Prudential Momentum IUL Review (2026)

How Prudential Momentum IUL works

Prudential Momentum IUL is indexed universal life insurance. It pays a death benefit when the insured dies. While the insured is alive, part of each premium builds a cash value that can earn interest tied to the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100. Prudential launched it on August 19, 2024 and says that, across its IULs, Momentum "has the greatest potential to build cash value." It is issued by Pruco Life Insurance Company, rated A+ by AM Best, or in New York by Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey. For the company's ratings and record, see our Prudential company review.

Here is the money flow in plain terms:

1. You pay a premium. Policy charges come out, and the rest goes into what Prudential calls the contract fund, the pool your charges are paid from.
2. You split the contract fund between a fixed account and four index accounts. Each time money moves into an index account, a new segment starts. Segments start on the 15th of each month.
3. Every month, Prudential deducts its charges, including the cost of insurance. It takes them from the fixed account first, then from the most recently created index segments.
4. When a segment ends, after one year or six months, it earns a credit based on how its index moved, within its cap or participation rate. The credit is never below 0%.
5. Later, you can borrow against or withdraw from the cash value, often to supplement retirement income.

The key point: the 0% floor protects the interest credit, not your cash value. Prudential's brochure says that when market returns are negative "you won't experience any negative market effects." That is true of the credit only. In a year the index falls, you earn 0%, but the monthly charges still come out. The cash value can shrink.

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

Index accounts and current rates

Momentum offers four index accounts plus a fixed account. The rates below come from Prudential's public rate sheet, information as of August 15, 2026, for segments starting that day. They are current rates, not guarantees. Prudential can change them for new segments; once a segment starts, its cap and participation rate are locked until it ends.

Every index account has a 0% floor. Neither index includes dividends. There are no volatility-controlled indexes and no bonus or multiplier accounts in Prudential's consumer materials, which makes Momentum easier to follow than many IULs. The contract also sets a guaranteed minimum cap and participation rate, but the consumer materials do not state them. Ask for both.

What the terms mean

• Cap: the most an account can credit in a segment.
• Participation rate: the share of the index gain that counts. At 65%, a 10% gain counts as 6.5%.
• Six-month segment: the S&P 500 is measured over six months, with a lower cap. Prudential says the credit from the first half-year rolls into the second, so two credits can compound within a year. Prudential calls this option first-to-market.

Rate history since launch

Momentum is young, so its record is short. Prudential's rate sheet shows these changes for accounts outside New York:

So far, every move has been up. Two years is not a track record, and Prudential's older survivorship IUL forms tell a different story: their S&P 500 caps fell from 10.50% to as low as 7.50% and 7.75% after the sale. Our Prudential company review has that history.

Hypothetical crediting examples

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

The uncapped account beats the capped one only when the S&P 500 rises more than about 16.2% in a year (10.50% divided by 65%). In modest years it credits less. See IUL index crediting methods.

What the accounts actually credited

Prudential's rate sheet also shows real results for segments that have ended. Before charges:

Every 1-year segment that has ended so far fell in a strong market, so the capped account hit its cap each time. The six-month account shows the other side. Segments starting October 15, 2024 (S&P 500 down 7.20%) and December 15, 2024 (down 1.22%) credited 0%. The one starting September 15, 2025 credited 0.26%. Past results do not predict future ones.

Charges

Prudential's consumer brochure names no charge amounts. It says various charges apply, that they can affect your cash value, and that you should look at your illustration for the specific charges and amounts. What it does say:

That is thin. Before you apply, ask for a signed illustration and a written list of every charge: the premium charge, any monthly policy fee, any per-thousand charge and how long it lasts, current and maximum cost of insurance, and the surrender charge by year. Compare total charges across illustrations, not just caps. See IUL fees and charges and IUL surrender charges.

Loans and withdrawals

You can reach the cash value through policy loans or withdrawals. Momentum offers two loan types, a fixed loan and a participating loan. Prudential says loans are charged interest "but are credited back to a certain extent, depending on the type of loan." Its consumer materials do not publish either loan rate or explain how much is credited back. What they do say:

• A loan is available as long as there is loan value and the policy is not in default.
• You cannot have both loan types at once.
• You can convert a loan from one type to the other once in any 12-month period.
• Switching a participating loan to a fixed loan breaks your index segments before they end. Ask how that affects credits already building in those segments.

In IUL designs generally, a participating loan leaves the borrowed value earning index credits while you pay the loan rate, which makes it a bet that the credits will beat the rate. A few flat years in retirement can make such a loan grow faster than you planned. Ask Prudential to confirm in writing how each Momentum loan type works, and get both rates. See IUL policy loans and loans vs withdrawals.

Withdrawals can reduce your face amount, and they reduce cash values and the death benefit.

Taxes. Withdrawals up to your premiums paid are generally not taxed. Loans are not taxed while the policy stays in force and is not a modified endowment contract (MEC). A policy that takes in too much premium too fast becomes a MEC, and then loans and withdrawals are taxed as gain first, with a possible 10% penalty before age 59 and a half. The biggest risk is a lapse: Prudential's brochure warns that a loan still unpaid when the policy lapses or is surrendered is taxed immediately to the extent of the gain in the policy. See IUL taxes.

Riders and built-in features

Accelerated death benefits. You can pick only one of these, when the policy is issued:

• BenefitAccess Rider: extra cost and extra underwriting. It can pay part of the death benefit early if you are chronically ill (unable to perform two of six daily activities, such as bathing or dressing) or terminally ill. Chronic illness benefits start after a 90-day waiting period and need recertification to continue past a year. Withdrawals are restricted while chronic illness benefits are being paid.
• Living Needs Benefit: comes with the policy and costs nothing until you use it. It can pay part of the death benefit if you are terminally ill or, in some states, need a vital organ transplant. Prudential's brochure defines terminally ill as a life expectancy of six months or less (12 months in California). The payment is reduced for early payment. It is not available in Washington.

Both shrink the death benefit, and Prudential says BenefitAccess is not long-term care insurance. Prudential intends the payments to be treated as accelerated death benefits under federal tax law, but notes they can be taxable in some cases. See IUL chronic illness riders.

Overloan protection rider. It may keep the policy from lapsing when you have a loan outstanding, which matters because a lapse with a loan can create a large tax bill. A charge applies if you use it. Ask for its conditions in writing. See overloan protection.

No-lapse guarantee. If you pay the required premiums on time and take no loans or withdrawals, the death benefit stays in force to the earlier of 20 years or age 70, but for at least 10 years, even if the cash value runs out. Late or missed premiums, a loan or a change in death benefit type can end it. Prudential notes that paying only the minimum for the guarantee may mean missing out on cash value growth. See no-lapse guarantee rider.

Other riders include an enhanced disability benefit that pays at least your monthly insurance and rider costs if you become totally disabled, an accidental death benefit, a children's term rider and an enhanced cash value rider that raises surrender values in early years. A premium deposit account can hold a single deposit to pay future premiums; it is not offered in Oregon or Pennsylvania.

Death benefit choices. A fixed death benefit generally equals the face amount. A variable death benefit generally changes with the contract fund. A return of premium death benefit generally changes with your total premiums paid, less withdrawals.

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 minimum crediting. 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, and how much benefit an illustration can show from loans that cost less than they earn. Prudential does not publish Momentum's maximum illustrated rate in its consumer materials, so ask for it on your illustration. Our own rule for hypotheticals is to stay at or below the AG 49-A limit and never above 6.5%. We also suggest running a second illustration 1 to 2 points lower. The results table above shows why: a capped account earns its cap in strong years and nothing in down years, and the order of those years matters once loans begin.

If your illustration assumes participating loans, ask to see the same design with fixed loans too. Our guide on how to read an IUL illustration walks through each column.

Who Prudential Momentum IUL 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 well above the no-lapse minimum for at least 15 years. That is what max-funded IUL means.
• You want crediting you can follow: the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100, with no custom indexes.
• You put a high value on the carrier's ratings. Pruco Life holds A+ from AM Best and AA- from S&P and Fitch.
• You live in New York and want an accumulation IUL; Momentum is offered there, at lower caps.

Who should look elsewhere

• You may need the money within 15 years. Surrender charges last that long.
• You want charges in writing before a sales meeting. Prudential publishes none for Momentum outside the illustration.
• You want the highest caps. A 10.50% S&P 500 cap and 65% uncapped participation are modest, and the older survivorship forms show caps can fall after the sale. See IUL cap rates.
• You mainly want a death benefit at the lowest cost. Term insurance or guaranteed universal life usually costs less for a pure death benefit. Prudential's own Protection IUL is designed around the death benefit, with a no-lapse guarantee that can reach lifetime coverage.
• You cannot commit to steady premiums. Underfunded accumulation IULs are the ones that lapse. See IUL lapse risk.

To see how Momentum stacks up against other accumulation designs, compare it in our IUL comparison tool or see the best IUL for cash accumulation.