Mutual of Omaha Income Advantage IUL Review (2026)

How Income Advantage IUL works

Income Advantage is indexed universal life insurance issued by United of Omaha Life Insurance Company, a Mutual of Omaha company. It pays a death benefit when the insured dies. While the insured is alive, part of each premium builds an accumulation value that can earn interest tied to a stock index. Mutual of Omaha says it "emphasizes cash growth potential more than Life Protection Advantage," its protection-focused IUL. Its first index segments started on March 10, 2016. For the company's ownership, ratings and record, see our Mutual of Omaha company review.

Here is the money flow in plain terms, from Mutual of Omaha's brochure:

1. You pay a premium. Part of it pays for the cost of insurance and policy costs.
2. The rest builds your accumulation value. You split it between a fixed account and up to four index strategies.
3. On the 10th of each month, money headed for an index strategy starts a new one-year segment. Its cap and participation rate are locked for that year.
4. When the segment ends, it earns a credit based on how the index moved, within its cap or participation rate. The credit is never below 0%.
5. Later, you can borrow against the cash value or withdraw from it, for example to supplement retirement income.

The key point: the 0% floor protects the interest credit, not your cash value. The brochure says the accumulation value "will never decrease due to downside market performance." That is true of the credit only. Mutual of Omaha's crediting sheet adds that the accumulation value "is, however, reduced by the amount of the policy charges deducted." In a 0% year, those charges still come out, so the cash value can shrink.

The policy forms are labeled "GPT," for the guideline premium test. That is one of two tests in the tax code (IRC section 7702) that decide how much premium a policy can take for a given death benefit and still count as life insurance. See section 7702.

This is life insurance, not an investment account. If you are weighing it against one, read is IUL a good investment first.

Index strategies and current rates

Income Advantage offers four one-year, annual point-to-point strategies plus a fixed account. The rates below come from Mutual of Omaha's public Income Advantage crediting history, updated in April 2026. They are the renewal rates for segments starting April 10, 2026, the most recent date the document shows. They are current rates, not guarantees, and they are more than five months old as we publish, so ask for the rates on your illustration date.

Every index strategy has a 0% floor. The S&P 500 values in Mutual of Omaha's sheet are the price index, which leaves out dividends. The BofA U.S. Agility Index uses volatility control; the company's disclosure says volatility controls may reduce the overall rate of return compared with indexes without them. See volatility-controlled indexes.

You can move money from the fixed account into index strategies at any time, effective on the next processing date. Money in an index strategy can move only when its segment matures, according to the company's transfer form.

What the terms mean

• Cap: the most a segment can credit.
• Participation rate: the share of the index gain that counts. At 140%, a 4% gain counts as 5.6%, up to the cap.
• Uncapped: no ceiling, but only part of the gain counts. At 60%, a 20% gain credits 12%.
• Annual point-to-point: the index value on the day the segment starts is compared with the value one year later. What happens in between does not matter.

Hypothetical crediting examples

These examples are hypothetical. They apply the April 2026 renewal rates to made-up index changes to show the math. They are not a forecast, and they leave out all charges.

Do not read the BofA column as a better deal. A volatility-controlled index moves far less than the S&P 500, which is why its participation rate can be so high. The next table shows what that has meant in practice.

What Income Advantage has actually credited

Mutual of Omaha's crediting history shows real results for every monthly segment. Here are the segments that started each April 10, before any charges:

Across all monthly segments from March 2016 through those ending April 2026, Mutual of Omaha reports these average credited rates: 8.21% on the 100% participation strategy, 6.32% on the high participation strategy and 8.57% on the uncapped strategy. On the BofA strategy, added in August 2023, the average was 3.54%, and 10 of its 21 completed segments credited 0%. These averages come before any policy charges.

Two lessons stand out. First, the high participation strategy has credited less on average than the plain 100% strategy, because its lower cap (8.50% at launch, 7.00% since November 2020) bites in strong years. Second, the uncapped strategy beat the capped one in the strongest years (the April 2020, 2023 and 2025 segments) and trailed in modest ones. Past results do not predict future ones. Our guide to IUL index crediting methods goes deeper.

How the rates have changed

The main S&P 500 cap was 11.50% for segments starting March 2016 through October 2019. It fell to 11.00% in November 2019, 10.50% in May 2020 and 10.00% in November 2020, and it has not moved since through the April 2026 renewals. The uncapped participation rate fell from 65% to 50% over the same period, then rose to 60% in February 2024. The BofA participation rate rose from 185% to 195% for renewals starting March 2026. Mutual of Omaha's sheets show one rate set for the product, not separate rates for older and newer policies.

Charges

This is where the consumer material is thin. Mutual of Omaha's brochure explains that part of each premium pays for the cost of insurance and policy costs, but it does not list the amounts. Here is what we could confirm and what to ask for:

Ask for a signed illustration that shows every charge, current and guaranteed maximum, year by year. Compare total charges, not just the cap. See IUL fees and charges and IUL surrender charges.

Loans and withdrawals

Income Advantage offers two loan types, and you choose one when you request the loan:

Mutual of Omaha does not publish the loan rates in its consumer brochure, so ask for both on your illustration. An index loan is a bet that your index credits will beat the loan rate. In a 0% year you still owe the full loan interest, and a few flat years in retirement can grow the loan faster than you planned. A standard loan is the steadier choice. See IUL policy loans and loans vs withdrawals.

Withdrawals may reduce the death benefit and cost $100 each. The brochure says withdrawals are generally treated as a nontaxable return of premiums paid, and any amount above your premiums is taxable.

Taxes. Loans are not taxed while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract (MEC). A policy that takes too much premium too fast in its first seven years becomes a MEC, and then loans and withdrawals are taxed as gain first, with a 10% extra tax before age 59 and a half, with some exceptions. The biggest risk is a lapse. Mutual of Omaha's brochure says that if the policy lapses, any outstanding loan is treated as a distribution and may be subject to income tax. See IUL taxes.

Riders and built-in features

Long-term care rider (optional, extra cost). It reimburses covered long-term care costs from the death benefit. You pick a total benefit of up to your initial death benefit, and a monthly limit of 1%, 2% or 4% of it. The maximum is $2 million at 1% or 2% and $1.25 million at 4%. Anything you do not use is paid as death benefit. See IUL long-term care riders.

Chronic illness accelerated death benefit. Automatically included on policies without the long-term care rider. It pays part of the death benefit early if you are chronically ill as the rider defines it, with no nursing home stay required. There is no cost to have it; charges apply only if you use it. See IUL chronic illness riders.

Terminal illness accelerated death benefit. Included at no extra cost. It pays part of the death benefit early if life expectancy is 12 months or less.

Accelerated benefits reduce the death benefit left for your beneficiaries. The chronic and terminal illness riders are not long-term care insurance.

Guaranteed Refund Option. If you qualify, this rider comes at no extra cost. It gives you seven 60-day windows to surrender the policy and get premiums back: up to 50% at the end of year 15, and up to 100% at the end of years 20 through 25. If the surrender value is higher, you get that instead. The fine print matters: it is not available for substandard or tobacco cases under age 50, or for substandard tables 5 to 16 at 50 and over. You must keep paying the required premiums. The refund is capped at 80% of the policy's lowest face amount and reduced by withdrawals and loans.

Flexibility. You can change the premium, payment frequency and death benefit. Increases need evidence of good health, according to Mutual of Omaha.

How the illustration is built

You will decide on this policy by reading an illustration, a year-by-year projection of premiums, cash values and death benefits. The guaranteed column assumes maximum charges and only the minimum guaranteed interest. The non-guaranteed column assumes today's charges and an illustrated rate held level for decades.

The NAIC's AG 49-A limits how high that illustrated rate can be. Mutual of Omaha does not publish Income Advantage's maximum illustrated rate in its consumer brochure, so ask for it. Compare it with the actual averages above: 8.21% on the main strategy since 2016, before charges, in a period that included several strong years for stocks. Our own rule for hypotheticals is to stay at or below the AG 49-A limit and never above 6.5%. We suggest also running an illustration 1 to 2 points lower. The order of good and bad years matters once loans begin. Our guide on how to read an IUL illustration walks through each column.

Who Income Advantage fits

• You need permanent life insurance and have used cheaper tax-advantaged options first, such as a 401(k) match and an IRA. See IUL vs 401(k).
• You can fund the policy steadily for 15 years or more, near the tax limit. That is what max-funded IUL means.
• You value an A+ rated insurer in a policyholder-owned group and a published crediting record over the highest cap on the market.
• You want an optional long-term care rider on the same policy.
• You live outside New York.

Who should look elsewhere

• You want the highest cap or many index choices. Four strategies and a 10.00% cap put this policy toward the conservative end.
• You want every charge in writing up front. You will not find them in the brochure; only an illustration shows them.
• You may need the money back soon. Surrender charges apply during the surrender charge period, and early cash values can sit below premiums paid.
• You mainly want a death benefit at the lowest cost. Term insurance, or a policy built for a guaranteed death benefit such as Mutual of Omaha's Life Protection Advantage, fits that job better.
• You cannot commit to steady premiums. Underfunded accumulation IULs are the ones that lapse. See IUL lapse risk.
• You live in New York. United of Omaha does not sell there.

To see how Income Advantage stacks up against other accumulation designs, try our IUL comparison tool or see the best IUL for cash accumulation.