Torchmark Corporation Elects New Director and Declares Dividend

October 28, 2004

Torchmark Corporation (NYSE: TMK) announced today that Sam R. Perry of Austin, Texas, has been elected to the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. Perry is a former shareholder in the firm of Sneed, Vine & Perry, PC of Austin, and was recently Of Counsel to that firm. With BBA and LLB degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, Mr. Perry spent his entire legal career with the Sneed, Vine & Perry firm (and its predecessors) where he gained wide recognition for his expertise in the insurance industry.

At its October 27, 2004 meeting, the Torchmark Board of Directors also declared a quarterly dividend of $.11 per share on all of the outstanding common stock of the Company held of record as of the close of business of the Company's transfer agent on January 5, 2005. The dividend will be paid on February 1, 2005.

Torchmark Corporation is an insurance holding company specializing in protection life and supplemental health insurance for "middle income" Americans marketed through multiple distribution channels including direct response, and exclusive and independent agencies. Subsidiary Globe Life And Accident is a nationally recognized direct-response provider of life insurance and is known for its administrative efficiencies. United American has been a nationally recognized provider of Medicare supplement health insurance since 1966. Liberty National Life, one of the oldest traditional life insurers in the Southeast, is the largest life insurer in its home state of Alabama. American Income Life is nationally recognized for providing supplemental life insurance to labor union members.

SOURCE Torchmark Corporation

CONTACT: Joyce Lane, Vice President, Investor Relations of Torchmark Corporation, +1-972-569-3627, or fax, +1-972-569-3282, or jlane@torchmarkcorp.com

Web site: http://www.torchmarkcorp.com/