Nowadays it is much easier to buy things online that used to involve middlemen to facilitate transactions. Stockbrokers and travel agents still exist, but the level of service they must provide is greater in the age of the Internet. As with buying life insurance online, people are now empowered to become responsible for their own comparison shopping for savings. No longer can an agent, in any field, expect to charge a premium for his services merely for acting as a unskilled go-between.
For you as the customer it means that as long as you are willing to educate yourself about the intricacies of a product like stocks or mutual funds, or with a good guide to life insurance basics, you can achieve great savings by then shopping around online.
There is no reason not to stick to a reputable, large company that you or your heirs would be able to count on in the event that you or they were entitled to a payout on your insurance policy. Ask around to friends or relatives for recommendations as to companies they may have found online to insure them. Don’t be swayed by promises of enormous policy coverage amounts costing just a few dollars a month; while an offer certainly may be legitimate, you will pay into your life insurance policy for too many years to get involved with a company that is not entirely reputable or solvent.
Buying life insurance online is especially well-suited to individuals with simple situations like young people just starting a family. Usually the simpler one’s finances are the more likely it is that a term life policy will be best for them and their family, and as these are the most simple and easily standardized policies available, it makes shopping around easier.
If your situation is more complicated then you may very well benefit from talking to an experienced agent about the specifics of your situation. It may be that permanent life insurance, or one of its many varieties would suit you best, and although you can buy policies like this online, it is probably prudent to speak to a person who can educate you about the subtleties of policies like these.