Comment Re:Both of you are off the mark (Score 1) 238
Life insurance can be broken down into 2 major types.
The first is "Term Life". You agree for a term of X years – let us say 10. You pay a premium. In return, if you die, your heirs get a big payout. This is what you are talking about, and you are ½ right. In this case the insurance company wants you to live a longer life. However, it operates more like property insurance because it is short term so the need for financial stability is less.
The second class is immediate annuities, which most people know as whole life. Immediate annuities provide a cash stream for as long as you live so you can think of it as a private social security plan. You are right that these plans share the same risk characteristics as long term care. However, the annuities business is about 100x as large as the long term care bossiness. If you need payments for 30 years then financial stability is more important.
Now, I am rereading the OP and the need for 30 years of "term" insurance and dying in year 29 and I am getting a little confused. It sounds like he is referring to a 30 year term insurance policy with a single premium but those are very rare in America. That would straddle the line. But I would guess that he is confused on how term insurance with a cash balance works – which is an arcane subject so I will let that slide.