I’m 26 years old and bought a $1,500/month whole life insurance policy from a friend last year — I want to get out of it but it will cost me $6,500 to surrender. Did I just get scammed?

For example, if you've been sold a whole life insurance policy at 26 that requires you to pay $1,500 a month for the foreseeable future, you're likely in a tough position. You may even want to consider cutting your losses and finding a policy that’s more suitable for you. Here's why.

Who benefits from a whole life insurance policy?

Whole life insurance policies aren’t necessarily the best option for the vast majority of people.

As financial radio host Dave Ramsey explains, these policies are "probably one of the worst financial products alive today." Ramsey is strongly against them because, as he said to a caller on The Ramsey Show, they can be 20 times more expensive than term life insurance policies while earning you an average investment return of about 1.2%.

Ramsey isn't the only critic, either. Ramit Sethi, host of Netflix’s “How to Get Rich,” has also called whole life policies "a scam," and a "waste of money" that "directs cash into the pockets of salespeople … and insurance companies."

Most people don't need life insurance coverage for their whole life, as family members stop depending on their income eventually. Unless you fall into one of a few valid exceptions, such as being the parent of a child living with a disability who needs lifelong support, you're likely better off buying a term life insurance policy offering coverage only for the period you need.

You can invest the money you save on a term versus whole life insurance premium and put it in an S&P 500 fund that has historically produced an average annual return of 10% — significantly higher than what a whole life policy tends to offer.