Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
Here's a calculator plus the logic that supports it: years of income, what you owe, education funding and current protection.
A popular way to calculate: combine your remaining paychecks across your working years, add all debts, include money for schooling, then subtract existing policies and savings. It won't be perfect, but term coverage isn't precision engineered: amounts are set in chunks of $50,000, and what you're after is stability through the years that matter most.
Coverage estimate
Estimate = (yearly earnings × remaining employment years) + all debts + education fund − current coverage − savings, rounded to $5,000. This is a starting framework, never a recommendation.
Why those inputs
Years of income. Ten to twenty years is standard for most planning scenarios; the right choice depends on how much time dependents would get financial assistance. A household with young kids in Alameda usually leans toward the higher number given the combined weight of schooling, housing and childcare needs.
Outstanding obligations. A home loan typically represents the single largest debt. Having coverage equal to your mortgage means the family doesn't face a forced choice when income is gone; they can decide their own path.
School costs. Set aside a basic amount per kid using current dollars. Starting this now makes more sense than buying additional coverage later.
Current protection. Funds on hand ready to use, and employer-provided insurance. Remember that workplace group policies end when employment ends, so it's common to only factor part of that in.
Once you settle on an amount, the quote system will display how much that costs across 10 to 30 year durations from all available carriers. Many people purchase slightly beyond their calculated need because the cost per month is modest when you're young.