Variable Life Insurance is another type of permanent life insurance and is much riskier than standard whole life and universal life. Variable life is a pure investment policy, and as such is much more expensive than the other types. However, it gives the policyholder complete control over his or her investment portfolio. It varies by insurer and policy, but most often the insured decide what they want to invest the cash value portion of their account in, whether it is stocks, bonds, or money market funds. There is usually an unlimited number of times that you can change your investment portfolio, but as with everything else, that is dependent upon the insurer and the policy itself.