A. A permanent life policy has two key components - death benefit (which will be paid to your beneficiaries when you die) and cash value (which is portion of the premium you paid to the policy and the growth of it).
You can withdraw your cost basis - the amount in the cash value account you have paid in premium - tax-free. This should serve as a cushion at the time when stock market crashes and you need money for retirement expenses. You can also borrow against your policy and you can have two payback options - with interest and without interest. Finally, if your policy pays dividends, you can generate income without giving up the death benefit by taking the dividends distribution.
How to convert a life insurance to annuity?
If you need a regular source of income, you can convert your life insurance into an income annuity through a 1035 exchange. The downside to this strategy is that you will give up the death benefit, but you will lock in income for the rest of life. The conversion is tax-free, but you will pay taxes on a portion of each annuity payout, based on the proportion of your basis to your gains.