I think it’s particularly useful in mitigating risk if someone has one (or more) dependents whose lives would be severely impacted if something happened to the policyholder. For instance, I have an acquaintance who managed to complete her education thanks to an insurance payoff after her father’s untimely death.

I use life insurance as a hedge in the event something happens to me, e.g. brain damage, blindness, impairing my ability to work. Of course, it’s entirely possible to structure a passive income portfolio to remove the need for insurance entirely. But, for me, I think life insurance is a decent way of limiting the impact of a career-ending illness/injury, at least until I have enough of a passive income portfolio.