1. 61667 POINTS
    Steve Savant
    Syndicated Financial Columnist, Host of the weekly talk show Steve Savant's Money, the Name of the Game, Scottsdale Arizona


    Video Transcript:

    Hello everyone, I'm Steve Savant, syndicated financial columnist and host of the weekly online talk show Steve Savant's Money: The Name of The Game. I'm answering questions from InsuranceLibrary.com and today's question is, "Is term life insurance better than permanent life insurance?"

    Well, did you hear the two words in there? One is term and one is permanent. When I'm looking at term insurance, I'm looking at obligations. I'm looking at liabilities that I may that are temporal that they are not forever. And so I'm going to look at term insurance to cover those ideas, those indemnification needs, and if I have permanent needs them I'm going have to look at different forms of life insurance that are permanent. It could be Par Whole Life. It could Current Assumption UL. It could be Indexed Universal Life. It could be Variable Life, depending upon what my propensity for risks are, but I'm always looking, is this a temporary expense reimbursement? Or is this a permanent need that will never go away? It's never not is term insurance better or worse than permanent? It's the issue of the need.

    Well, that's our consumer question for the day. If you have any questions just submit them to www.InsuranceLibrary.com.
    Answered on July 18, 2014
  2. 5877 POINTS
    Stan Cox II
    Insurance Adviser - Broker, SC Insurance Services, Oahu, Hawaii
    If ALL you are looking at is Price, then Term insurance, being a good deal less in price for the same amount of permanent insurance would be "better". However if you're looking for VALUE, Whole Life is far far better than Term! There are several types of "permanent" insurance as Steve noted above. However Whole Life, (or "Par Whole Life"), is the only one that truly guarantees level premium and guaranteed no downside risk to the cash value of the policy. And I would add that the best value in Whole Life Insurance is that which is purchased through a Mutual company that pays dividends to the policyholders.
    Answered on October 4, 2015
  3. 11783 POINTS
    Larry GilmorePRO
    Agent Owner, Gilmore Insurance Services, Marysville, Washington State
    Is term life better than whole life? Well, short answer is NO. Term life works best for short term needs, not long term needs. Whole life works best for long term needs and not short term needs. So the answer has to be prefaced with how long do you need the insurance?
    Answered on October 11, 2015
  4. 1976 POINTS
    Ronald Hinch
    Regional Marketing Director, Capital Choice Financial Group,
    Absolutely! I sell only term life insurance to my clients because the need for life insurance is temporary. It is to cover death, of course, debt, Income loss, mortgage, and education for the kids. In the early years you are beginning to build an estate and financial assets and in the later years when debt and mortgage is paid, kids are gone, and there is plenty of money in retirement savings like IRAs and 401Ks the need for life insurance is no longer needed. Never, never, never, bundle your savings with life insurance. Instead, keep the two separate and you will be much better off financially!
    Answered on July 10, 2016
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