Is Whole Life Insurance A Good Retirement Investment? 
Participating whole life can be a supplement with or an alternative to a retirement plan . Generally , it is classified as a savings plan , not an investment plan . The product suitability for participating whole life insurance as an income source for retirement is a long term saver with low to zero risk tolerance and no less than a fifteen year annual premium commitment . The participating whole life policy needs to be designed for accumulating the maximum cash values over time . That means the design must use the lowest policy base amount with a combination of a term rider and paid up additions rider . Although historical returns are no indication of future performance , participating whole life insurance designed in this configuration has done well against long term government treasuries by several whole life companies . 