I went looking for life insurance a few years ago. Some agents will give you a hard sell for permanent (whole, universal, etc.) life insurance. It may be pitched to you as an investment. "It's got a cash value! You can borrow against it! You can convert it to an annuity!"
All of that is true. However, most people shouldn't purchase life insurance as an investment. I think it's best to think of it as 1) risk management, and 2) income replacement for your family in the event of your untimely demise (for you, it's *always* untimely).
It's much cheaper to buy term life insurance. When the term is up, you'll have nothing left to show for it. But the way I see it, the purpose of the term policy is risk management to cover you during the years when the loss of your income would be devastating to your family.
I ended up purchasing term life insurance to cover my family until after my kids have graduated from college. I prefer to address risk management and investments separately.
Of course, your needs are likely different from mine. You might want to look up some information on estate planning, since those issues are the ones you mentioned.