When deciding whether to purchase life insurance, most consumers focus on whole life insurance vs. term life insurance. Whole life insurance is a policy that lasts as long as a policyholder is alive. Term life insurance lasts for a prearranged period of time, such as 10 or 20 years, and is often used to insure against a parent’s untimely death during specific stages of a family’s life. There is another subset of life insurance, however, that covers specific areas of need.