I always thought it was better to own than to rent. Hence, I have a similar analogy for Life insurance. Term is like renting, whereas Whole Life is like owning. I always try to own and avoid renting. Its like creating wealth!

Life insurance has many features of which some of them have been discussed in this tread! Remember, the main issue here is that one must has to consistently maintain the policy for a minimum of 12-15 years in order to get maximum benefit!

Majority of people simply stop paying the premium after a few years, getting frustrated with cash value being very small or neglible in the first few years. The cash value builds up significantly after 3-4 years and then based on market conditions/portfolio performance, this cash value tends to accelerate very rapidly in years 7 through 11 years.