch the insured when an employee is replaced.

It’s important to note that changing the insured may cause a taxable event for the policy owner. Neither the company nor its representatives give legal or tax advice. Please consult your attorney or tax advisor for answers to specific questions.

Long-term Care rider

This rider lets the policy owner take part of the death benefit to pay for nursing home care and home health care of the insured person, while still leaving at least a partial death benefit to the beneficiaries. The long-term care benefit is paid whenever qualifying conditions and the 90-day waiting period, known as the elimination period, are met. Benefit payments under this rider reduce the policy's death benefit.

If the insured never needs long-term care, the beneficiaries receive the full death benefit as they would with any typical life insurance policy. Read more about the Long-term Care Rider.

Spouse rider

This rider provides level term insurance on the insured’s spouse. It can be converted to its own whole life policy at certain times and within certain age limits. This rider will terminate when the base policy ends or the spouse reaches a certain age. Please check the insurance contract for specific details.

Life insurance is issued by Nationwide Life Insurance Company or Nationwide Life and Annuity Company, Columbus, Ohio. Riders may not be available in all states. Protections and guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the Nationwide Life Insurance Company.