So there is no one or very few people who want it as the insurance for more than say 20-30 years? and would you not care which company sold you the insurance if it was term?
Well, first of all, you have to think about what your insurance need is. If you're married with kids and a house, you want to make sure that those that survive you can afford to keep the house, pay for education, weddings, etc in the event that you and your stream of future income are gone. But once you're 60-70, your kids may all be out of school and married, your house may be paid off, and there's not much left to insure for. Not to mention the fact that at that point your passing may not mean the cessation of an income stream because it may come from sources that don't cease (at least not entirely) with your passing. There are of course other considerations, like using insurance as an estate vehicle, but for the most part you don't
need life insurance once you're older and retired.
Even if you did want lifetime (ie permanent) insurance at a fixed premium, there are Universal Life products that are designed to fill this need relatively cheaply. As far as buying term, this is a tough question. You can definitely save some money going with just any company. The chief concern would be the financial strength of the company, which will play a role in whether they'll be around to pay the claim down the road. Some people will tell you this is a minute risk, especially with the guarantee associations backing, others will say it's a real factor that you have to account for. Another concern is the issue of convertibility. Almost everyone will agree that which company you choose matters more for permanent insurance. If you're buying term thinking, worst case if I get sick (which would cause your premiums to skyrocket at the end of the term and possibly prevent you from getting a new policy) I can always convert to permanent, you might want to buy term with a company that you'd feel comfortable owning permanent insurance with.
