I have a different view on life insurance (full disclosure I sell it as part of an overall financial plan - yes I’m an advisor). I put my money where my mouth is though and own quite a bit of it, both term and permanent. I think of permanent as part of my overall portfolio. I’m not talking about the cash value, although I have significant amounts of that which will be accessed tax free in retirement. I view the death benefit as part of retirement.
Let’s face it, unlikely you will spend every dollar during life. Of course that depends on your circumstances. So on a go forward basis, what are those premiums buying? In my case, they are buying a substantial nest egg for my spouse. One greater than an investment would likely produce. Why is that important? I assume she will outlive me. More longevity, better health, and women frequently do. So, I don’t need as much in retirement for our joint life (although we have plenty). We can focus on spending whatever and then when I pass, she gets it all over again, and then when she passes, whatever is left goes to the kids. I call this “Spend and Replace”. By doing this, I can take some stress out of the portfolio. We don’t need it to be $X and therefore invest in more aggressive stuff. Of course, very conservative on what I think we’ll need and for how long.
So you might want to convert some of that term into perm coverage just so there’s something guaranteed to replenish later. Do the numbers. What would it cost to do that? What would that investment likely be in traditional markets (of course nothing really certain there unless you go very conservative)? When derisking the portfolio, hard to beat the future death benefit, especially when you consider taxes. There are low cost guaranteed death benefit products (no focus on cash value- more like permanent term if you will - that lock in rates forever). Might make sense to have some of that in the portfolio. Worth taking a look. Every situation is different.
Unconventional thinking doesn’t make it wrong (or right).