What is whole life insurance?

Whole life insurance is one of several types of life insurance one can purchase. Whereas a term life insurance policy only covers a specified amount of time, whole life insurance applies for the insured person’s entire life. This means that the insured person will pay premiums for as long as they live (although most plans have a cut-off age, such as 90, after which an insured person no longer needs to pay premiums). The monthly premiums for whole life insurance tend to me more expensive than for term life insurance when you are younger, but a portion of that higher payment goes into a cash reserve which you can actually use as collateral or even borrow money from (but that makes little financial sense, as you are essentially paying the life insurance provider interest for letting you borrow your own money).