Is a whole-life insurance policy a better way to escape the estate tax than making gifts every year to your descendants?

FORBES: Amateur Hour

Her husband had taken out a whole-of-life policy in 1984 and she took out another one in 1990.

BBC: Whole-of-life insurance: Why complaints are rising fast

The build-up in value of a whole life policy is not subject to current taxation.

FORBES: 1099s From Insurance Companies - Don't Ignore But Don't Take At Face Value Either

The trade-off was that, unlike old-fashioned whole life, the effective premiums for the universal policy death benefit rise as the policyholder ages.

FORBES: Retirement Disaster Looms For Universal Life Policyholders

"But you can certainly find situations where you'd be a fool to drop an existing policy, " Mr. Daily says, especially if it's an older "whole life" policy the kind that builds cash value some of which offer a tax-deferred rate of return on the cash value of over 3%.

WSJ: Turn Life Insurance Into an Investment