How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?
Enter your numbers and press Calculate coverage to see the estimate.
A 40-year-old on $100,000 with a $250,000 mortgage and $100,000 of education money typically lands near $1.4 million of recommended coverage at 12x.
How we estimate your number
This calculator follows the DIME method — Debt, Income, Mortgage and Education.
Start with your income multiplied by a factor tied to your remaining working years. The halving rule: take the years left until Social Security full retirement age (67 for anyone born after 1960) and halve them. A 40-year-old has 27 years left, which points near 13x — most families use 10x to 15x, and this calculator offers 10x, 12x and 15x.
Add the mortgage and other debts that would survive you, add the education money you plan to set aside, then subtract assets you could liquidate and any life insurance you already hold. The remainder is the gap a new policy should fill.
Worked example
Worked example: a 40-year-old earning $100,000 with a $250,000 mortgage, $20,000 of other debt and $100,000 of education money, holding $50,000 in savings and a $100,000 policy:
Income replacement: $100,000 × 12 = $1,200,000
Debts: $250,000 + $20,000 = $270,000
Education reserve: +$100,000
Minus assets and existing insurance: −$50,000 − $100,000 = −$150,000
Recommended coverage ≈ $1,420,000
Change any line above and watch the total move in real time.
Frequently asked questions
How does the income multiple work?
We multiply your annual income by a factor, usually 10 to 15 times, as the income-replacement base. The remaining years until Social Security full retirement age (67) guide which multiple fits your age.
What is the DIME method?
DIME stands for Debt, Income, Mortgage and Education. Add income times a multiple, plus debts, the mortgage and education costs, then subtract assets you already hold. This calculator follows that method exactly.
Why subtract existing assets and policies?
The goal is the gap you still need to fill. Savings and any current policy already cover part of the need, so we net them out to show only the missing amount.
Is this the same as getting a quote?
No. This estimates a dollar amount of coverage you may want. It is not the price of any policy, and we do not sell insurance or refer carriers.
Does age or income change the formula?
The formula itself is fixed. Age changes the sensible multiple because fewer working years remain; income changes the income-replacement line. Enter your own numbers and the calculator handles both.
Estimate only — not financial advice, and we do not sell insurance. The result is arithmetic on the numbers you enter, not a recommendation or a premium quote.