Before you start looking at the different types of life insurance policies out there, it is useful to understand some of the jargon often associated with the insurance industry.  The “beneficiary”  is the person or organization to whom the life insurance proceeds are payable at the death of the person who was insured.  This could be a spouse, children, a sibling, or a favourite charity.  Every life policy that you take out should have two beneficiaries named on them, a primary beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary.   The “face amount” – also known as the death benefit – of a life insurance policy is the amount of money paid out at the time of death.  The “owner” of the life insurance policy may or may not be the name of the person who is insured, it refers to the person or organization who controls the policy.