what is the difference between universal life and whole life insurance 
whole life insurance is more stable because the death benefit will never go down if you pay your premiums which are fixed monthly amounts universal life insurance offers more flexibility but your death benefit isn t guaranteed you can increase or decrease the amount you spend on premiums with universal life and you may be able to adjust your death benefit with some policies can i cash out my universal life insurance policy yes you can sell your universal life insurance policy or you can liquidate the cash value component and cancel the policy but you may have to pay a surrender fee if you haven t passed the surrender period the bottom lineuniversal life ul insurance is a form of permanent life insurance with an investment savings element loan options and flexible premiums ul policies provide the option to raise or lower premiums within limits so they can be less expensive than whole life coverage you just have to be careful that your cash value doesn t drop so low that either you pay large sums in premiums or the policy lapses there are no tax implications for policyholders who borrow against the cash value of their ul insurance policy but interest will be charged on the loan amount and any unpaid amounts may be taken from the death benefit policyholders should also be careful about withdrawals from the policy as some may be taxable as with other forms of permanent life insurance the insurer will retain the account s cash value after death 