Life insurance is essentially the same thing, as far as I'm concerned: I'm paying now so that if / when something in the future happens, there is a financial aspect that helps me / my family.
So out of curiosity, do you consider life insurance the same way?
I cancelled the life insurance policy which was automatically included in my retirement savings several years ago. I don't have any debt (even my mobile phone is pre-paid) so life insurance is basically a massive bet on me dying with no real upside.
Again, YMMV and some people consider it a worthwhile investment. Just trying to contribute my point of view to the discussion.
For me, at least, the upside is that when I die my wife and kids are going to be well and truly debt free.
On the other hand, if we were already debt free, or I didn't have those dependents, then that would probably change my outlook on the policy, for sure.