Gleason on the money

DEAR SIR — David Gleason is right on the button with his wandering albatross observations on life insurance.

I was, many years ago, an actuarial student with a life company. I learned the only forms of life assurance worth having are “Whole Life without Profits” or “Term Assurance”. The object of life assurance for an individual (as opposed to a businessman) is to protect one’s family from the early demise of the income-earner, so one should obtain the maximum of initial cover for the minimum of premium payable — that is, Whole Life. What is saved in premium can be invested in rational investment instruments such as unit trusts to build up a capital base for oneself rather than income for an insurance firm. Strangely, insurance agents are very reticent about offering such advice to prospective assurance clients.