New York Life is the oldest and largest mutual life insurance company in the United States. Mutual means that it is owned by its policyholders. There are no stockholders. It was founded in 1845 and will celebrate its 170th anniversary in April, 2015. It has paid dividends 161 years in a row (through the Civil War, Panic of 1873, WWI, Great Depression, WWII and the recent Great Recession. Dividends are not guaranteed. It is a Fortune 100 company. It maintains the highest possible financial rat