Life & Health

Whole life insurance

Permanent coverage with a premium that never increases, a death benefit that never expires, and a cash value that grows on a guaranteed schedule.

What it actually is

Whole life is the oldest form of permanent life insurance and the most predictable. You pay a premium that is fixed for life. The policy builds cash value according to a contractual schedule — not tied to an index, not tied to the market, just a number the carrier is obligated to hit. When you die, whenever that is, it pays.

Some policies also pay dividends. Participating whole life from a mutual carrier has paid them through depressions, world wars, and every market event since — not contractually guaranteed, and paid anyway, every year, for over a century.

Who it fits

People who want certainty above all else. If the phrase "not guaranteed" makes you uncomfortable, this is the product that removes it from the conversation almost entirely.

Final expense and legacy needs. A modest policy that never expires and never gets more expensive, sized to cover a funeral and leave something behind.

Business owners funding a buy-sell. The guaranteed cash value makes it usable as collateral and predictable enough to plan around.

Anyone who was quoted term and told it would be affordable at seventy. It won't be. Term gets repriced at renewal and the number is not close.

How it compares

Against term: term is cheap because it expires. You buy it to cover a window — the mortgage, the years until the kids are grown. Whole life is what you buy when there is no window, because the obligation doesn't end and neither should the coverage. Most households need both, and we write both.

Against indexed universal life: whole life trades upside for certainty. An IUL can credit more in a good year and gives you far more control over funding and access. Whole life gives you a number you can write down today and count on in forty years. If you want to understand the other side of that trade, see how we build indexed universal life →.

What we look at

Whether the premium is genuinely affordable for life — not for five years. Whether the death benefit is sized to a real obligation rather than a round number. Whether a blend of term and permanent gets you more coverage for the same money. And whether the carrier's dividend history is real or a projection.

We're independent. We shop it.

Commonwealth Legacy Group

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Permanent coverage with a premium that never increases, a death benefit that never expires, and a cash value that grows on a guaranteed schedule.

Request a quote