The life valuation line at a glance
Three eras govern US life reserves by issue date: formulaic CRVM under the Standard Valuation Law (before 2000), the Regulation XXX / AG 38 era of guaranteed-premium formulas (2000 through the company's PBR start), and VM-20 principle-based reserves (mandatory for issues since Jan. 1, 2020). Each product page below compares every assumption across the regimes that touch it.
Products
Pick the product — each page starts with which regime governs by issue date, then drills assumption by assumption to the regulation text.
Term life
The deepest page: premiums, segmentation, X factors, deficiency reserves, the post-level-term rules.
Whole life
CRVM before PBR, then VM-20 — dividends, floors, and the small-company PBR exemption.
Universal life
Model 585's guaranteed maturity premium method, AG 38 secondary guarantees, VM-20's ULSG legs.
Variable UL
Model 270's separate-account framework, minimum death benefit guarantees, VM-20 by category.
What defines the life line
Guaranteed vs current premiums
The through-line of forty years of regulation: formulas run on guarantees (XXX, the NPR); models run on anticipated experience (the DR/SR) — with § 9.D.6 policing the seam.
The CSO table lineage
1941 → 1958 → 1980 → 2001 → 2017 CSO: the prescribed mortality basis for each issue era, with the 2015 VBT underneath the current table.
Exclusion tests
Who must model: term can't take the deterministic exclusion, material-guarantee ULSG is deemed to fail it, par whole life mostly certifies out.
Key life documents
- Valuation Manual — 2026 edition (VM-20)The operative life PBR requirements.
- Model #830 — Regulation XXXTerm and ULSG reserves for issues 2000 through the PBR start.
- Model #585 — Universal Life Model RegulationThe UL CRVM method.
- AG 38 — NAIC briefSecondary-guarantee reserves, cohorts 8A–8E.
- Academy — Life PBR Under VM-20 practice noteThe profession's VM-20 Q&A.