Free tool
Life insurance needs calculator
Better than a multiple-of-salary rule of thumb: add up what genuinely has to be paid for, subtract what already exists to pay for it, and the difference is your coverage gap.
What has to be paid for, minus what already can be
Fill in what applies and leave the rest at zero. The gap at the bottom is the death benefit worth quoting.
What this tool cannot do
- It does not adjust for inflation over the income replacement period
- It does not account for investment growth on the death benefit
- It ignores survivor Social Security benefits, which can be significant for families with children
- It does not consider estate tax, business succession or special-needs planning
- It sizes the benefit; it does not tell you which product or term length fits
Calculators are for orientation. Before you act on a number, have a licensed person check it against your actual situation — that part is free.
Questions about this tool
Should I include my employer life insurance?
Include it in existing coverage, but discount it mentally: group life typically ends when the job does, and it usually ends at exactly the moment new individual coverage becomes hardest to obtain. Many households treat group cover as a bonus rather than as a foundation.
How many years of income should I replace?
A common approach is to cover the years until your youngest child is independent, or until the surviving partner reaches retirement age. There is no universal right answer, which is why the calculator lets you set the number and see what it does to the total.
Does the number the calculator gives me mean I need permanent insurance?
Usually the opposite. A large gap driven by a mortgage and children is a temporary need, and term life buys the most coverage per dollar for a defined period. Permanent insurance answers a different question — a certainty rather than a temporary obligation.