re: Northwestern Mutual - Should I?

Whole Life...

First off, there are maybe three companies out there that I would even briefly consider purchasing it from.

Once we get past that... you know the old saying, if you have 2 quarterbacks you have no quarterbacks? That's how I feel about WL. It tries to serve two masters - life insurance and investment return.

Unless you are very wealthy and need life insurance proeeds to pay an estate tax bill, most people by the time they approach say age 75 or so don't need life insurance any more (or they really only need enough for final expenses), and this is the age where term insurance pretty much is unavailable. Now, at that point, you could cash out the policy. But, considering the costs of the policy, you may well have had better investment results in a non-whole life investment.