Why Is Term Life Insurance Recommended? 
There are two financially oriented universes : an insurance planning universe , and a financial planning universe . In the former , it never makes sense to buy term and those that live in that universe will give you an infinite number of reasons why - in the long run - it is a waste of your money . If you buy term , you will be called a `` termite '' . In the latter , term insurance - or permanent insurance - are viewed asfinancial vehicles that can be used to achieve a certain objective or several objectives at once , through leveraging : paying `` small '' dollars now for `` large '' dollars later . It 's called `` using the right tool for the job '' . Neither universe is right or wrong , although I would imagine you know which universe I come from . The point is to stay fixed on how much death benefit -LRB- coverage or face amount -RRB- you need and for how long . The way I see it , one needs term when they have a high need and a low budget , and a type of permanent insurance policy for when they eventually die . In other words , you need both . I recommend buying term in the higher amount that you need early in life -LRB- wife , kids , education , mortgage , etc. -RRB- for the period of time you are most likely to need it -LRB- 20-30 years -RRB- , but at the same time , buy a small face amount of permanent insurance to cover final expenses , projecting forward a nice , long lifetime and what it will probably cost to put you in a box , or reduce your mass through pyric methodolgies and put you in an urn . Allow for other final expenses , such as possible debt , medical expenses not covered by insurance , and a little `` transitional money '' for those you leave behind . That way , when your term runs out , you 'll have only the permanent plan to pay premium on , and , if you design it prudently , you might find that your final expense policy no longer needs any premium when your term runs out . You 'll need an experienced and knowledgeable agent from the appropriate universe to put this together for you so that it fits your budget . Final note : As has been appropriately mentioned in an answer above , be sure to purchase only `` fully convertible term '' for the reasons cited therein . 