How it's calculated: the commission savings and the monthly cash freed up are now invested independently, at whatever two shares are set above. The monthly figure is also net of the term life premium from the card above — protection comes out first, then a share of what's left goes into investing every month (dollar-cost averaging), while a share of the commission savings goes in as a lump sum.

Actual target date fund: invested starting July 1, 1996, this line models a generic "through" glide path that starts aggressive and gradually shifts toward bonds as it approaches its target date — assumed here to land right around today, 30 years later. Equity weight starts at 90% in 1996 and declines in a straight line to 40% by 2026; the stock leg uses actual S&P 500 annual returns (dividends reinvested) and the bond leg uses actual Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index annual returns, blended each year at that year's weight, then converted to an equivalent monthly rate the same way as before. Real target-date funds vary a lot by provider (glide path shape, target allocation, expense ratio, whether it's a "to" or "through" fund) and 1996 predates most of today's target-date fund lineups, so this is a representative blend, not a specific fund's real history.

Flat 7%/yr: a plain benchmark, run two ways — the top figure uses the same July 1996 start date and contribution history as the target date fund line above, for direct comparison; the table below instead runs the same flat rate forward from today over four forward-looking horizons, for general planning use.

Sources: S&P 500 annual total returns, Wikipedia (S&P 500 article, cross-checked against Officialdata.org); Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index annual returns, upmyinterest.com. 2026 uses year-to-date estimates for both (S&P ~11% through May 2026; bonds ~3%, a rough placeholder since a reliable 2026 bond YTD figure wasn't available) since the year isn't finished. The term life rate table in the protection card above is anchored to MassMutual's own published sample rates (roughly $9–10/$100k at age 25, $34/$100k at 55, and $76–111/$100k at 65, per U.S. News' 2026 MassMutual review and MassMutual's own blog) and interpolated between those ages using a broader industry rate curve (MoneyGeek's 2026 age-by-age term rate table) that lines up closely with each MassMutual anchor point — MassMutual itself doesn't publish a full public rate table and requires speaking with a financial professional for an actual quote. No fees, taxes, or account limits are modeled. Past performance does not guarantee future results. General information only, not personalized investment or insurance advice.

How it's calculated: the commission savings and the monthly cash freed up are invested independently, at whatever two shares are set above — a share of the commission savings goes in as a lump sum, and a share of the monthly cash freed up by the lower mortgage rate goes in every month (dollar-cost averaging).

Actual target date fund: invested starting July 1, 1996, this line models a generic "through" glide path that starts aggressive and gradually shifts toward bonds as it approaches its target date — assumed here to land right around today, 30 years later. Equity weight starts at 90% in 1996 and declines in a straight line to 40% by 2026; the stock leg uses actual S&P 500 annual returns (dividends reinvested) and the bond leg uses actual Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index annual returns, blended each year at that year's weight, then converted to an equivalent monthly rate the same way as before. Real target-date funds vary a lot by provider (glide path shape, target allocation, expense ratio, whether it's a "to" or "through" fund) and 1996 predates most of today's target-date fund lineups, so this is a representative blend, not a specific fund's real history.

Flat 7%/yr: a plain benchmark, run two ways — the top figure uses the same July 1996 start date and contribution history as the target date fund line above, for direct comparison; the table below instead runs the same flat rate forward from today over four forward-looking horizons, for general planning use.

Sources: S&P 500 annual total returns, Wikipedia (S&P 500 article, cross-checked against Officialdata.org); Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index annual returns, upmyinterest.com. 2026 uses year-to-date estimates for both (S&P ~11% through May 2026; bonds ~3%, a rough placeholder since a reliable 2026 bond YTD figure wasn't available) since the year isn't finished. No fees, taxes, or account limits are modeled. Past performance does not guarantee future results. General information only, not personalized investment advice.