Understand what your whole life policy is actually returning.

Calculate the IRR.
Compare the alternative.
Stress-test your assumptions.

Enter a few details from your policy and get a comprehensive data-driven report — no recommendations, just the numbers.

In a few minutes, you’ll see:
The annualized return on your policy at key ages
How it compares to a simple alternative strategy
When different approaches converge over time
· One-time, $39
· No subscription
· Math only — no advice
· Data not retained long-term
Free Preview — IRR To Date
If you surrendered today, this is the realized annualized return on what you've paid in.
Your IRR to date will appear here
This preview uses three inputs. The full report uses your complete illustration data and projects forward.
How It Works

From illustration to interactive analysis in three steps.

No uploads, no calls—just your policy details and a few minutes.
01

Enter your policy data

A short form captures the key details from your policy illustration: premiums, years paid, and projected values at future ages. Most people complete it in about 5-10 minutes with their illustration in hand.

Step-by-step guidance is included for major carriers, with general instructions for others.

02

The math runs

The tool calculates your policy’s return over time, estimates the cost of comparable term life insurance coverage, and builds a side-by-side comparison using return assumptions that you control.

We use the same Internal Rate of Return (IRR) framework financial analysts have applied to whole life policies for decades. The math is transparent, and every output ties directly back to your inputs.

03

Read the report

Your full analysis opens as an interactive report. Adjust return assumptions, toggle between more conservative scenarios, or change term coverage. Every table and chart updates live.

The report maps out the math and head-to-head comparisons, giving you the structured data required to evaluate your options. Your report ends where your decision begins.

One-time. No subscription. No account required.

What's In The Report

Four sections. All math. No recommendations.

The report cuts through the noise. It presents the numbers in context, lays out assumptions clearly, and shows the results without telling you what to do.

1
Your Policy Today
Premium totals, current surrender value, death benefit, and a live IRR snapshot — bringing key metrics together in a single view.
2
Policy Value Performance
IRR at every key age horizon in a single table. Compare the contract's guaranteed minimums (what you are legally promised) against the current dividend scale (what is projected), side by side.
3
Alternative Scenario Modeling
Explore your existing whole life policy against a standard term-life and investment model. Adjust coverage controls and theoretical return assumptions to see how the numbers play out over time. Every chart updates live based on your inputs.
4
Assumptions & Limitations
Every assumption is stated explicitly. The math is transparent. The report never tells you what to do.
Your Full Analysis
Northwestern Mutual · Male, 32 · Preferred
Your Policy Today
Current Standing
Total Premiums Paid$12,167
Current Policy Value$9,088
Death Benefit$155,331
Net Position−$3,079
Projected Return
3.47%
Annualized return on premiums over 20 years
Policy Value Performance
AgeGuaranteedEstimatedIRR
45$30,186$45,0042.21%
55$53,603$96,8633.47%
65$83,616$183,7374.28%
WHAT USERS OFTEN DISCOVER

Three things the math tends to surface.

Every policy is unique. Mapping its historical and carrier-projected cash flows brings to light the underlying math in ways that may not be visible from the illustration alone.

The 'return' in your illustration most likely ignores the cost of your premiums.

Illustrations often highlight the growth rate of the cash value alone, while omitting the premiums you paid to build it. Our IRR calculation treats every premium payment as a cash outflow. This provides the net annualized return on your total out-of-pocket cost—not just the growth of the policy’s internal balance.

Comparative Modeling can be tedious to run manually.

Comparing your policy to a 'term and invest' strategy is a standard benchmark, yet modeling it accurately is a complex spreadsheet exercise. It requires precise term rates, year-by-year compounding, and realistic market assumptions. The tool automates the calculation and lets you stress-test the assumption.

Early-year cash values are a fraction of premiums paid.

Whole life policies carry front-loaded commissions and fees, so surrender values in the first several years are typically below cumulative premiums. We map this gap explicitly, allowing you to see the precise year your policy's cash value reaches parity with your total out-of-pocket payments.

Why This Exists

I built this because I ran the math on my own policy.

I bought a whole life policy in my mid-twenties and was spending about $1,800 a year in premiums for a $155,000 death benefit. My agent walked me through the illustration. At a glance, it seemed reasonable.

I spent my career analyzing business cash flows and capital structures. When I applied that same framework to my own policy, I saw that eight years of premiums still exceeded the surrender value. I decided to model the math myself.

The process took weeks: reconstructing the premium schedule, calculating returns across multiple time horizons, estimating comparable term coverage, and modeling an invest-the-difference alternative under different assumptions. That’s when it became clear — there was no reason this analysis should be so difficult or inaccessible.

This tool is what that work should have been: a clear, structured report with assumptions stated plainly and the numbers presented in context. It doesn’t tell you what to do. It shows you what the math says.

Analysis framework
Standard IRR
Applied to your policy's specific cash flows
Assumptions
All visible
Adjust them; the report updates
Output
Math only
No recommendations, no decision framework
Pricing

One analysis. One price.

No subscription. No account required. Pay once, get the full report... and the interactive model that goes with it.

Full Analysis
$39
One-time · No subscription · No account required
What you walk away with
1
You'll know your policy's IRR at every key age horizon.
Past performance and forward projections, side by side. Both the contractual minimum (guaranteed) and the insurer's projected dividend scenario (current scale), are visible.
2
You'll see what an alternative strategy projects to — priced to your profile.
Term rates priced to your age, gender, and health class. Year-by-year compounding at a return assumption you control.
3
You'll understand how outcomes shift under different assumptions.
A single slider controls the investment return assumption from 2% to 10%, with optional tax drag. Every table and chart updates live.
4
You'll have the math to ask better questions.
Of your agent, your advisor, or yourself. The report ends where decisions begin — it doesn't cross into them.
· Secure checkout via Stripe
· Instant access
· Data not retained long-term
For fee-only financial planners: A professional tier with unlimited analyses and co-branded reports is in development. Request early access →
FAQ

Common questions, straight answers.

Put the numbers on the page.

Ten minutes of data entry. An interactive, assumption-transparent report. $39, once.

One-time payment. No subscription. No account required.