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Northwestern Mutual whole life insurance?

I recently sat down with a Northwestern Mutual rep. He showed me some great investment options. He also showed me their whole life insurance and how it was the best in the industry. He showed me how I could save liquid cash and make some nice money through their dividend rate. He also showed me how the insurance could offset my estate taxes to protect my assets. What do you guys think about the insurance vs. putting the money in something else?

Public Comments

1. Generally, term life insurance is better price wise. You get the same protection at about half the cost.
2. He showed you investment options that would be great for him, because he would get paid commissions for selling you those options. They are not likely to be great for you as well. You would make more if you invested the money in bonds, a savings account, or basically anything else. Even if you need life insurance for some other reason, you can get more dividends if you buy the same amount of term life insurance, which costs a fraction of the price, and invest the money you save in something that will pay more dividends that whole life insurance will. Most of the population is not rich enough to be subject to the estate tax. The insurance cannot offset any estate taxes if there are no estate taxes to offset, which is nearly always the case.
3. a) Do you want life insurance to last forever? If so, then a whole life policy is only one option. A life insurance broker can show you many companies and different products to achieve the goal of having life insurance last forever. b) Do you plan a double homicide after your football career and passive acting career? Well, in the civil suit (assuming the gloves don't fit) they won't be able to attach the life insurance policy. c) If you want it for a pure investment. Their policy will return 1-3% over a 20 year time frame. As an investment, your mattress is pretty much in line with a whole life policy. d) Is your estate over $5 million this year? No?...then you don't have an estate tax problem.
4. While Northwestern Mutual boasts of high interest rates, their COI or cost of insurance is so high that it offsets the benefit of the interest earned. Whole life isn't necessarily a bad option but Northwestern Mutual definitely isn't the place to get it from. Use an internet based service to shop term and permanent insurance instead.