<prompt> Human: I see a lot of posts on here trashing Whole Life Insurance. I get that it is not an aggressive investment, but what if you are looking for something safe in the 3-5 return rate that you want to invest long-term? Why is it not a good option for that? What is a better alternative?EDIT: Follow-up question. It seems like a lot of insurance companies are now providing a Premium Deposit Account which can be used to funnel money for paying WLI premiums. Would be interested in hearing peoples on thoughts on the proscons of this?  <response>: You are not getting a 3-5 return rate on the total amount you pay into a whole life insurance policy. You might get 3-5 credited on the cash value, but only a fraction of the money that you pay in WLI premiums actually goes towards that cash value. It may take 10-20 years just to break even on premiums paid versus cash value accrued here is an example from another topic With an actual investment, there is usually no such required time to break even - all the money you invest normally is yours, period of course, there are funds that charge fees to buy and sell, but we generally dont recommend those kinds of investments.Plus, typical whole life policies have vastly different illustrative and minimum rates: while the marketing material for a WLI policy may quote 3-5 dividends, the insurance company usually has - and almost certainly will exercise - the option to reduce dividends as they see fit, down to the minimum level written into the policy. Minimum rates usually are closer to long-term CD rates, maybe 2-3 maximum right now. 