Nobody really gets excited about insurance. Except for those who sell it and I think it would be safe to say in some instances that even some insurance agents aren't real thrilled either when they issue a policy. Unfortunately, because insurance is a necessary evil, all of us must address it. Whether it is auto, health or life, insurance is a necessity. Or should be, especially when it comes to life insurance. Let's face it, life insurance is even less exciting than plain old insurance. Is that possible? Life insurance, if purchased properly, may not cause excitement, but it should provide you with something more substancial. Peace of mind. After all, life insurance involves the well-being of your family, financial and otherwise. It may not be exciting, but nothing is more important that protecting your family's financial future.

Term vs. Whole-Two options exist for you to make sure your family is financially secure in the event of your death. Term insurance and Whole Life insurance. Term insurance serves solely to provide your family with what is called a death benefit. In other words, a lump sum amount of money will be paid upon your death to a surviving family member. This family member, whom you choose, is called the beneficiary. The beneficiary will receive an amount that has been determined by you to protect all your family's assets and pay all debts. When determing this amount one must include balances of a mortgage, car, credit cards and any other debt. For example, if your mortgage balance is currently $200,000 and the combination of all other debt is $75,000; you must have policy with at least a $275,00 death benefit. Ideally, it should be more.

Whole life differs from term insurance in that the premiums, or payments that you make to the policy, earn interest. So, not only do you have a death benefit, you are earning interest on the amount of money you contribute each month. Best of both worlds, right? Wrong. Whole life insurance is more expensive and the rate of return earned on the interest insurance companies pay, is much lower than that of most any other form of investment. Typically monthly premiums on whole life policies are 3 to 4 times higher than premiums on term policies with the same death benefit amount. In addition, the extra money you spent on whole life could be invested elsewhere with better rates of return.

And the winner is....term life insurance. Very simply, buying term life insurance will provide more than enough financial well-being for your family and cost you much less than the alternative, whole life. When you are determining the best type of insurance for you and your family and how to buy life insurance, make sure the word "term" is included in your final decision. Nobody likes to think about death. If you get term life insurance, you won't have to.