The reasons you or ANYONE, single or married, young or middle aged..should buy Life Insurance are many!
If you're young, single and healthy - There is no better time to buy Life Insurance! You will be getting the best rates (depending on the product, most will give you level premiums that will never go up during the entire lifetime of the policy) based on age. Also, you are probably in the best health of your lifetime which also equates to getting the best rates and you can lock these rates in forever! You can also add things like a Long Term Care rider which will give you the money you need if/when you should need it. Go ahead, get a proposal for a stand alone Lont term Care policy. Yes, the policy for Long Term Care will be more comprehensive, spelling out the exact amount per day you will be getting and for how long, etc. However, once you pay the premium for LTC policy, if you do not ever use it you will not get a penny back...it's water under the bridge. In an interest earning Life Insurance plicy, the cost of this rider can be helped along by the interst earned on your Life Policy. Whatever you purchase should be for the long term. There are riders that allow for purchasing more at a later date regardless of any health conditions that may arise during life, there are riders that can cover your Long term Care needs too!
If you are married or plan to be married and have kids one day, you NEED it! Do just one thing....google around for the cost of a full time nanny in your area. When considering "howmuch"life insurance you need, I always ask each partner to consider their partners "worth". Not how much they have in assets,but how much would the loss of your partner impact your life? How much would it cost to keep the household running smoothly without your partner? How much income would be lost if that partner is working? how much to replace their contribution to the home like taking care of the children, keeping the house clean, making the meals, doing the laundry, managing the pets, making sure the kids getto their activities, etc, etc. There are TONS of reasons to have Life Insurance
We must also consider final expenses, debt, taxes. Just close your eyes and imagine that your life partner is gone. What is YOUR plan?
Many people think the partner or spouse who "stays home" has no "worth". This is so wrong! If you add up the cost of having paid help come in to do all the things your "homemaker" spouse/partner does, I bet it would take near or over $100K per year to replace! The next thought is "How may years will I gone like this, alone and needing help?". This answer may vary, but the minimum you should think about is the time it would take to get your kids raised, educated and out of the house on their own.