You are wrong, I wasn't sold a Whole Life Policy I was sold 3 of them. All 3 went to court and were with different agents. This all happened during a time when I had no idea what I was doing and trusted the agents. Whats the chances of getting 3 bad agents, could it be a trend?
All a bunch of BS, there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. Don't try to bring up some hypothetical situation and say what if. I feel sorry for anyone getting sucked into this scam and will always voice my opinion that it's nothing but a scam.
Sounds like I was right, but three times. Sure, there is definitely the possibility you were duped by shady agents who presented unreasonable hypothetical illustrations. Like I said, there is a reason the words "vanishing premium" can't be used. Every illustration is required to have a "guaranteed" column and a non-guaranteed (i.e. current scale) column. Some agents back in the 80's ripped out the guaranteed page and only showed the current side. Just because someone did this to you doesn't make permanent life insurance a scam. If someone dies, the death benefit will be paid. If they want to take the cash out, they can. The situations I described are not hypothetical situations, they are the reality for 95% of the people who buy term insurance.
I also have a fishing buddy who is a retired New York Life Insurance salesman and after staying with him in Florida and fishing from his boat I can say he did well. He has been telling me I should buy a second to die policy. I can not understand this at all and told him it probably is a good way to send his grandchildren to college but not mine. I also thought dgoldenz post might shed some light on what he has tried to tell me.
I can certainly say that whole life and second to die policies are not in my retirement plan as there is no need for them. I have however now heard a new argument for whole life other than its a a great investment which I never understood.
Someone selling term insurance can do just as well as someone who only sells whole life. Who makes more, the guy selling $1 million of term to a 60 year old, or the guy selling $50k whole life to a 35 year old?
Regarding the second to die policy, it would be a good idea if you have significant assets and a potential estate tax issue. There is no personal benefit to buying a second to die policy other than the satisfaction of knowing you are leaving your heirs with enough money to pay the estate taxes and be able to keep everything you worked hard to obtain. The question I always ask people is would you rather share your wealth with 300 million people (through paying estate taxes) or would you rather share it with your own family? You could pay those taxes for 1 cent on the dollar each year you live with a second to die policy (e.g. a $1 million policy with a $10k premium, for instance).
The tax-free money paid at death pays the estate tax bill (or part of it). This is especially important to people who are property-rich and cash-poor and their kids would otherwise have to sell off the properties to pay the estate tax. Would you want to sell your property in this market for 50 cents on the dollar, or let it keep producing income for the kids?
Having said that, a second-to-die whole life policy is the worst way to approach it. A second-to-die guaranteed universal life policy will give you the maximum death benefit for the absolute lowest premium possible. Again, think of it as term insurance that has a guaranteed premium for life. Whole life is more expensive and generally builds more cash value than UL. Since a second to die policy is used in conjunction with an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), having a cash value on the policy is useless since you can't take it out of the trust.
Hope that all makes sense...