Surely the expected monetary value is always negative (the insurance company has to make a profit)? The expected utility is presumably positive if the decision to purchase life insurance was rational.
Well from that perspective the monetary value is even more negative—you pay out a premium but you are guaranteed never to personally receive the payout. The monetary value doesn’t depend on you being alive to collect the payout though. The expected monetary value of insurance is always negative (absent insurance fraud) but the expected utility may be positive.
Surely the expected monetary value is always negative (the insurance company has to make a profit)? The expected utility is presumably positive if the decision to purchase life insurance was rational.
The insured won’t be cashing any checks; his monetary gain is zero.
Well from that perspective the monetary value is even more negative—you pay out a premium but you are guaranteed never to personally receive the payout. The monetary value doesn’t depend on you being alive to collect the payout though. The expected monetary value of insurance is always negative (absent insurance fraud) but the expected utility may be positive.
Your first statement is right; I’m making a correction in the original comment. My point was that the dead can’t spend money.