A lot of people say don’t get whole life, which contradicts what @kritiper wrote, but I am no expert, and really don’t have advice about it.
I have term, and have been thinking of converting some of it to whole life, but another friend of mine recently said don’t bother.
You can create your own life insurance by putting money away and listing the beneficiaries on the account so when you die that money is available to them right away. For young people, if they suddenly die, they usually don’t have savings and a young spouse can be left in a very difficult position of grieving and not being able to afford the bills all at once. When an older person dies they often have savings and the spouse doesn’t have to deal with a dramatic financial change.
Again, I’m not offering advice, only offering the way some people look at it.
If you are single with no kids don’t get insurance, or very very minimal for burial if you want to be buried. Some people get insurance if they have pets if a family member will agree to take care of the pet.
If you are married or have kids get insurance that will cover your mortgage amount plus. There is a such thing as mortgage insurance, but I do not recommend that.
The younger you get life insurance the cheaper it will be.
Let’s say you are married with kids. The breadwinner in the family usually is insured more than a spouse who makes less money. It’s usually based on the income that person brings into the family. If you have young kids you might still want to insure a spouse that doesn’t make much money at a high amount if the surviving spouse will have to pay for more childcare after the loss. My husband and I have the same amount of insurance, so basically he has me way over insured.
If your job offers additional life insurance I recommend not getting additional through your company, but rather an outside company that will stay in force if you change jobs.