For some people the barrier that exists between them and the act of purchasing term life insurance is more psychological than it is related to money. They know that they need to make the right decision about something as major as insurance, but they dread being browbeaten by salespeople or finding themselves swamped with information from the internet on the subject.

Hopefully this short article can help you make some headway, if this situation applies to you.

Let's first get a clear definition of what term life insurance is. It's the simplest form of life insurance, where the payment of premium amounts each month buys you a defined death benefit payout for a defined number of years, usually between 10 and 30. The stipulation is that if you do not die during that period there will be no payout to your beneficiaries, nor will you get any of your premiums back. If you do die during that period your loved ones will get the lump sum.

Since it's statistically likely that you will in fact outlive the period of your term life policy, insurance companies are able to sell these policies for premium amounts that may seem breathtakingly low for the amount of coverage associated with policy. Well, the premiums in fact are lower than any other form of life insurance, but the danger is that after having outlived your policy you will get absolutely nothing in return for all of your premium payments.

So is there a way to lock in the low policy payments of term life insurance, without risking that you will be in a situation in your 50s or 60s facing a future entirely without life insurance? There are at least a couple of ways to do this.

First, look into the possibility of getting an extendable term life policy. It will cost you more, but the peace of mind may very well be worth it to you. There also is what is known as a convertible term life policy which gives you the option of changing your policy to a permanent life insurance policy when the original policy term is finished. At that time your premiums will be higher, and they might also increase over time, but again the benefit is that you will not have to be shopping around for a brand-new policy in your 50s or 60s. That is a situation you really want to avoid because of the high cost of a new term or permanent life insurance policy to you, at that time.

If you get an extendable or convertible term plan, you will enjoy premiums that are probably quite a bit cheaper than say a whole life permanent policy, which will allow you to save and invest more money during your prime earning years. Most experts will tell you that you want to avoid whole life insurance because they are so expensive to maintain, and because they have hidden fees and commissions. But that will be the subject of another article.