I'm not a life insurance agent, just a consumer. So, I can only tell you what my understanding is. You should consult a professional and get hard facts before making a decision.

I have all kinds of life insurance policies. Whole life, Universal life, Term. I picked these up as different things happened in life.

Cash value policies work best when you take them out early in life. I think I was probably in my 20's or early 30's when I bought my "perminent" insurance.

The reason it is best to get these when you are young, is that you qualify for a low rate, and that rate stays the same your entire life.

The great thing about these policies is that you don't have to die to get benefit from them. The policy builds up cash value that you can borrow against. Let's say you have had your whole life policy for many years, and you want to retire. It has $100,000 in cash value, and $100,000 in face value. You can take a loan out on the policy for $100,000. Most people pay it back when they die. In other words, instead of paying $200,000 (cash value plus face value), your beneficiary gets $100,000, and the other goes to pay back the loan (money you already took and spent).

I took out a term policy later on after we bought our house. It was to cover the mortgage if I died. Since the mortgage eventually gets paid off, I won't always need that policy, which is why I picked a cheaper term plan. Term insurance gets more expensive as you get older, and has no cash value. Though, some companies will allow you to convert your Term policy to perminent insurance.

My best advice is to be very careful who you buy a policy from. Don't look for the cheapest price, look for the most reputable company that has assets to cover the policies they have written. It won't do you any good to pay 20 years on a policy if the company isn't there when you need them.

For the record, my policies are with Metlife.