What do insurable interest and gravity have in common? Both are fundamental concepts that impact our lives daily, and yet we hardly think about either one. Gravity keeps your feet on the ground, and insurable interest underpins every insurance policy you’ve ever owned.

Life insurance is like pizza — it comes in many styles and the customization options are practically endless. But unlike pizza, it’s cost-prohibitive to sample life insurance policies to pick the one you like. And that means you’ll have to know your options and clarify your financial goals to land on the type of life insurance that’ll work for you.

Term life insurance, also known as pure life insurance, provides coverage during a specified length of time and guarantees the payment of a death benefit during that period. The shortest term policy available is for one year, and you can typically buy policies with terms that last up to 30 years, or until you reach a specified age.

Universal life policies are a great coverage option that also allows you to plan for retirement if utilized properly. Although the various forms can be confusing, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about this type of policy in our comprehensive guide.

A modified endowment contract (MEC) is an overfunded cash value life insurance policy that has more restrictive tax rules than standard life insurance. The MEC came into being in the late 1980s, when the IRS moved to close a tax loophole involving permanent life policies.