Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
Use this calculator and learn the logic: how to think about income years, debts, education, and what you already have.
A standard approach: total your income for the years you want covered, add major debts and education costs, subtract savings and existing coverage, then round to a convenient figure. The number doesn't need to be exact—term policies come in standard amounts and the aim is stability, not precision.
Coverage estimate
Estimate = (annual income × years needed) + debts + education expenses − savings and existing coverage, rounded to $5,000. This is a starting point only.
Why those inputs
Years of income. Most planners suggest between 10 and 20 years; pick based on how long dependents would need that income replaced. In Union City, families with young children often pick the longer timeframe because school, childcare and housing costs overlap.
Debts. Most families carry a mortgage as their largest debt. If your policy would pay it off, survivors get to decide about staying in the home rather than having finances force the decision.
Education. Include a rough per-child amount in today's dollars. It's simpler to build education costs into your coverage now than to add another policy later.
Existing coverage. Add up available savings, employee group life coverage from work, and any other policies you own. Note that group life usually goes away when you leave the job, so many people count only part of it.
Once you have settled on a number, go to the quoting tool to see how much that death benefit costs for 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years from available carriers. Many people buy slightly more than their estimate because the extra protection costs little at younger ages.