401k or life insurance ?

absolutely, but you have to consider your choices.  There are high risk, which is investing in the stock market, there are government bonds, and i think they pay whatever the interest rate is, and there are (i beleive) the ones that are stable; they pay the same interest.  I had high risk and when i took it out, i had lost about 25%.  But with things the way now, I would think there is a really good chance that the market will continue to rise.  Insurance:  you pay them to hold your money and they invest.  If you buy now and die the next day, only then do you get a good deal.  (My thoughts, only).  You have to take the time to study the options.  Good Luck

Paulieb, There are so many curves and avenues to consider with this question, there is almost no answer.  If you know when you'll die it would be easy.  Just look at the insurance for a moment.  The company is going to take your money, invest it, take some of it for their expenses and offer you a very small ROI.  Depending on the type of policy you have, there could be very little money available when the policy matures.  The tax deferrred retirement (I hope you're talking about an IRA and not an annuity) will build perhaps gradually, but it will grow.  The money will always be yours and depending on the situation you can borrow on it, take it out early, invest it yourself, alter the amount invested.  A big consideration is how old are you.  The older and family history of not living long would guide me to take the insurance.  A young healthy long living family would direct me to an IRA.