The first ten years are the slow part, and what your cash value looks like in the first ten years covers them. Year ten to twenty is where the design starts paying off, and it's also where most owners stop paying attention, because nothing looks urgent. Three things change, and each one comes with a decision.
The first is the crossover. Somewhere in the second decade, on a properly designed policy, the annual growth in cash value passes the annual premium. You put in $12,000 and the cash value grows $14,000. From that year on the policy is growing faster than you're funding it. Find it on your in-force illustration. If it isn't there by year fifteen, the design or the funding needs a look.
The second is dividends that can carry the premium. On a participating whole life policy that's been funded well, the dividend around year twelve to fifteen may be big enough to pay the base premium. Some owners switch the dividend option to do exactly that. It's a legitimate choice, and it's also the biggest reason policies flatten out in the second decade. Dividends spent on premium are dividends not buying paid-up additions. If the household can still fund the premium, keep funding it. If it can't, this is the release valve, and it's a better one than surrendering. Dividends aren't guaranteed either way, so the plan needs a version where they come in lower.
The third is loan capacity that's finally large enough to matter. Ten years of funding with dividends reinvested can put the loan value into a range that handles a car, a roof, or a year of college without a bank. It's also the decade where a loan taken in year eleven and never repaid compounds for the next thirty years. Every loan gets a payback schedule, and an unpaid one comes off the death benefit.
Two things to check on each anniversary during these years. The PUA rider window, which on many contracts closes after a set number of years or if a minimum contribution is missed, so the year you skip PUAs might be the year the option disappears. And the death benefit, which has been rising with the additions. If it's now well above what the family needs, ask what your options are. Any change to the face amount inside the first seven years, or within seven years of a material change, needs a seven-pay recalculation first.
The bigger decision is what the policy is for in year twenty: retirement income, a family bank, a legacy, or some mix. Go back to decide what the policy is for and see whether the answer has changed now that there are real numbers in it.