“We’re going to go through a quick, ten- to 15-minute personal health assessment,” said Jay Jackson, vice president of Abacus Life Settlements in Orlando. “There are no right or wrong answers.”

We were on the phone, doing an interview that would determine whether this company might offer to buy the life insurance policy — face value: $150,000 — that I’d bought decades ago.

I actually had no interest in selling, to Abacus or to any other so-called life-settlement provider. But I wanted to see how the process would unfold if I did.

So the questions began, with Mr. Jackson asking in a conversational way about my age, smoking history, marital status, ability to handle my daily activities. How old were my parents when they died? What type of exercise did I do? Any falls or dizziness in the last six months?