C.C.
I am not a financial adviser, but I have done a little reading on the subject of insurance and investing. Whole-life insurance is basically an investment vehicle - you pay the insurance company, they invest the money in mutual funds or stocks or whatever, they take a commission, and in 20 years you have a nest egg set aside. In one sense it is a way to force yourself to invest the money, but on the other hand, you can almost be guaranteed that you will not receive the same rate of return as you would have if you'd just invested the money on your own. The rate of return on the policy you're looking at is about 5%. The rate of return on just about any mutual fund is higher than that by quite a bit over that same time period. I think it would be a good idea to talk to an investment advisor (if you have a good tax guy, or go to Fidelity.com or somewhere like that to do some research).
Term life is the way to go for insurance for adults. You should make sure your policies are renewable and convertible.
Also, the book I read on financial planning that really laid things out clearly and in a way that us non-mathematical types can understand is The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton.
Good luck!