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Life Insurance Secret 7 Whole Life Insurance Does Not Always Last Your Whole Life

Written by Aaron Pinkston, Tue, Mar 09 2010

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Something I see people say about life insurance commonly is that “whole life lasts your whole life.” This makes a memorable phrase that is easy to remember and sounds commonsensical, but is sometimes wrong.

The worst part is that it is usually on websites that glance over the topic of life insurance quickly on their way to talk about more interesting things. This could mean that it is in the financial section of a newspaper or a website that wants to sell you life insurance so bad they skip over the details to get to the sales pitch. In the process, the websites decide that talking about the different types of life insurance is one of the more important things to discuss. And in the process, they make misguided statements about it. The result is that this same misinformation is all over the place.

The internet is littered with people who say things like, “permanent life insurance is just that – permanent,” or “a whole life insurance policy will last until the day you die.” These are actual quotes I found, by the way. It probably began when a semi-authoritative talking head started saying it and others picked up on it.

Truth is not always pretty

The main problem is that it is a “sticky” statement. If you are familiar with the book Made to Stick, you can probably identify a few elements that make this incorrect statement very memorable and shareable. Namely, it is simple, somewhat unexpected, concrete, and credible.

Like a jingle that gets stuck in your head, often times there is a difference between the world that is easy to remember and reality.

Imagine you are studying astronomy in elementary school and the teacher tells you the planets travel in a circle around the sun because gravity holds them there. That is easy to remember and has many of the same elements of the whole life insurance myth. But most modern scientists understand gravity as a bending of space-time that cause elliptical orbits that change over time.

Will the planet earth undergo significant climate changes many of us might not be able to survive simply because of the way it travels around the sun? Yes, but please don’t tell your third grader I said that.

Better life insurance decisions

Simple myths containing half-truths are good for satisfying curiosity and moving along. They are great when decisions don’t really matter! But when action is required based on that myth, they become reckless.

Imagine if you bought a permanent life insurance policy because you actually expected it to be permanent. While many policies are permanent, not all are. That’s why understanding how permanent your policy is critical.

Fortunately, we take this into account when you get life insurance quotes. We ask, “How important is guaranteed coverage for making payments on time?” It’s an easy question that takes into account the multitude of real life insurance quotes you could receive.

Choosing the policy that is right for you is easy because we help clarify your choices through human questions. Try it now to see how easy finding the truth about life insurance quotes is.


In Life Insurance Secret 1, I uncovered the myth that all agents sell the same life insurance policies.

In Life Insurance Secret 2, I unveil that insurance agents do not sell insurance for the same price.

In Life Insurance Secret 3, I dissolve the illusion that any single agent knows what is best for you.

In Life Insurance Secret 4, I break the fallacy that term insurance is pure insurance.

In Life Insurance Secret 5, I show you the only three ways to get life insurance quotes.

And in Life Insurance Secret 6, I show you why life insurance agents cannot put your needs ahead of their own.


Questions or comments? If you mention “Clarifinancial” in your favorite social bookmarking site, I will see it. You can also find me on Twitter or email me.