Hello all,
Last night, my friend and I spoke with a representative from World Marketing Alliance, which is the 4th largest broker-dealer in the country. He was talking to us about and insurance/investment product called Variable Universal Life (VUL). I had never really heard of it before, but of course this guy was plugging it as a great product. My friend is considering it as an option for insurance/investment, but we have little information on it. Unfortunately, my friend is a little less financially knowledgeable than I and a little more impressionable, so I am trying to find lots of info so I can help steer him in the right direction.
From what I gather, VUL is essentially Annual Renewable Term insurance combined with dollar cost averaging investment in mutual funds. (I am not sure what all funds one can invest in, we didn't discuss that last night). Anyway, you put after tax $$$ in, and the investment portion grows just as if you were doing dollar cost averaging mutual funds. The difference is you can withdraw the investment money after 10 years and it is Tax-Free. There is no minimum age you must be before you can withdraw investment $$$.
I am leery because I am totally unfamiliar with this product. If it is as cool as it sounds, it may be worth investigating--but of course the guy who told me about it is trying to sell it.
FWIW, this product originated in 1986. On one hand, i can't believe that I would never have heard of it (even though I am 25, no husband/kids, so not terribly concerned about Life insurance). On the other hand, it took around 15 years for 401(k)'s to really the country's attention...

ANY information--pros or cons--that you guys can provide would be appreciated!

d