For the conservative part of the portfolio, permanent life insurance is great
Both the declared and the minimum crediting rates are net of investment management expenses. Insurers selling and managing Universal Life and Current Assumption Whole Life policies will declare, from time to time, a policy cash value interest crediting rate subject to the guaranteed minimum specified in the policy. Annual fees can range from 0.25 percent to more than 2.0 percent of the account value. Variable Universal Life illustrations almost always assume a gross return, not to exceed the regulatory maximum of 12 percent. Don't buy something you feel bad about paying for, OK? Remember to decide what your budget allows you to spend on life insurance. Both term and permanent provide me value to meet specific goals and needs that I have. I even used some of the cash values to buy real estate at an opportune time. I could count on it. And I have to tell you that when 9/11 and the tech stock slides hit the market, it was great to know my permanent life insurance was still going up in value at the same rate it had been before. I don't plan on needing it a long time, so term makes the best sense. I recently purchased a lake home and I wanted to cover the mortgage.Why do I have both term and permanent life insurance? I think so, but then you don't have options when you get older and still want or need some life insurance. Could you do much the same with buying bonds? With permanent coverage, you can take some cash out when you retire; leaving enough to pay the premiums and provide the amount of death benefit you want. Even if you end up cashing the policy in at retirement, you have the option of taking the payments as an annuity, and the payout rates in some policies are still very good. Fifty years ago, Whole Life insurance was a staple in the small array of policies available to protect one's family or business from economic loss at the time of death.