Whole life insurance

Whole life insurance, or whole of life assurance (in the Commonwealth of Nations), sometimes called "straight life" or "ordinary life", is a life insurance policy that is guaranteed to remain in force for the insured's entire lifetime, provided required premiums are paid, or until the policy maturity date. As a life insurance policy, it represents a contract between the insured and insurer stating that, as long as contract terms are met, the insurer will pay the death benefit of the policy to the designated beneficiaries upon the insured's death.

Because whole life policies are guaranteed to remain active for the life of the insured as long as required premiums are paid, initial premiums are typically higher than those for term life insurance, where premiums are fixed only for a limited term. Whole life premiums are fixed at issue based on the issue age and do not increase as the insured ages. The insured party normally pays premiums until death, except for limited-pay policies, which can be fully paid up in a specified number of years (e.g., 10 or 20 years) or at a specific age (such as age 65). Whole life insurance belongs to the cash value category of permanent life insurance, which also includes universal life insurance, variable universal life insurance, and endowment policies.