Traditionally, people bought life insurance policies to provide income for their beneficiaries after their death. And traditionally that could cost a fair amount. But consumers' needs are changing, and the life insurance market is changing along with them - in consumers' favor.

For one thing, competition is on the rise. More than 2,000 companies in the U.S. now offer life insurance products, and banks and financial institutions are increasingly getting into the business as well. This means that some policies, such as term life, are extremely affordable at the moment, which makes it a good time to examine how it might work for you.

The uses for life insurance policies are being explored now more than ever. With adults changing careers and income levels more than ever before, there is real practicality in buying a life insurance policy that will pay off a home mortgage, debts, or pay for children's college education if you or your spouse died.

Term life is life insurance for a set length of time - 10 years, or 20, or 30. It works like this: If you buy a 20-year policy and die before the 20 years ends, your beneficiaries receive payment from the policy. If you don't die, you do not receive anything. This structure keeps the cost of these policies low compared to other types of life insurance. And it lets you target a policy to your needs.

Figuring out which term to buy requires reviewing your debts and financial needs, your dependents' needs, and the timelines on each of those. You should also consider major obligations, like mortgages, and at how much money your family would need to pay them off.

Policies can be quite flexible. Some companies let you buy term policies, then convert them to whole life policies later, when the term expires. This can be helpful if you're not ready for the higher cost of a whole life policy.

The variety and type of features might surprise you. For example, some companies let you receive policy money in the form of accelerated death benefits if you become terminally ill. Those benefits give you either a lump sum payment or a monthly payment that is deducted from the policy's face value in the event you're diagnosed with a catastrophic illness (also called "dread disease"). This practice began in 1988 to give terminally ill AIDS patients a portion of their life insurance proceeds. It now includes other terminal and chronic illnesses.

With the growth of product types and increased competition, it's worth checking into your options to consider how term life policies could figure into your financial planning.

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