Life Assurance can be used for any number of reasons. Some of the most common are:
- creating an estate where time or other circumstances have kept the estate owner from accumulating sufficient assets to care for his or her loved ones. Life Assurance can create an instant estate
- paying estate taxes and other estate settlement costs
- funding a business transfer
- funding college for children or grandchildren
- paying off the home mortgage
- protecting a business from the loss of a key employee
- creating a retirement fund
- guaranteeing loans
- etc

The cost for Life Assurance varies widely depending on the health, occupation and age of the person to be insured and the coverage amount of the policy. Individuals are rated by their age, health history and in some cases, by their occupation. All other things being equal, younger people will generally have lower premiums than older people.

Usually, an amount of Life Assurance equal to 6 to 8 times annual earnings is needed. However, many factors should be taken into account in determining a more precise estimate. Important factors include income sources (and amounts) other than salary/earnings, whether or not the individual is married and, if so, what is the spouse’s earning capacity, the number of individuals who are financially dependent on the insured, etc.