I think those quoting huge costs are looking at whole life whereas the rest are looking at term life. Looking at one place, if you're 30 years old, and getting only 100K for whole life, the premium is over $1400/yr. Multiply that by 10 for 1M and it's 14K/yr.
People often get these expensive plans because they can treat it as a retirement fund, and can borrow against it at any time with no penalties, etc. With term life your premiums are wasted if you cancel at 65. With whole life, you get back your premiums, and their growth (you may be able to control the investment vehicle as well).
Wow I’m paying 500/year for $1M 20 year term. That’s where I estimated my numbers from.
From my perspective term makes more sense. I will have a net worth over $1m in 20 years and that’s more than enough for my family to survive on. The insurance is mainly for my family in case something happens to me in the near term.
People often get these expensive plans because they can treat it as a retirement fund, and can borrow against it at any time with no penalties, etc. With term life your premiums are wasted if you cancel at 65. With whole life, you get back your premiums, and their growth (you may be able to control the investment vehicle as well).