Take the annual premium that your dad put into life insurance over those 20 years and plug it into http://www.cfiresim.com with these params:
Start 2017, end 2037
0 portfolio to start, leave the rest of the defaults.
0 spending on the right hand side.
Scroll down and plug the annual premium (not the monthly) in as "other income" from 2017 through 2037.
Hit the big green "Run Simulation" button at the top.
I'm guessing you'll see a much higher number than $500,000. I ran the simulation with a $12,000 premium and got an average $500k payout, but the premiums are probably quite a bit higher than that if he has a $500k cash value.
Start 2017, end 2037
0 portfolio to start, leave the rest of the defaults.
0 spending on the right hand side.
Scroll down and plug the annual premium (not the monthly) in as "other income" from 2017 through 2037.
Hit the big green "Run Simulation" button at the top.
I'm guessing you'll see a much higher number than $500,000. I ran the simulation with a $12,000 premium and got an average $500k payout, but the premiums are probably quite a bit higher than that if he has a $500k cash value.