Life insurance strategies for families and individuals: Term, whole, and universal life explained

Life insurance is a subject most people learn about in depth only at certain points in their lives. The goal of this book is to prepare you for those times and make the process of deciding what types of policies to buy, what coverage amounts to choose and what premium rates are acceptable much easier than it would be otherwise. Hopefully you will learn enough to make these decisions while you are still healthy and have the lowest premiums possible. Doing so will help make sure your family and dependents have the financial support they need when you are no longer here to take care of them (Mitchell et al., 2023; Ortega et al., 2024; Ali et al., 2025).

Life insurance companies provide coverage on many different lives; hence, they are told that the business of insurance is a transfer of risk to a group of risks. Other than your purchase, this business transaction is different from every other business transaction you make. You buy a car or dress or television and have it in your possession. With insurance, you pay for a promise that a company will make a financial payment upon the death of someone who paid a premium to that company; but no one wants to have to collect on that promise, especially the insured’s family. And, unlike your other purchases, you hope not to have your life insured; because if you do, that means someone has died! Buying insurance is unlike any other purchase you make, and it is not surprising that many people have questions about it, even people who have been policyholders for many years (Sanders et al., 2023; Robinson et al., 2024).