While all life insurance policies provide death benefits, they are not all the same. There are two primary types of life insurance:  A term life policy provides a death benefit to your loved ones if you die during the policy’s term. This term might be a period of 10, 20, 30 or more years, depending on the expiration date of the policy. Whole life policies last for the remainder of your life once you enroll. They will not expire unless you stop paying for them.