This insurance policy continues until you die (as long as you make timely payments) and may provide a savings feature that builds up a cash reserve you can use while you're alive. In fact, if there's enough, you can use the cash to pay the premiums, which can be helpful in times of tight finances. This insurance is more expensive than term insurance. There are a few varieties of permanent insurance:

• Whole life lets you pay a fixed premium for a fixed death benefit. There is a cash savings feature that, over time, provides you with a cash reserve.
• Universal life is a little more flexible than whole life. It may let you change the amount of insurance as your needs change. Some changes may require a medical exam.
• Variable life invests some of your premiums in stocks, bonds, and money market funds. The upside is that your investments may perform well, and provide a larger cash reserve. The downside is the risk that the investments will lose money, but a minimum cash value is seldom guaranteed. Most insurers guarantee a minimum death benefit, although it may not be what you had hoped to receive.
• Variable-universal life combines the premium and death benefit flexibility of universal life with the investment flexibility and risk of variable life insurance.