Some individual jws put forth the statement that purchasing insurance was a form of gambling despite this Question from Readers in 1960.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/pc/r1/lp-e/1200024622/0/0
Is it proper for a Christian to carry life insurance? Is it not a form of gambling?—S.P., U.S.A.
Life insurance and other forms of insurance cannot be condemned as gambling but are rather a form of investment. One is not trying to insure that one will not have an accident or will not die, but is only seeking to provide in the case of an emergency. It is Scriptural for a man to provide for those that are his own, and if he wishes to make such provision in this way, that is entirely up to him.—Gal. 6:5;1 Tim. 5:8.
In some places automobile insurance is compulsory; in others, health insurance is. To comply with such laws is merely to render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. (Matt. 22:21) Where the law does not require insurance, it is up to the individual Christian to decide for himself what to do about insurance.
---As to investments the WTS says this (perhaps because the WTS invests in the stock market itself, but known to most jws>
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/102001412#h=9:0-11:450
Admittedly, investing in the stock market can carry a high degree of risk. And, as with any business venture, random factors are involved. However, it would not be accurate to say that trading stocks is gambling. Gambling involves the exchange of money without any exchange of real goods. A stock, however, represents an actual share in the ownership of a business. Trading stocks can thus be viewed as the buying and selling of legitimate goods.—ED.
