Understand the difference between
'term' and
conventional policies. Term is the most economical, but ... you are more or less renting coverage with no accrual or paid up coverage. When the 'term' is up the deal is over, and another policy will cost more due to your age. Mortgage and credit-life policies/payouts are term-type and tied to a decreasing balance rather than increasing their premiums over time. (BT when the Mrs died)
'Whole life' or 'endowment' policies can accrue value ('annuity' included), often have a point where they're 'paid up', and are offered as investments as well as including death coverage. Beware of the
details of these types! Some may use up
your 'annuity' to pay a death benefit before their 'maturity' date, tho' not all will. Experts advise against these, as a rule. Annuity return %s are 'variable' (some have minimums) and not necessarily guaranteed, despite an agent's promises of building a substantial nest egg.
Between these extremes are varying degrees of o'all coverage and
company profits. One only needs to guess which end of the spectrum benefits whom, and how an agent's 'residuals' are proportional to the policy type & terms. One might best be served with a term policy and a
separate annuity if you want the investment part included. Some annuities are tax-deferred, and an honest agent with nothing to gain from your decision will explain better than we can to help you sort options. Ask more than one who knows the biz!
Remember that old argument of whether the mob or the Catholic church has more $$? The insurance industry and its vast pool of bucks puts both to shame. What part of the '08 meltdown wasn't caused by folks borrowing against inflated home values was the industry buying
each other's risky investment policies (derivitives, etc) and not having the cash to pay each other off when the fecal matter contacted the rotary air-displacement device. (We know who the gov't helped out of that jam.)
A CD in an insured account, IRA, or 401k can be counted on. Insurance may be a gamble at best, and YMMV as usual. Shop wisely and read the fine print.
