One of the most common questions about life insurance is whether to purchase Term, Universal, or Whole Life policies. Some articles flatly instruct applicants to ONLY buy Term, whereas one's agent may advocate ONLY buying Permanent. In reality, neither extreme is ALWAYS best for everyone. And when a serious health condition is involved, all "rules of thumb" can become moot points due to limited choices.

However, there are general guidelines you can use to help ensure that you have what is needed WHEN it is needed.

1) Use Term for temporary and/or large coverage needs

Getting children raised through college graduation, paying off the mortgage, or being able to buy your partner's half of the business are all examples of temporary needs that can require large amounts of coverage. Term insurance is generally the cheapest way to buy the most life insurance. It has no cash value and the premium will jump sky high when the guaranteed term ends, so be sure: a) you will not need it past that time, in case you are uninsurable when the term ends, or b) your policy is convertible, meaning it can be changed to permanent at the same health rating regardless of your health at the time of conversion.

2) Use Universal Life with a lifetime no lapse guarantee or Whole Life for permanent needs

Universal Life policies are very flexible. You can often adapt the same policy to whatever your needs are at the time, for the rest of your life, without ever having to reapply. To save you money some carriers guarantee the no lapse period to last a certain number of years, with the option to "catch up" to lifetime guaranteed later on. It is usually best to use UL or Whole Life when applying past age 65 as so few Term policies are convertible past age 75. Fortunately, Universal Life often is offered to age 90, and some Whole Life offered to age 80 does not require an exam.

3) When your health is impaired, review these features:

a) Graded period. Some people with serious health conditions can obtain life insurance in states where "graded death benefits" are allowed. This means the full death benefit is paid only after a predetermined number of years since policy purchase. During the graded period, policies vary widely in HOW MUCH is paid and HOW LONG until 100% of the death benefit is paid. Graded plans are most often offered as Whole Life, or occasionally ten year Term.

Diabetics do not generally need to use graded plans unless their A1C is quite uncontrolled, they have serious side effects, or a combination of health impairments. Cancer survivors can be eligible for graded coverage 1-2 years after one's last treatment, then nongraded plans may be available later (different periods of remission are required for different type cancers). Heart disease patients often can get nongraded plans a year after successful treatment.

Whether or not you need graded coverage is highly dependent on the DETAILS of your health condition, the EXPERTISE of your agent in getting the correct and necessary facts required by impaired risk carriers, and the NUMBER OF OPTIONS offered by the insurance agency you are using.

b) Term vs Perm. If your impairment is such that you could be eligible for a much lower priced policy in the future (e.g. one year after successful Hepatitis C treatment), getting graded ten year Term may be your best option because you can get more for your dollar. However be sure some conversion feature exists so that you can extend your coverage if needed.

If your impairment will only progress over time (e.g. diabetic nephropathy) it may be best to get the rate locked in for the rest of your life with graded Whole Life. If you can get a medically underwritten (nongraded) policy now, don't take it for granted. Just developing one complication can bump someone with a health condition to uninsurable. So take what you can afford while you can get it.