Insurance no easy sell - there's an image problem

DO YOU have a minute to talk about your death? It isn't easy to sell life insurance.

Investing in a mutual fund, you feel like you're saving money. Purchasing insurance, you feel like you're spending it.

"It's not a pleasant thing to buy," said John Schlifske, chief executive officer of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co, the second-largest US seller of life insurance by premiums. "There's no immediate gratification."