The Companies Selling Life Insurance and Annuities Pay Dividends Too. $55,000 in Each of These 3 Pays $5,451 a Year
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Plenty of retirees have paid life insurance premiums for decades, and some have handed an insurer a lump sum in exchange for an annuity check. The companies taking in that money trade publicly and share their profits with stockholders every quarter. Investing $55,000 in each of three of them, $165,000 in total, would produce about $5,451 a year in dividends.
A life insurer takes in premiums now and pays claims years later. Meanwhile, it invests the money, mostly in bonds and loans, and keeps the difference between what the portfolio earns and what it owes. An annuity works the same way: a customer hands over savings, and the insurer promises payments, often for life. In October, 24/7 Wall St. covered property and casualty insurers, which face sudden storm and accident losses. Life insurers carry slower, more predictable obligations, and these three also take in fees for running retirement plans and managing money.
A $55,000 stake in each would produce the following. Prices are from the Nov. 12, 2026 close, and yields are forward yields based on the latest regular quarterly dividend.
MetLife
- Stock #3: MetLife (NYSE:MET | MET Price Prediction)
- Yield: 2.33% (forward, $101.87 close)
- Shares for $55,000: 539.90
- Annual Passive Income: ~$1,280
MetLife sells group life, disability and dental coverage through employers, plus pension risk transfers, structured settlements and institutional annuities in more than 40 markets.
The quarterly dividend is $0.5925, up from $0.5675, or $2.37 a year, and MetLife has raised it every year since paying $0.42 in 2019. Third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.78 per share sit well above that payout, and the company returned roughly $1 billion, including $380 million in dividends and $650 million in buybacks. One plain risk: variable investment income reached $720 million pretax last quarter and moves with markets.
Principal Financial Group
- Stock #2: Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG)
- Yield: 3.01% (forward, $112.97 close)
- Shares for $55,000: 486.85
- Annual Passive Income: ~$1,655
Principal serves about 84 million customers, focusing on retirement plans for small and mid-sized businesses, plus asset management, Latin American pensions, specialty benefits, and life insurance.
The quarterly dividend rose to $0.85 from $0.84, or $3.40 a year. Principal raised it at the 2025 and 2026 payments, up from $0.54 in 2019, after holding at $0.64 through 2022. Management targets a 40% payout ratio, and the company ended the third quarter with more than $1.5 billion of excess and available capital. One plain risk: weaker variable investment income and International Pension results held third-quarter operating EPS to $2.22, missing the $2.43 consensus.
Prudential Financial
- Stock #1: Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU)
- Yield: 4.57% (forward, $122.41 close)
- Shares for $55,000: 449.31
- Annual Passive Income: ~$2,516
Prudential sells annuities, pension risk transfers, and life insurance; runs the asset manager PGIM; and owns Gibraltar Life and Prudential of Japan.
The quarterly dividend is $1.40, up from $1.35, or $5.60 a year, and Prudential has raised it every year since paying $1.00 in 2019. A one-time $0.3516 payment in August 2026 sits outside that schedule and isn’t included here. Third-quarter after-tax adjusted operating income was $3.77 per share, and the company held $4 billion in cash and liquid assets against a $3 billion minimum. One plain risk is Japan, where a sales suspension cut third-quarter adjusted operating income by $140 million, though the CFO said it will have “no impact on cash flows or dividends out of the Japan businesses.”
Risks Facing All Three Payouts
All three hold large bond portfolios, so lower interest rates reduce what new premiums earn, and stock or credit market slumps can cut fees and cause loan losses. Annuities add longevity risk: if customers live longer than expected, the insurer pays for more years than planned. Dividends from domestic companies are generally treated as qualified dividend income under federal law and taxed at capital gains rates once holding-period rules are met.
Where $5,451 a Year Comes From
| Name | Forward Yield | Annual Dividend Income |
|---|---|---|
| MetLife | 2.33% | $1,280 |
| Principal Financial Group | 3.01% | $1,655 |
| Prudential Financial | 4.57% | $2,516 |
| Total | 3.30% | $5,451 |
Combined, these 3 positions produce $5,451 of income per year on a $165,000 investment, a blended yield of 3.30%. Prudential contributes $2,516, Principal adds $1,655, and MetLife pays the remaining $1,280.
Capital is the number to track at each company, since excess capital and the rate of buybacks show how much room each dividend has, and no payout is guaranteed. Dividend shares can also be sold on any trading day, a flexibility that a rental property rarely offers.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
David Beren has been a Flywheel Publishing contributor since 2022. Writing for 24/7 Wall St. since 2023, David loves to write about topics of all shapes and sizes. As a technology expert, David focuses heavily on consumer electronics brands, automobiles, and general technology. He has previously written for LifeWire, formerly About.com. As a part-time freelance writer, David’s “day job” has been working on and leading social media for multiple Fortune 100 brands. David loves the flexibility of this field and its ability to reach customers exactly where they like to spend their time. Additionally, David previously published his own blog, TmoNews.com, which reached 3 million readers in its first year. In addition to freelance and social media work, David loves to spend time with his family and children and relive the glory days of video game consoles by playing any retro game console he can get his hands on.
