Most life insurance policies cover death by natural causes or accidents

People can customize their life insurance policies by adding on extra benefits

While most life insurance policies have similar coverage, adding on these extra benefits (called riders) can help make these policies more bespoke. Some common added benefits include coverage for your children, a high-risk lifestyle, or a critical or terminal illness.

Life insurance can can cover funeral expenses, loss of income, and more

Life insurance can act as a financial safety net if your main financial provider dies. Among other things, it can cover any debts that were left behind. In this video, a Yahoo Finance contributor dives into why life insurance could be the key financial protection your family needs.

Permanent life insurance policies can sometimes help you cover expenses, access cash, and more

If you’re planning on purchasing permanent life insurance, your policy will come with a cash value (which acts like a savings account). To make the most of this account, you could pay your life insurance premium, apply it towards a loan, or put it towards long-term or terminal care.

If you decide to buy term life insurance, coverage will eventually expire

If you decide to buy term life insurance, you’ll no longer have coverage once the agreed-upon timeframe is over. You can always plan ahead to pay off major expenses before your coverage ends, but if this doesn’t happen, you may need to renew or replace your policy.

Life insurance policies and annuities are both contracts between individuals and insurance companies

But while life insurance policies are paid out only after an individual dies, annuities are intended to provide a steady income while the investor is still alive. Also, life insurance protects an investor's family in the event of their death, but an annuity helps protect an investor from outliving their retirement savings.

Some people don't like talking about life insurance—perhaps because they fear death

But CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger makes a case for why life insurance is worth discussing anyway on this "CBS Mornings" segment. She also reviews the different types of life insurance, who can be a beneficiary, and other basics.

Whole and universal life insurance are two types of permanent life insurance

While they both stick with you for your whole life, they vary when it comes to added benefits, overall cost, and changes you can make to an active policy. The biggest difference between the two is that universal insurance lets you make changes to an active policy, whereas whole insurance is fixed.

Term life insurance costs about $80 per month

Permanent life insurance, on the other hand, can run you anywhere between $540 and $700 a month. However, the average monthly cost can vary depending on your age, sex, and policy type.

The concept of life insurance likely originated in ancient Rome around the year 100 BCE

However, life insurance policies didn’t reach the Americas until 1759, when life insurance started being used to protect the families of Protestant ministers when said ministers died. This timeline of life insurance’s early history—and how it has evolved since then—provides more details.

Explore the gap in what Americans die from versus news coverage on death causes

Top killers like heart disease, stroke, and liver disease, though they represent a significant burden nationally, are not often extensively covered in the media.

Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of brain death—and TBIs are trending up

Traumatic brain injury-related deaths have generally increased between 2000 and 2023, growing from roughly 49,000 to more than 68,000 in 2023. Firearm-related suicide is the most common cause of TBI-related deaths in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People also experience TBIs from falls, motor vehicle crashes, or assaults.

The factors stirring up a home insurance storm

The cost of the average home insurance premium shot up 33% between 2020 and 2023 in the US, a trend mimicking heightened inflation. But beyond the cost, insurers are also pulling out of major markets like Florida and California, and millions of policies aren't being renewed as the number of $1B weather disasters continues to increase each year. Read up on the difficulties the home insurance market faces here.

A murdered pastor had a penchant for life insurance fraud

In 1977, Robert Burns went to a funeral and shot the pastor, the Rev. Willie Maxwell, in the head in front of 300 people. Burns did this due to accusations Maxwell had murdered several people—including his wife—to collect their life insurance. Listen to the incredible story of a high-profile murder and life insurance fraud case with this podcast.

Mortality tables help determine the probability of death for specific populations

A mortality table is a diagram that helps predict a specific population’s likelihood of death within a particular time period. Life insurance companies often use them to help figure out pricing for their insurance products. They’re sometimes known as actuarial tables or life tables.

Six stories of survivors who fell from the sky

Rarely are there survivors when airplanes explode in air or crash due to the extreme speeds and elevation of the craft. Sometimes, though, people survive. Here are six stories of people who defied the odds and lived after falling from a plane.

Insurance denials prevent lifesaving care for patients with eating disorders

A patient living with anorexia nervosa was told by her insurance company that she wasn't sick enough to receive needed care. Her experience highlights how some insurers across Washington state focus on less useful metrics like body mass index and weight to gauge sickness instead of psychiatric symptoms that may better illustrate the urgency of receiving care.

Diving boards disappeared out of safety, but they don't cause most diving accidents

Bouncy diving boards were widely adopted in backyard and community pools in the 1960s. Reports identifying diving as the primary cause of sports-related spinal accidents exaggerated the role diving boards played (most diving injuries were in lakes, beaches, and rivers) and gave insurers a basis to reduce coverage.

Why Hawaiians live longer

Hawaii has the longest life expectancy at birth out of all 50 states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Key factors include strong healthcare, lots of sunlight, and active lifestyles.

CDs come with risks, such as penalties for early withdrawal and inflation

CDs are generally considered fairly safe investment options. A CD bought via a federally insured bank is insured up to $250K.

Prolonged Grief Disorder has certain recognizable risk factors

This official diagnosis is characterized by intense, daily symptoms of grief a year after the loss of a loved one among adults and faster—around at least six months—for kids and teens. Factors that put people at increased risk of this disorder include being single, attachment anxiety, violent or unnatural death, low education, low income, and multiple losses, among others.

Why do people join cults?

This quick TED video dives into some of the social psychology behind membership in radical cults, including famous ones where members took their own lives.

Group therapy is not the same thing as a support group

Group therapy, facilitated by a licensed therapist, is typically covered by insurance or involves a fee. Support groups are often peer-led and usually come with no cost.

Camus died in a car crash, which some believe was orchestrated by the KGB

Albert Camus died in 1960, at the age of 46, after his publisher's car crashed into a tree. Italian author Giovanni Catelli, however, alleges that what appeared to be an accident was actually an assassination by the Soviet spy agency as a way to silence the French writer's anti-Soviet beliefs.

Your pet might eat you if you die

Cats and dogs can eat their deceased owners. Experts say it typically occurs after days without food and reflects basic survival instincts, rather than aggression, affection loss, or a sudden behavioral shift.

A framework for the various potential causes of insomnia

Insomnia typically occurs in people dealing with life stressors and physical or mental health conditions, though the exact cause continues to elude researchers. Generally, the factors can be broken down into external (such as stress, medication, etc.) or internal (neurological) factors.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

Urushiol, the oily toxin in poison ivy, can remain allergenic on clothing for years.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.