After you have thought about your needs and become familiar with the basic policy options, it's time to choose a company and agent.

Where do I purchase life insurance?

About 1,700 companies in the United States sell life insurance. While some consumers prefer to buy policies directly from a company, most people buy their policies through agents or brokers.

How do I choose a life insurance company?

Before purchasing a policy, check the company's financial condition. Ask an agent or request information from your state's insurance department. You might also want to contact the state to be sure the company is licensed in your state.

Most importantly, you can also check the financial health of a company by looking at its "rating." A number of services rate the financial strength of companies, and publications that list these ratings can be found with a few Internet searches. Here is more information about ratings.

The answer on this page was edited based on source material from the Federal Consumer Information Center. These pages are no longer being updated. --Webmaster

• Net Quote

• InsureMe

InsureMe and NetQuote are the two top Internet tools for getting competing quotes. Their online forms ask you a few quick questions and then match your needs with competing companies. We recommend trying them both to get the widest selection for comparison.