MassMutual to pay record $1.49 billion in dividends

MassMutual Financial Group has approved the insurer’s largest dividend payout in history for 2014.

The record payout to eligible policy holders is estimated at $1.49 billion. The dividends to be paid in 2014 reflect a dividend interest rate of 7.1 percent for eligible policy holders, an increase over last year’s rate of 7 percent flat.

Although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid dividends to eligible participating policy owners consistently since the 1860s, the company said Monday.