Do You Get the Cash Value and Death Benefit in a Whole Life Insurance Policy?

Most people who purchase a whole life insurance policy believe that they will get their "savings" along with their death benefit if they were to die prematurely.  One common reoccuring theme is that people don't know enough about the financial products they own.

Should this mean that they were ripped off?  Or is it the responsibility of the individual to figure it out?  If they were lied to, can they do anything about it?  If they were told exactly how the policy worked but ended up walking away thinking that they would receive both the death benefit and the cash value, who's fault is it?

What kind of "savings" account tells you that the company will keep the savings account if you die?  With all the other gotchas in a whole life policy, isn't it hard to sort through to see what is happening?

Read more at wiki.answers.com

This post was reposted from http://finlit.biz/life-insurance/do-you-get-the-cash-value-and-death-benefit-in-a-whole-life-insurance-policy/, originally written on February 2nd, 2013.