Life insurance, without the pitch

The three kinds people usually ask about

Term life is pure coverage for a set period — 10, 20, 30 years. If you die during the term, it pays. If you outlive it, it ends. It does the core job at the lowest cost, and for many families it's all the life insurance they need.

Whole life is permanent coverage with a cash value that grows at rates the insurance company sets, plus premiums that stay level. It costs more than term because it's built to last your whole life and to build value inside the policy.

Indexed universal life (IUL) is permanent coverage where the cash value can earn interest tied to a market index — with the same kind of limits you see in indexed annuities: caps, participation rates, and floors. It's also the category with the most aggressive marketing in the industry, which is why it gets its own honest section below.

IUL, honestly

An IUL is life insurance first. If a death benefit isn't part of why you're buying, an IUL is probably the wrong tool — the policy charges (cost of insurance, administrative fees, rider costs) come out whether the index cooperates or not, and they're real money.

The part that gets oversold is the projection. IUL sales illustrations show hypothetical futures, and for years some were built on assumptions rosy enough that regulators stepped in — the current rules cap how much growth an illustration is allowed to assume. There is also active litigation in the industry over policies sold on inflated projections. So here is my standing position: illustrated values are not promises, and I don't publish projections on a web page. If we ever look at an IUL together, we look at a current, rule-compliant illustration with the charges on the table, and we stress-test it at low assumptions — not just the sunny ones.

One more thing you may have heard: IUL pitched as a "retirement plan." Life insurance is not a retirement plan. Policy loans and withdrawals have real mechanics and real risks — including lapse — and that conversation only makes sense case by case, with your other options in view.

Who this is probably NOT for

If what your family needs is the most coverage per dollar for a known window of years, term likely does that job better than any permanent policy. If a policy would strain your budget, permanent life insurance funded thin is how policies lapse — and a lapsed policy helped no one. And if someone is selling you an IUL primarily as a market-growth vehicle, ask them to show you the policy charges first. Watch what happens.

What working with me on this looks like

I tell you plainly whether what you need is something I write or something you should get elsewhere — including "buy term from whoever prices it well," when that's the honest answer. No projections by email, no pressure, and the same rule as everything else here: your information stays with one licensed agent and is never sold.