The Benefit
Provides assurance for loved ones if you were to suddenly pass.
Life Insurance is a promise to pay your beneficiary/beneficiaries a certain amount of money upon your death. The face value of the policy is the amount that will be paid to the beneficiaries upon death.
The Details
Whole life policies are more expensive than term life, but part of the premium you pay builds a cash value that you can keep should you cancel the policy. Furthermore, this cash value can earn interest, which can increase the policy payout upon death to an amount higher than the original face value.
Universal life tries to find its niche between the costs of whole and term life. It gives you the ability to build cash value like whole life. However, it gives you more flexibility than a whole life policy by allowing you to make changes to your premium amounts, face value of the policy, or the payment period of the policy.