While both whole and universal life insurance are permanent life insurance policies, there are some key differences. Whole life insurance offers a fixed premium and a fixed death benefit for the duration of the policy. These policies will build cash value over time, though slowly, while a universal policy’s cash value could grow faster, depending on its returns. A universal life insurance policy can also have a premium that fluctuates based on its cash value and your shifting death benefit needs. Universal plans are known as being generally higher risk and potentially higher reward than whole life insurance plans.