Thinking about your own death or the death of a loved one can be a scary prospect, but life insurance can help take some of the economic sting out of a sudden loss. You’ll never be able to replace the intangible things a lost loved one brought into your life, but the hard reality is that a spouse or parent may be the only thing separating you from financial turmoil. The purpose of life insurance is to fill in the gap of lost income when a loved one dies.