Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool and the logic behind it: determining income replacement years, accounting for debts, education costs, and existing resources.
The most common approach is to sum up what your income would cover if you were gone, subtract existing assets and group coverage, and round to a convenient number. This does not need to be precise—term coverage is purchased in round amounts, and the goal is an amount that keeps your family's situation stable through the years that matter most.
Coverage estimate
Need = (income × years of dependence) + outstanding debts + education fund − existing savings and group coverage, rounded to the nearest $5,000. This is a starting point, not professional financial advice.
Why those inputs
Years of income replacement. A ten- to twenty-year horizon is typical among financial planners; your specific number depends on how long your dependents would rely on your income. Windsor families with young children frequently prefer the longer end because housing costs, childcare expenses, and education spending reach their peak at the same time.
Debts. A mortgage is the largest liability for most families. Choosing coverage that would pay off the mortgage gives survivors the choice of whether to stay in the home, rather than forcing a sale to cover the debt.
Education. Set aside a rough amount per child in current dollars. It is easier to include education funding in your initial policy than to add coverage later.
Existing resources. Count emergency savings you could allocate and group term coverage from your employer. Note that group coverage typically ends when employment does, so many people count only a fraction of it.
Once you have determined your coverage need, the quote tool lets you compare costs across 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30-year options from each carrier. Most people find that buying slightly more than their initial estimate costs very little extra per month at younger ages.