Often people in pursuit of life insurance either have an opinion about which way to go, term or permanent, or that is their first question. If you ask a person on the street, which is cheaper life insurance, most of them will say term. But, is it? I believe it is how you look at it. Term will definitely require less premium. If you out live the term, your beneficiary receives nothing and you paid all that premium without return. Most permanent policies build up enough cash value that will eventually be more than you contributed. It allows you, down the road, to withdraw the cash value or borrow against it. They also guarantee payment to the beneficiary as long as you keep it funded. Which is really cheaper, the one with less premium where you may not receive any return or the one which requires more premium with some type of return?

Some people will argue that it is better to buy term and invest the money you saved by not buying whole life. My opinion is that, if I want to guarantee leaving something to my beneficiary, I should buy permanent insurance. Because, when I retire, I will need everything I have saved and invested to live on the rest of my life. I can't guarantee I can put money aside that I will not need. What happens if the economy tanks when I am about to retire?

One way to save money on life insurance is to split the death benefit. Purchase half in term and half in permanent. Sometimes this works out better.

Life insurance companies are always coming out with new products which may be of benefit. For example, Genworth Financial has a Universal Term policy which is kind of cool. It is a term policy for normal time periods, such as, 10, 20, and 30, years. It is also a universal policy. By contributing more premium, at any time during the term, you can make it keep going. As long as you fund it enough, it will keep going. It does not need to be converted and you do not have to prove insurability again.

Some companies offer stand alone Critical Illness policies which suites some peoples needs.

The bottom line is, don't just ask for a quote for what you think is a cheap term policy. See and agent and learn about various products.