Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
An interactive calculator and the thinking behind it: income replacement duration, debts, school costs, and what you currently have in place.
A straightforward approach: tally what your income replacement would require, subtract current assets and coverage. The math does not need to be exact—policies are bought in round figures, and the purpose is to keep the household stable during the years that count.
Coverage estimate
Estimate = income × years + debts + education − current assets, rounded to the nearest $5,000. This gives you a starting place, not a recommendation.
Why those inputs
Income replacement years. Advisors typically recommend 10 to 20 years worth of salary; the precise span depends on how many years your dependents would need support. Fremont residents with young children regularly select the longer range since childcare, housing expenses, and education costs overlap during those same years.
Debts. A home loan is usually the biggest. If coverage would settle that debt, survivors could remain in the home or decide its future without financial pressure.
Education. Include a rough estimate per child in today's money. It is far simpler to account for it at the beginning than to purchase additional coverage later.
What you have now. Include emergency savings available and group insurance from your job. Group policies usually end when you leave the employer, so many households count only a portion of it.
Once you have a target figure in mind, the quote tool shows how much that target costs across 10 to 30 year options with every carrier. Selecting coverage somewhat higher than your estimate is common because monthly premiums at younger ages have minimal differences.