Term life insurance is a temporary life insurance which you can take out for a temporary period of say 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years. It is popular because the premiums are low and life insurance coverage is high. But it carries no cash value or surrender value. You must renew the insurance annually, otherwise it will lapse. If you have level term insurance, the premiums remain the same during the entire term period. There are various options for term life policies such as level term, Return on Premiums (ROP) etc. Term life insurance rates can vary from company to company. You can save quite a bit just by shopping around.