Whole Life Insurance
Whole life guarantees three things at once: the death benefit, the premium, and a schedule of cash value. Those guarantees are the product — and the reason it costs several times what term costs for the same coverage.
Read this first
Whole life premiums are payable for life unless the policy states a paid-up age. Cash value builds slowly at first and for a number of years can be less than the premiums you have paid. On a participating policy, dividends are not guaranteed.
The problem it solves
Some needs never expire. A funeral will happen whenever it happens. An estate may need cash to settle without forcing a sale. A dependent adult child will need support for as long as they live. Term insurance, by design, runs out — often at precisely the age those needs become real.
Whole life answers that by guaranteeing the coverage for life at a premium that never changes, with a contractual cash value that builds as you pay. What you are buying is certainty, and certainty is expensive because the insurer is no longer betting you will outlive the policy. They know they will pay.
Three things happen, in this order
You pay a level premium, for life or to a stated age
It does not rise with age. Some policies are designed to be paid up at a set age, after which no further premium is due — ask which yours is.
A guaranteed cash value builds inside the policy
On a contractual schedule you can read before you buy. It grows slowly at first: for several years it can be less than the premiums you have paid.
The death benefit is paid whenever you die
Not if. That certainty is what separates it from term, and what you are paying the difference for.
Who this suits, and who it does not
The second list matters more than the first. An agent who only writes the first one is selling, not advising.
Worth considering if…
- The need genuinely does not end — final expenses, estate liquidity, a dependent who will always need support, a business buy-sell agreement.
- You want a premium that cannot rise and a policy that cannot expire, and you can comfortably sustain the payment for decades.
- You value a guarantee you can read in the contract more than a projection that might do better.
Probably not for you if…
- The need is temporary. Term buys many times the death benefit per dollar for a working-age adult, and buying whole life for a twenty-year need is an expensive way to solve a cheap problem.
- The premium would be a stretch. Lapsing a whole life policy in the early years is the worst outcome available: you may recover far less than you paid in. Affordability at the worst year of the next thirty is the test, not this year.
- You are being sold it primarily as an investment or a way to bank with yourself. Ask for the guaranteed cash value in years five and ten in writing before you accept any story about returns.
Who we are appointed with
We are independent and appointed with the life insurance companies below. Which of them we would approach for you depends on the product, your age, your state and your health history — underwriting differs sharply between companies, and that is the practical reason for working with someone who can approach more than one.
- Aetna
- Allianz Life
- American-Amicable Life
- Americo
- Ameritas
- Assurity
- Athene
- AuguStar Financial
- Banner Life
- Brighthouse Financial
- Cincinnati Life
- Columbus Life
- Corebridge Financial
- Equitable
- EquiTrust Life
- F&G Life
- Foresters Financial
- Gerber Life
- Guarantee Trust Life (GTL)
- John Hancock
- Lafayette Life
- Liberty Bankers Life
- Lincoln Financial Group
- Manhattan Life
- MassMutual
- Mutual of Omaha
- Mutual Trust Life
- National Life Group (Life Insurance Company of the Southwest)
- National Western Life
- Nationwide
- New York Life
- North American Company for Life and Health
- OneAmerica
- Pacific Life
- Petersen International Underwriters (Lloyd's of London)
- Principal
- Protective Life
- Prudential
- Royal Neighbors of America
- Sagicor Life
- SBLI
- Securian Financial (Minnesota Life)
- Security Mutual Life
- Symetra
- Transamerica
- William Penn Life
- Zurich
Being appointed with a company does not mean that company offers every product on this page, and we do not represent every insurer. Which company suits you depends on the product, your age, your state and your health history. We publish no benefit, rate or feature for any company here until we can cite it to that company's own current material.
Servicing only — not available for new business
We can help with an existing policy from this company — reviewing it or understanding what you already own. We are not appointed to write new business with it, so a new policy would be placed with one of the companies above.
- Genworth
Questions people actually ask
Why does it cost so much more than term?
Because the insurer will certainly pay. Term insurance mostly expires unclaimed, and the pricing reflects that. Whole life guarantees a payment whenever death occurs, plus a guaranteed cash value and a premium that can never rise, and all three guarantees have to be funded. The difference is not a markup; it is what the certainty costs.
What is the cash value actually worth in year five?
Often considerably less than you have paid in, and on some policies close to nothing. This is the question that separates a straight conversation from a sales pitch, and the answer is in the policy's guaranteed cash value column. Ask to see that column for years five, ten and twenty before you sign anything. An agent who will not show it is telling you something.
Are dividends guaranteed?
No. Participating whole life policies from mutual companies may pay dividends, and many have paid them for a very long time, but a dividend is not a contractual obligation and no past record guarantees a future one. Anything illustrated on top of the guaranteed column is a projection. Judge the policy on its guarantees and treat dividends as upside.
What happens if I stop paying?
It depends on how long you have held it. In the early years the policy can simply lapse with little or nothing returned. Later, accumulated cash value may let you take a reduced paid-up policy, buy extended term coverage, or surrender for the cash value. Some policies can borrow against the cash value to cover premiums, which keeps the policy alive while reducing the death benefit and accruing interest.
Is whole life a good investment?
It is not an investment; it is insurance with a guaranteed savings component, and comparing its internal rate of return to a market portfolio usually flatters the portfolio — especially over the first decade. The honest case for whole life is the guarantee and the permanence, not the return. If somebody is selling it to you primarily on the return, be careful.
Ask for a quote on Whole Life Insurance
Tell us how to reach you and which state you are in. A licensed agent calls back, usually the same business day, and will tell you plainly if a fully underwritten policy would serve you better.
The other three
Same family, different jobs. Match the product to how long the need lasts.
Burial Insurance
Small-face whole life insurance bought to cover a funeral and the bills that arrive with it. The industry calls it final expense life insurance; buyers call it burial insurance.
Worth a look if you want to cover a funeral without leaving the bill to your family.
Term Life Insurance
A death benefit for a fixed number of years, at the lowest cost per dollar of coverage of any life product. Bought when someone depends on your income and the need has an end date.
Worth a look if someone depends on your income and you can name roughly when that stops being true.
Indexed Universal Life Insurance
Universal life whose interest credit is linked to the movement of a market index, limited by a cap or participation rate and protected by a floor. Flexible, genuinely complicated, and the most aggressively marketed life product there is.
Worth a look if you want permanent coverage with flexibility and will actually read the illustration.