01 / Review coverage
Tell us about what you own. Start with the AI advisor today; self-serve illustration upload and form intake are planned for the authenticated portal. We analyze independently of what we'd earn on any recommendation. We come back with hold, modify, replace, or surrender, with the commission to mnw disclosed on every option. If hold is the right answer, we say so and we earn nothing.
02 / The service
mnw will review your existing life-insurance or annuity policy and tell you whether it's still doing its job. We accept in-force illustrations from any U.S. carrier we can identify (which is most of them), and we read older policy contracts where the carrier no longer issues new business under that product.
The review is independent of what we'd earn on any recommendation. We are a brokerage. We earn commission when we place new business. We earn nothing on a Hold recommendation. We earn nothing on a Surrender that goes back to the carrier instead of into a new contract. The Analyzer cannot read from the commission database. The audit log proves it on every case. (Full detail at /our-promise Section 02.)
The categorical commitment: when the right answer is Hold, we say so and we earn nothing on the case. The industry standard is to recommend a 1035 exchange or a replacement almost every time. We do not.
03 / Intake
We need enough information about your existing policy to analyze it. The current public flow starts with the advisor call; self-serve upload and form intake are planned authenticated portal continuations for review cases.
Future document upload will let you attach your most recent in-force illustration from the carrier, typically a 30 to 50 page PDF, from the authenticated portal. Recent annual statements will work too.
A future structured intake form will cover the basics: carrier, product, face amount, premium, policy year, and in-force performance versus illustration if you know it.
A 20-minute voice conversation. The agent asks about the policy: when you bought it, what you bought it for, whether it's been tracking what the original agent said. If documents are needed, we tell you exactly what to send next.
Start with the advisor call today. Have us look at your coverage → opens the confirmed-call flow.
04 / Analysis
Once we have the policy details from any channel, the Analyzer agent runs. Two AI agents, not one. The Analyzer reads your situation and writes the recommendation; the Placement agent reads the recommendation and places the business. Information flows one way. The Analyzer can't read what we'd earn on any recommendation. (Full detail at /our-promise Section 02.)
The review looks at five things:
In-force performance versus the original illustration. The original agent showed you a projection. We compare it to what happened. Cash value, dividend credits (if applicable), policy charges, surrender charges, and the trajectory all get measured against the original numbers. If the gap is material, we say so. If the gap is acceptable for the product class and the policy year, we say so.
Suitability for your situation now. The policy may have been suitable when you bought it. We check whether your situation has changed in ways that change the answer. New dependents, a different income trajectory, a paid-off mortgage, a divorce, a sale of a business, a windfall. Suitability is not a one-time check.
Replacement math, if there is any. If replacement is on the table, a 1035 exchange, surrender and reinvest, or a parallel new policy, we show our work. Surrender charges. Cost basis. A new contestability window. A new suicide-exclusion window. A new round of commission. New underwriting risk. The replacement disclosures that any honest broker has to make are baked into the document, and we hold ourselves to the strictest state's version.
Tax treatment. Cash-value growth, policy loans, dividend treatment, IRC Section 1035 if applicable, and any state-specific tax interactions. We do not provide tax advice; we identify the points where you should talk to your CPA before deciding.
Carrier financial health. A-rated and above is standard; we flag any carrier-rating downgrade since you bought the policy and what it means for your specific contract.
If your annuity is inside an IRA. The review is a different question than reviewing a non-qualified policy, and we treat it that way. We document what you'd give up by moving the money: fees inside and outside the contract, any guarantees you'd lose, what the alternatives look like, before any recommendation comes back to you.
The pipeline does not see what we'd earn on any of these decisions. The audit log proves it on every case.
05 / Recommendation
One of four recommendations, the reasoning, the math, and the commission to mnw on every option.
The recommendation comes back as a structured document, delivered by email and walked through with you on the call.
The recommendation is one of four:
Hold. The policy is doing its job. Keep it. mnw earns nothing on this recommendation. This is the most common honest answer for a well-designed policy from a top-tier mutual carrier.
Modify. The policy is doing most of its job but a specific change would help: increase or decrease the paid-up additions rider, change the premium frequency, exercise a guaranteed insurability option, add a chronic-illness rider where the carrier offers one. We model the change and show the math. mnw earns a small commission on most rider changes; the document shows the dollar amount.
Replace. The policy is materially under-performing or mis-designed for your situation. A specific replacement (often a 1035 exchange into a better-designed contract on our shelf) would serve you better. We model the replacement in full, including surrender charges, cost basis, new contestability, new suicide-exclusion, new commission load. The document shows mnw's commission on the replacement in dollars. We do not recommend replace unless the math is decisive after all of the friction is counted.
Surrender. The policy is not doing any meaningful job, the cost of carrying it exceeds the benefit, and replacement does not solve the problem. We model the surrender, the tax treatment, and where the cash should go (typically not into a new insurance product). mnw earns nothing on a surrender that does not roll into a new contract.
| Option | First yr | Ongoing/yr | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hold (recommended) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Modify · add PUA rider | $185 | $42 | $595 |
| Replace · 1035 exchange | $1,420 | $310 | $4,520 |
| Surrender (no rollover) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
06 / Commission
Every recommendation document we send you carries a commission disclosure for every option. The disclosure renders in dollars: first-year, ongoing-year, and lifetime, exactly as it does on a new-coverage illustration.
A Hold recommendation has a $0 commission line. A Surrender-without-rollover recommendation has a $0 commission line. A Modify or Replace recommendation has a real dollar figure; the document shows that figure side by side with the Hold and Surrender alternatives so you can see what we'd earn under each path.
This is the part that distinguishes the review motion from the industry standard. The industry standard hides commission. We render it on the same document as the recommendation, in the same units, with every alternative visible. (Full operational detail at /our-promise Section 04.)
07 / What we review
We can analyze most U.S. life-insurance and annuity products from carriers active in the last 50 years. We can read in-force illustrations from any U.S. carrier we can identify by NAIC code.
The review motion accepts the following product types at launch:
If your policy is not on this list, tell us what it is; we'll let you know whether we can review it.
08 / The hold case
The review motion exists in large part because the industry-standard recommendation is "replace this policy with one of mine." We expect a meaningful share of our review cases to close as "hold." The metric matters: a review service that almost never recommends Hold is selling replacements, not analyzing honestly.
When we recommend Hold, the document explains why. The carrier's dividend scale is solid. The policy design is appropriate for your situation. The in-force performance is tracking the original illustration. Replacement would cost you more than it would gain. The Hold recommendation comes with the reasoning, the supporting math, and a $0 commission line for mnw.
"A review service that almost never recommends Hold is selling replacements, not analyzing honestly."
A Hold recommendation does not mean "never review again." We suggest a follow-up review at policy year 10 (or earlier if your situation changes materially), and we keep the file. If you come back in three years and the answer has changed, we'll tell you.
The Hold case is the case that proves the review motion is honest. If you've been through a review elsewhere and the answer was "replace," and the math we run says "hold," we'll show you the math and you can decide. If the math we run says "replace," we'll show you the math too; the difference is that the commission disclosure is on the same page.
09 / Frequently asked
Will you recommend I keep my policy, even if it means you earn nothing?
Yes. Hold is a real recommendation with a $0 commission line. We log the case the same way we log a transacted case. Our annual case-distribution publish (the first publish lands in the year after our first full operating year) will report the share of review cases that closed as Hold. The Hold rate is the metric that proves the service is honest.
Can I get a review without disclosing my full financial situation?
Yes, for a basic in-force review. We need enough about your existing policy and your reason for asking to give you a useful answer. A full review (whether Hold is the right answer given everything in your life, beyond the question of whether the policy itself is performing) needs the broader picture: dependents, income, other coverage, retirement timeline. The fuller the picture, the more useful the answer.
Do you charge for the review?
No. The review is free. The conversation, the analysis, and the recommendation document are all free. We are paid by carrier commission when we place new business. We are not paid on Hold or on Surrender-without-rollover recommendations.
What if I want a second opinion on what you recommended?
Ask. We can connect you with a licensed human producer for a deeper conversation, or you can take the recommendation document to your RIA, CPA, or estate attorney. We design the document to read clearly to a professional third party.
Can you review my annuity, including one inside an IRA?
Yes. We review annuities the same way we review life insurance: Hold, Modify, Replace, or Surrender, with the commission to mnw shown on every option, including the $0 on Hold. If the annuity sits inside an IRA, the review documents what you'd give up by moving the money: fees inside and outside the contract, any guarantees you'd lose, what the alternatives look like. The licensed human reads the case before any recommendation comes back to you.
How will illustration upload work?
Self-serve illustration upload is planned for the authenticated portal. The most common document is an in-force ledger from the carrier, typically called an "in-force illustration" or "in-force ledger" by your carrier. Today, start with the advisor call and we will tell you exactly what document is needed.
What if my policy is from a carrier you don't have on your shelf?
We can still review it. We are licensed as a brokerage in 27 states (and 22 more in active state review); we don't need an appointment with the issuing carrier to read the policy and tell you whether it's doing its job. We do need to be appointed with the destination carrier if you decide to replace. The full state and carrier appointment list is at /licensing.
10 / Next step
Start with the advisor call today. Planned upload and form continuations will route to the same analysis pipeline when they ship. The commission is on every recommendation. The Hold recommendation is real.