Kolo

For the first time in my life, I'm getting life insurance for myself. I have several policies my parents purchased when I was a kid so I have a life insurance agent, but I'd prefer not to go through an agent for this additional insurance.

Does anybody know of a good way to go about this? How to figure out what companies give the best mix of affordable rates and security of investment, long-term? Given the crappy state of the financial services markets and tenuous state of some financial services providers, I want to make sure I make smart moves. In the past, I'd just go through the process on the Prudential website (for example), but what has happened to the markets has me more cautious than I used to be.

Or am I wrong to think that going through an agent will cost me money (I assume I'll pay the agent's commission one way or another--am I wrong about this?)