The primary purpose of life insurance is to provide money for your loved ones if you pass away. These funds are typically used for final expenses, credit card debt, mortgage debt, auto loans, lost income, college tuition, and any other unsatisfied expenses due to premature death. Most people don't want to burden their loved ones with these expenses, so they purchase life insurance.
The main reasons are because it is complicated, and people procrastinate.
There are different types of life insurance because there are many reasons for purchasing life insurance. Term life, whole life, universal life, variable universal life, indexed universal life, cashback life, cash value life, second to die life, key man life, partnership buy-out life, mortgage protection life to name a few.
These policies are for a specific time period. The premiums are guaranteed to stay the same for the specified term selected. Examples would be a 10-year term, 20-year term, or 30-year term.
These policies are designed to be in force for your entire lifetime. They have guaranteed level premiums, build up cash value, and can add riders like Long Term Care expenses.
These policies are considered permanent life insurance if funded properly. They have flexible premiums, build up cash value, can add riders like for Long Term Care expenses, and provide substantial tax-free income if appropriately funded.
These policies are term based policies like a 20 or 30-year level term. They generate cash value, and at the policy “term” date, you can receive the total premiums you paid for the policy, among a few other options.