I’m assuming it’s term life insurance rather than whole life? An old whole life policy might be something she could cash out.
It’s a gamble either way. Not sure there’s really a right answer.
But maybe look at it from a different angle. If she’s statistically/genetically likely to live a long life, maybe some money should be going to pay for long-term care insurance rather than life insurance. My parents spent their last years in a nursing home. It was insanely expensive.
She can cash it out, I'm not sure exactly what it is as she didn't even have all the details on our 3 minute phone convo.
Life is a gamble, isn't it? Time will tell what the better bet was.