Question about retirement, life insurance, and credit.?

I just read a book called tax free retirement. The lesson I got from the book is that by having universal life insurance you can put away money that grows tax free and eventually retire off of it. You retire off of it by taking out tax free loans in which you simply don't pay back. Also the money is exempt from a death tax which you can p to your kids. The whole idea sounds to good to be true. However, Suze Orman in her book "9 Steps to Financial Freedom" cautions against Universal Life Insurance all together. Please give some thoughts on this contradiction. My second question is about credit. I was always told that your "potential" to go into debt, which is reflected by the amount of credit cards you can charge is taken into account when your credit score is made. I got a bad score for having to many open accounts. However, Suze Orman in her book is saying not to close your credit cards because something called your "debt to credit ratio" affects your credit score. Can someone also articulate on this second contradiction?