Term life is a lease. You buy a large death benefit for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years at the lowest premium of the three. If you die during the term, the people you named are paid. If you outlive it, the coverage ends unless you convert or renew. There is usually no cash value. That is the right product for income replacement, a mortgage, or a defined obligation with an end date.

Whole life is a purchase. Premiums, death benefit, and a minimum cash-value schedule are in the contract. It costs more because it is built to still be there at 80. People use it for lifelong protection, estate liquidity, and a conservative cash-value component — not because a dividend illustration looked attractive.

Universal life is the flexible permanent form. Traditional UL credits a declared rate. Guaranteed UL (GUL) is mainly a no-lapse death benefit to a stated age. Indexed UL (IUL) uses an index formula with a cap and a floor; it is not a stock purchase. Variable UL is a different product with market risk and a prospectus. Underfunded UL is how policies lapse. Read the guaranteed column, not only the illustrated one.

Use term when

  • The need ends — kids grown, mortgage paid, a loan retired.
  • You want the most death benefit per dollar today.
  • You may convert later. Conversion, when it is in the contract, is how term becomes permanent without a new exam.

Use permanent when

  • The need has no end date: estate liquidity, a special-needs dependent, a buy-sell that should outlast a 20-year term.
  • You want cash value you can borrow against, understanding that loans reduce the death benefit if they are not repaid.
  • A GUL priced to a no-lapse guarantee is cheaper than whole life for a death-benefit-only job.

Return-of-premium term costs more than standard term and can give premiums back if you outlive the period. Final expense is a small whole-life policy for funeral costs, not a substitute for a $1 million term policy. Key-person and buy-sell coverage is the business version of the same decision: match the duration of the policy to the duration of the need.

An annuity is a different job. If the need is a stated rate, a floor, or a paycheck, that conversation is Financial Services, not a life policy. Life insurance stays under Insurance. You can quote term and permanent life yourself, or we will review the file. Health history is underwriting, not a reason to stay silent.