Ah, the great question: What is permanent life insurance, anyway? We'll try to answer that question in a few paragraphs so you can get on with your search for the best, most secure life insurance for you and your loved ones.
Simply put, permanent insurance is insurance that covers you indefinitely, as opposed to term life insurance, which covers you only for a set period (usually for 10, 20 or 30 years). Buy this type of plan when your needs are more long-term and you can afford to invest more into your life policy. You can buy term policies that can then be converted into permanent plans when your income and life circumstances warrant such a change.
Permanent life coverage includes whole and universal life insurance, which have distinct features that may or may not be appropriate for you - it just depends on your life circumstances.
The two major types of permanent life protection are variable and fixed insurance. Variable products are meant to provide you with an insurance benefit, but do not guarantee a minimum rate of return, so your earnings (or losses) may fluctuate substantially from year to year. Fixed insurance, on the other hand, locks in a certain interest rate (which may be lower than that of variable coverage) over the life of the policy.
If you are not sure about whether to get permanent insurance for your life, look at our other pages about different types of life insurance to get a better idea of what kind is best for you.