go for term instead of universal. an insurance company is not an investement company. it can hardly beat an investment company, lets say, a mutual fund company. you can lose your invested money easily without being noticed. a friend of mine purchased an ul and rite now its cash value is even below its original investment, not to mention making money. the stock market has ups and downs, but the problem is that he got the promise of 13% annual return rate. when he inquired about that, the agent replied the insurance company need to charge admin fee, other fees, etc. so be cautious. dont expect a double-digit investment return rate. i personally think even 10% is not likely to achieve in the long term. in a long term of 20 years, 5% annual return is already a great job. dont believe me? ask warren buffett