Life insurance
Understand your life insurance choices
Start with the people and expenses you want to protect. These guides can help you understand the terms, review coverage you already have and prepare questions for your next conversation.
Start with the need you want to cover
Consider who relies on you, which expenses would remain and what resources are already available. The NAIC Life Insurance Buyer’s Guide recommends reviewing financial needs and existing coverage before choosing a policy.
Use our family life insurance needs guide to organize the questions and a budget you can revisit.
Understand the main policy types
Term insurance covers a specified period. Whole life and universal life are forms of cash value insurance, with different payment and policy provisions. The NAIC overview of life insurance types explains these broad categories.
Take a closer look at coverage you already have
Choose the guide that matches what you want to review:
- Life insurance through work: benefit amounts and questions about leaving a job.
- An existing policy at retirement: premiums, guarantees and current policy values.
- Life insurance needs after 65: support needs, expenses and existing resources.
- Term life conversion: deadlines, costs and choices to check with the insurer.
Explore mortgage and final expense questions
For a mortgage-related need, read our mortgage life insurance and term life comparison. For funeral and other final costs, begin with the final expense starting guide, then compare burial insurance and prepaid funeral plans.
Find your next guide
Looking for Medicare information or helping a parent? The ShieldWise guide finder organizes reading around five everyday goals. You can explore more than one path without sharing personal details.
Have a general question?
Use the contact page to ask about a topic in these guides. Keep personal health information, identifying numbers and financial documents out of the general form. A general inquiry is separate from an insurance application or enrollment.