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23 years old. Should I buy whole life now?

The policy is participating and through a mutual insurance company (guardian Life). I figure after about 15 years of paying, the dividends could end up paying for the policy and id have it for the rest of my life for free. as the dividends keep accumulating i could use the extra dividends over the premium to either take as cash and have a lifetime income. am i missing anything? this sounds like a good plan. is anything i mentioned wrong or am i overestimating the benefit of buying this policy so young? I may not need the life insurance protection now that i have no family but I will eventually need it so why not get a good rate now.

Public Comments

1. Do it!! No question about it. If I'd known then, what I know now, I would have!! It is never too early to get life insurance.
2. You do not use life insurance as a retirement/investment benefit. Calculate the interest/rate of return on your 15 years of paying, it's probably a 3-5% annual rate of return, you can get better than that at payapl. If you're married or have dependants, get whole coverage, if you dont smoke it's probably 250-350 a year for 500,000 policy. Use the money you save by not getting whole and invest it in a mutual fund.
3. I suggest you stay away from whole life in general. Their "dividends" are only refunds of overcharges and you can do much better with different types of investments. Wait until you need life insurance (married, kid's, etc.) and get term insurance. It's cheaper and then you are paying only for what you need.
4. Buy term life insurance when you are married and have kids. Research both whole life and term and see which is better.
5. http://dealbarbiepays.com/members/register.php?ref=thesiflster
6. I would not purchase life insurance unless someone is reliant upon my income or I owned subtantial assets that have debt that would need to be covered in the event of my death. If you do purchase life insurance, I highly recommend TERM life insurance. It is MUCH CHEAPER than whole life insurance (about 90% cheaper!). http://www.zanderins.com is a great place to get term life insurance quotes. NOTE: Don't type in your name/e-mail/phone number if you don't want them bugging you!
7. I agree with those who suggested TERM insurance (at that time when you have others depending on your income). I believe that the sole function of life insurance is to protect your family in the case of your death. I don't believe that it should be used as an investment vehicle.
8. The purpose of life insurance is to provide for people that depend on you for income. Do you have children/a spouse? Term life is much cheaper than whole life and you should probably look at that rather than whole life. Only buy from a company that is rated A++. Also if you have children/a spouse you should definitely look at disability insurance also because you have a greater chance of becoming disabled during your working lifetime than dying.
9. Price both whole life and term life. Buy the term life and put the difference in a mutual fund. In about 5 years, the mutual fund will be worth enough to buy term insurance for the rest of your life.
10. Unless you're married, have kids, or both, don't go with life insurance as an investment vehicle. Life insurance is a means of providing your family with a source of income that you would've otherwise earned had you not died. As a young 23 year old, you likely don't have beneficiaries besides perhaps a sibling or your parents (though your parents are your next of kin unless you specify a sibling to be the beneficiary). I'm 26 and I have a minimal life insurance policy (I only have it because it costs $1-2 every 2 weeks) because I have no family members depending on me and if I were to die, the funds would go to my parents.