I have to agree with the other guy you're talking to. You are missing a few details.
whole life is not a retirement plan
It can be. Well, they might not technically be 'whole'' life but it's what they're most akin to. There are indexed and variable products. Life insurance can grow. They might be slightly less than what you get with the market, but their rate is often guaranteed. They carry a death benefit. With some it's possible to have them endow at 65 and they grow tax-deferred.
There's a large toolbox of life-insurance options and each can be evaluated. For all we know the OP might have something like this and it might actually be a decent fit. We just don't know because we're strangers on the internet without all the numbers.
You also didn't mention the reason whole life is more is because it has a built in savings component (which can be borrowed against) and it's guaranteed level for way longer than any term policy. You may also have options to leave if need be and use the cash value to buy a lesser death benefit but never pay premiums on that policy again.
Whole life is also useful if you've got dependents that will always be dependent (i.e. a disability), need to offset estate taxes, or want something like a specialized final expense. It's also used among business owners so that if a partner dies the family can be 'bought out' by the remaining partners.
Term and investing (investments which don't often get comparable tax status) makes sense for most cases, but the idea that whole life is 'a waste of money at any age' is just grossly mis-informed.
Term life... 25 years, nothing if you make it passed that.
That's also not entirely correct. Term life guarantees your rate for that term length. A lot of the time you can continue on to year 26, year 27, etc. on the same policy so long as you pay the newly assessed premium. Say, for example, in the last year of the term the doctor says you've got a terminal illness and you have 2 years left. You've already proven insurability and don't need to again, you pay the new premium based on your new age (you were already underwritten for your health) and your family will still receive the death benefit.
Once again, life insurance is a pretty large toolbox.