Function

• Whole life insurance provides money to your heirs at the time of your death. Unlike regular life insurance policies, which cover you only for a specific period of years, whole life insurance covers you for the entirety of your life, as long as the monthly premiums are paid.
  
  

Time Frame

• AARP as an organization is set up specifically to meet the needs of those who are retirement age or older. As time has progressed it has moved from specifically retired people to people 50 and older, and lately has opened its doors to include more of the general public. Today the vast majority of AARP members are over the age of 60.
  
  

History

• AARP was begun by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus. Andrus was, at the time, a retired high school principle and so she understood the need for an organization that catered specifically to the needs of retired people.
  
  

Benefits

• Whole life insurance has some specific benefits over term life insurance. Instead of covering you just for a specific period of time it covers you for the length of your life. On top of this, whole life insurance has an inherent cash value that term insurance lacks. In most cases you can take a cash loan out against your policy, which will have a better interest rate than a loan taken out from a bank.
  
  Some whole life insurance policies have an investment factor, as well. Your whole life insurance policy may, after several years, pay you a dividend. This is because the money you put into the fund is then invested in stocks and other investments, which can make the policy a great financial asset.
  
  At the time of your death your whole life insurance policy will be paid out to the person you specified when you took out the policy. This money can be used to support your surviving spouse or children after you are gone.
  
  AARP's whole life insurance has the added benefit of being created with the older retired client in mind. Many older people may not qualify for whole life insurance policies with other companies because of their age or existing medical conditions.
  
  

Warning

• Whole life insurance only works as long as you make the monthly payments. If you are behind in payments at the time of your death your heirs will not receive the expected payout.
  
  The amount of your monthly payments can be drastically affected by your pre-existing medical issues. If you have severe medical problems, whole life insurance may be more costly than you can afford. Whole life insurance also costs significantly more than term insurance.