RYou

Why are you buying now ? What do want to accomplish, financial protection for the family?

There basically 2 kinds Term and all of the rest.

With term insurance, you pay a premium for some value of life insurance over a define period of time. If you stop paying the premium there is no cash value. At the end of the term 20, 30, 40 years, if you're still alive, the policy ends and there is no cash value.

With the myriad others, there is some cash value accummulated over time, whole life, universal life. Some can be converted to term and back, others can't be converted.

With you can buy more for less. Because there is cash value in the others, something of a forced savings account, they will start accummulate cash value almost immediately.

Buying is generally a function of need and wealth. If you don't have a lot of extra cash but need financial protection for the family, term might be the better route.

On the other hand, with a form like universal life, you can accumulate cash value without paying taxes on the interest gained. At some point in the years ahead, say 20 years, you'll finsh paying and can take the money out as a loan without paying taxes on the interest. When you croak, the policy is terminated but you get know cash.

Note, the insurance detah benefitsd are exlcuded from estate tax calcualtions so they're a fairly safe savings instrument - today. The tax laws can always change.

By the way, for you older folks, stay the heck away from annuities. When you die the accumulated interest is taxed as ordinary income - the highest tax rate. They're nice for supplementing income in you're older years, but they get killed by state and fed taxes. They're the worst for protecting assets after death.