Term vs. whole life insurance
By Colson · Updated June 13, 2026
Term life covers you for a set period (10, 20 or 30 years) at a low premium and pays only a death benefit. Whole life lasts your entire life and builds cash value, but costs roughly 5–15× more for the same death benefit. Most families are best served by term.
Skip ahead and run the numbers:
Estimate your term life rate →What is term life insurance?
Term life covers you for a fixed number of years and pays a death benefit if you die during that term. There's no cash value — you're buying pure protection, which is why it's inexpensive. A healthy 35-year-old can often get $500,000 of 20-year coverage for around the cost of a streaming subscription.
What is whole life insurance?
Whole life is permanent: it never expires as long as you pay premiums, and part of each premium builds tax-deferred cash value you can borrow against. That permanence and cash value come at a steep price — often 5 to 15 times the premium of comparable term coverage.
Which should you choose?
For most people, term life is the right answer: it covers the years your family depends on your income, and the money saved versus whole life can be invested separately. Whole life can make sense for specific goals — lifelong dependents, estate-planning liquidity, or maxing tax-advantaged savings after other accounts are full — but it's a minority of cases.
Frequently asked questions
Is term or whole life insurance cheaper?
Term life is dramatically cheaper — often 5 to 15 times less than whole life for the same death benefit — because it has no cash-value component and covers only a set period.
Can you convert term life to whole life?
Many term policies include a conversion rider that lets you convert to permanent coverage without a new medical exam, usually within a set window. Check your policy's conversion terms.
What happens when term life expires?
Coverage ends. You can let it lapse if you no longer need it, buy a new policy (at older-age rates), or convert to permanent coverage if your policy allows it.
Ready to run your own numbers?
Get a free, instant estimate — then compare a real quote.
Estimate your term life rate →