re: Who do you use for term life?

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Anyone care to help with the basics?

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Your life insurance through your employer is almost certainly group. Very similar to term and is generally a really good deal until you hit 50. You might want to figure out what the "most" you can carry through the employers and do some comparison shopping.

At 30, you're probably going to look at 30 year terms and getting those early, while you're still in good health, can really shave off the long-term costs.

Stay away from whole life, generally. I'm not a "never" whole life guy, as it has value for certain estate planning or other applications, but purely from a "life insurance" standpoint, it is a costly luxury type product. Stick with term - major companies - get the cheapest that meets your needs. You probably need a little more than you think you do, but don't overdo the amount, either.

ETA: Back to basics -

Whole life - investment product that provides death protection, builds cash value and if you hold the policy long enough becomes permanent "paid up" insurance. Typically, you can get all of your premiums back at some future date (cashing out the policy), too, as an alternative.

Group life - death protection based on membership in a "group" (typically employment, but also things like military/veteran status, credit union, etc.)

Term life - X amount of death protection for a fixed Y amount of years. Generally, the younger you are, the cheaper it is. Price is risk adjusted based on your health.