Roman soldiers in 100 BC would contribute funds to pay for fallen comrades' funerals, establishing early life insurance practices. In the 1600s, Lloyd's Coffee House in London facilitated marine insurance for shipowners and merchants, eventually becoming Lloyd's of London. Major American life insurance companies like New York Life and Metlife formed in the 1800s, and the Prudential became the first to offer policies to working-class Americans in 1875. Following World War II, 72% of American adults held life insurance policies as the industry boomed, growing into an $848 billion business primarily in the United States.

1. T H E H I S T O R Y O F
L I F E I N S U R A N C E
WWW.ROBERTTAUROSA.ORG
ROBERT TAUROSA

2. H O W D I D I T S T A R T ?
Life insurance is a part of everyday life. Whether we like to admit it or not, life
insurance is an incredibly crucial aspect of our lives, and is almost a necessity,
although some do not treat it as such. And because it has become a staple in
most people’s lives, it begs the question: where did it start? How did life insurance
get from its humble beginnings to a multi-billion dollar industry?
ROBERT TAUROSA

3. Do As The Romans Do
According to reports, life insurance, or
at least the basic idea of it, has been
around since 100 B.C.E! During this
era, Roman soldiers would all chip in
to pay for the funerals of fellow fallen
soldiers. These soldiers continued this
trend for hundreds of years, eventually
getting to the point of offering
stipends to the families of those who
had passed.
ROBERT TAUROSA

4. Lloyd's of London
F l a s h - f o r w a r d t o t h e 1 6 0 0 s .
E u r o p e a n s h i p o w n e r s a n d
m e r c h a n t s n e e d e d t o p r o t e c t
t h e i r a s s e t s , s o , E d w a r d L l o y d ’ s
C o f f e e H o u s e i n L o n d o n
b e c a m e s o m e t h i n g o f a h u b f o r
m a r i n e i n s u r a n c e . I t o n l y g r e w
f r o m t h e r e , b e c o m i n g a n
i n c r e d i b l y p o p u l a r i n d u s t r y .
A n d i f t h e n a m e L l o y d s o u n d s
f a m i l i a r , t h a t ’ s b e c a u s e L l o y d ’ s
c o f f e e h o u s e e v e n t u a l l y
b e c a m e L l o y d ’ s o f L o n d o n , a
p r e m i e r e i n s u r a n c e m a r k e t i n
E u r o p e .
ROBERT TAUROSA

5. L a t e r o n , t h e c o n c e p t o f l i f e i n s u r a n c e w a s f u r t h e r
e v o l v e d w i t h a s l e w o f m a j o r i n s u r a n c e c o m p a n i e s t a k i n g
f o r m d u r i n g t h e 1 8 0 0 s . N e w Y o r k L i f e , M e t l i f e a n d
G u a r d i a n L i f e a r e a f e w o f t h e i n s u r a n c e c o m p a n i e s t h a t
c a m e t o l i f e ( n o p u n i n t e n d e d ) d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d . A n d i n
1 8 7 5 , t h e W i d o w s a n d O r p h a n s F r i e n d l y S o c i e t y ( n o w
P r u d e n t i a l ) w a s f o u n d e d , b e c o m i n g t h e f i r s t i n s u r a n c e
c o m p a n y i n A m e r i c a t o o f f e r l i f e i n s u r a n c e t o t h e
w o r k i n g c l a s s .
T H E I N D U S T R Y G R O W S . . .
ROBERT TAUROSA

6. . . . T H E N B O O M S
The decades following World War II saw a
tremendous boom in the industry. According
to an article from ThinkAdvisor.com, a
staggering 72% of the adult population in
America had a policy in some form or another.
Today, we know the life insurance industry as
the juggernaut that it has become. With an
estimated revenue of $848 billion dollars in
the U.S. alone, it’s safe to say that life
insurance is not going away anytime soon. It is
also important to remember to go out and
purchase a policy.
ROBERT TAUROSA