For Smart people

Term Life Insurance is a policy that covers you for a specified period of time.  Policy periods typically run 10,20 or 30 years.  Term life insurance is the lowest cost out of pocket.

Permanent life insurance has a cash value and savings component or can be tied to an investment account.  The most common types of permanent life insurance are whole, variable and indexed life.  Whole life has a pre-set payment terms as where variable and universal life policies will have flexible payment options.