Term Life Insurance

Term life refers to the type of life insurance in which you pay a relatively low monthly fee (called a premium) each month. If you die that month, your beneficiaries win big. If you don't, then you've wasted your money. But you're alive.

So... win win?

With term life insurance, there's is no "savings account" like in whole or universal life insurance. It all goes away.

Term policies typically only last for a certain amount of time (or term); then, if you want to keep the insurance in place, you have either buy a new policy (at a more expensive rate, because you're now older) or pay more premium that increases every year. Either way, you pay more.

You can see how it's a double-edged sword: It's cheaper than whole life insurance at first, but it'll eventually go away or up-in-price, and it lacks the savings-account-ish feature that whole life boasts.

Can you imagine trying to sell this complicated, ultra-dry stuff to people for a living? We should be nicer to insurance salesmen.