What I offer
Every one of these does the same basic job: if you die, money goes to the people you named, income-tax-free in most cases. What changes is how long the coverage lasts, what it costs, and whether it builds value while you’re alive.
Parents with young kids, a mortgage, or income someone else depends on.
Coverage for a set number of years — usually 10, 20 or 30. If something happens to you inside that window, your family gets the payout. It is the least expensive way to buy a large amount of protection.
People who want one policy that stays in force for life, and a pool of money they can use along the way.
Permanent coverage with a premium that does not change and a death benefit that does not expire. It builds guaranteed cash value you can borrow against, and a participating policy may also be credited a dividend each year — which is not guaranteed.
People who already have the basics covered and want permanent coverage with cash-value flexibility.
Permanent coverage with flexible premiums, where the cash value earns interest credited according to the movement of a market index, subject to caps, floors and participation rates set by the insurer.
Older adults, and anyone who wants their family not to fundraise for a funeral.
A small whole life policy, usually $5,000 to $25,000, built to cover a funeral, burial and the bills that land in the weeks afterward. Underwriting is simplified — often health questions only, no medical exam.
Side by side
A rough guide, not a quote. What you’d actually pay depends on your age, your health and the amount of coverage.
| Term | Whole Life | Indexed UL | Final Expense | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How long it lasts | A set term, usually 10–30 years | For life | For life, if funded properly | For life |
| Cost per $100k | Lowest | Higher | Higher, flexible | Not usually sold at that size |
| Premium | Level for the term | Level for life | Flexible within limits | Level for life |
| Builds cash value | No | Yes, on a guaranteed schedule | Yes, credited by index formula, not guaranteed | Yes, modest |
| Typical face amount | $100k–$2M+ | $25k–$1M+ | $100k+ | $5k–$25k |
| Medical exam | Often skipped, sometimes required | Usually required at larger amounts | Usually required | Health questions, typically no exam |
Ranges are general industry norms and are shown to help you think about the shape of each product. They are not an offer, a quote or a guarantee. Availability, issue ages, face amounts and premiums are set by each insurance company and vary by state and by applicant — which is exactly why I keep a wide bench of carriers rather than one.
A word about cash value
Whole life and indexed universal life both accumulate cash value inside the policy. You can borrow against it or withdraw from it while you’re alive, which is a real feature and one reason people choose permanent coverage over term. On a participating whole life policy the insurer may also credit a dividend each year — that is not guaranteed, but where it happens it compounds into both the cash value and the death benefit.
It is also the part of this business that gets oversold. Cash value builds slowly in the early years, because the cost of the insurance and the policy charges come out first. Money you take out or borrow reduces the death benefit, and a loan that isn’t managed can put the policy at risk of lapsing — which can create a tax bill. On an indexed policy, the crediting depends on caps, floors and participation rates that the insurer can change within the limits of the contract, so the numbers on an illustration are projections, not promises.
None of that makes it a bad product. It makes it a product you should buy with your eyes open, and I’ll walk you through the guaranteed columns of an illustration, not just the flattering ones.
Asked about long-term care? Short page on that here.
That’s the normal starting point, and it’s a fifteen-minute conversation. I write in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Ohio and Vermont.
