Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A straightforward tool and explanation covering income duration, liabilities, schooling costs and current protection.
A straightforward approach involves calculating what your earnings could have supported, then deducting existing coverage. While not an exact calculation, it needn't be: term policies are sold in incremental amounts, and your goal is a reasonable figure ensuring your household can function during critical years.
Coverage estimate
Estimate = income × years + debts + education − existing coverage, then round to the closest $5,000 increment. This serves as a baseline, never as guidance.
Why those inputs
Income years. The standard planning horizon ranges from ten to twenty years of income; pick based on how long your family requires income protection. Families in Los Banos with younger children frequently extend this window since expenses for raising kids, housing payments and schooling overlap significantly.
Debts. Most households list a mortgage as their primary debt. If your coverage eliminates this obligation, your survivors maintain housing stability without cash-flow constraints.
Education. Include a general sum per child in present-day dollars. Establishing this now simplifies matters better than obtaining supplemental coverage later.
What you have. Account for readily available funds and employer-provided coverage. Workplace benefits often end when employment ends, so some people only count a fraction.
Once you determine your target amount, use the quote comparison tool to see pricing for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30-year coverage periods from available carriers. Increasing your coverage amount modestly is typical since the monthly premium increase at earlier ages is small.