Yes, insurance doesn’t work well if you combine the risk need & investment. The more death benefit you purchase, the higher the cost of insurance and expenses are which lower any return in the future.

Insurance as an investment is typically only good for two groups. Younger 30-50yo with plenty of extra income that are already well diversified and have an approx 20yr timeline before taking any loans/withdrawals, or older individuals 60-80yo wanting to pass on legacy assets income tax free and then ROR on death benefit should be the focus.

If you don’t have lots of extra income each year then listen to a majority of the piggs and purchase a 20-30yr term to take care of the risk. If you are looking at it as another investment opportunity then buy the lowest death benefit for whatever amount you invest that still qualifies it as a life insurance contract with tax benefits (non mec) and use a high early cash value product in case you need to get to funds early. Lower death benefits and high early cash value mean less commission for agent

Besides NWML, I believe that New York Life, Mass Mutual, John Hancock, and Metlife are all considered strong companies with good whole life products.