It appears that the earliest form of life insurance was actually a form of gambling.  The Tontine annuity system paid an annuity to the surviving members who had each put a fixed amount of money into an investment pot.  Depending upon who started the particular scheme the proceeds would revert to the government or to the last surviving member of the tontine group.  One could only assume that only the rich and invited participated in a tontine.  The sole survivor of could be very wealthy indeed but one expects also very old when the wealth came.  The family survivors of those who invested in the tontine had absolutely no claim on the association’s funds

What a far cry from this to the ability for anyone at all, right from the privacy of ones home even you can buy life insurance online guaranteeing your family survivors finances to meet their needs after your death.  With the whole life forms of insurance you can even use life insurance as a vehicle to create an investment account.  I am very happy to live in a time when life insurance on line is taken for granted.