Question: Presently I am a married 55 year old man married with two grown kids. One of my term life insurance policies expires soon and they have offered me a policy that will never increase in price for the rest of my life. The premium is quite a bit higher and the amount is less than what I presently have.

I do invest pretty heavily but lately the market has been very unpredictable. Would I be better off to perhaps take those additional monies and invest it?

Answer: 
The following is from [Wikipedia - Term life insurance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Term_life_insurance#Usage) (with very minor editing)

> 
> Because term life insurance is a pure
>  death benefit, its primary use is to
>  provide coverage of financial
>  responsibilities, for the insured.
>  Such responsibilities may include, but
>  are not limited to, consumer debt,
>  dependent care, college education for
>  dependents, funeral costs, and
>  mortgages. Term life insurance is
>  generally chosen in favor of permanent
>  life insurance because it is usually
>  much less expensive (depending on the
>  length of the term). Many financial
>  advisors or other experts commonly
>  recommend term life insurance as a
>  means to cover potential expenses
>  until such time that there are
>  sufficient funds available from
>  savings to protect those whom the
>  insurance coverage was intended to
>  protect. For example, an individual
>  might choose to obtain a policy whose
>  term expires near his or her
>  retirement age based on the premise
>  that, by the time the individual
>  retires, he or she would have amassed
>  sufficient funds in retirement savings
>  to provide financial security for
>  their dependents.
> 
> 
> 

This suggests the questions "why do you have this policy?" also "how many term life policies do you need?" or "how much insurance do **you** need?"

Clearly **you** will be better off investing the premiums in the market. Your beneficiaries may be better off either way (depends when you die and to a lesser extent on market performance).

If you are not able to retire now but expect to be able to later, you should strongly consider having sufficient insurance to provide income replacement for your spouse. This is a fairly common why.
If I were in your shoes, I would invest conservatively fully aware that for the next few years the stock market is going to be depressed, but then again, don't take that as advice. Every situation is different, weigh the pros and cons carefully and if required, consult a qualified professional.