Is whole life insurance a good investment?

For most people, no — it's better thought of as insurance with a slow savings account attached, not an investment. The cash value in a whole life policy typically grows at a low guaranteed rate (often 1–3.5% net after the insurance cost), and it can take a decade or more before the cash value even equals the premiums you've paid because early-year costs and commissions are steep. By contrast, buying cheaper term life and investing the difference in a low-cost index fund has historically produced far more wealth over 20–30 years. Whole life can make sense in narrow cases: funding estate-tax liquidity for very large estates, providing for a permanently dependent child, or maxing out other tax-advantaged accounts first. If someone pitches it as an investment, slow down and compare it against the term-plus-invest alternative before signing.