Personal Finance covers a wide range of topics, from savings, budgeting, investments, loans, tax, insurance and housing, for instance. However, while there are many sources for us to learn, cross check and refer to on most personal finance topics, insurance is the one where the discussion is largely driven by the people who sell them for a living. In particular, we need to understand why we may want to get insured, when to get it, and when not to. Going beyond just knowing insurance product specifications may help us better understand why and how insurance works best for us.

Why do we need insurance?

Let’s start at the starting point – why do we need insurance? If all events in our life are certain, then there is no need for insurance. But life is not so simple. Life is uncertain. For our personal finances, this uncertainty is financial gains or losses, which may be out of our control....