Life insurance, sized to what your family loses, and no more.
Life insurance exists to replace the money you bring in and the debts you leave behind. For almost everyone that means a term policy sized by a simple method, not a whole-life plan sold as an investment. Here is how to run the number yourself.
Open the life calculator →What this is
Life insurance is one of the most oversold products in personal finance, because the policies that pay agents the most are the ones most people need the least. The honest starting point is a simple question: if your income vanished tomorrow, how much would your family need to stay whole? Answer that with the DIME method, buy that much term coverage, and you are done. We do not sell policies, so we can say plainly when a permanent policy is a poor fit, which is most of the time.
What life insurance covers
Term life
Pure protection for a set number of years, the coverage that does the actual job of replacing your income while your family depends on it. It is inexpensive precisely because most policies never pay out, and it is what the overwhelming majority of people should buy.
Whole & universal life
Permanent policies that never expire and build cash value, at roughly ten times the premium of term. Genuinely useful in narrow cases (estate-tax planning, a lifelong dependent, business succession) but sold far more often than those cases occur.
The DIME method
Add up Debt (everything you owe except the mortgage), Income (yearly pay times the years your family needs it), Mortgage (the payoff balance), and Education (future costs for your kids). That total, minus savings and existing coverage, is your gap.
Coverage you already have
Employer group life, existing policies, and savings all reduce the gap. Group coverage through work is a good start but usually a fraction of the need and disappears when you leave the job; do not count on it as your whole plan.
Free calculators
Run your own numbers: no account, no email, nothing stored. Every tool is open source and shows the method it uses.
Life Insurance Needs Calculator
Run the DIME method (debt, income replacement, mortgage, and education), subtract what you already have, and get the term coverage number to shop for.
Read next
Term vs. whole life, and how much you need
Size your coverage with the DIME method and see why term beats whole life for almost every family.
How long should your term policy be?
Match 10, 20, or 30 years to your real timeline of mortgage, kids, and savings, and why longer is not always better.
Do you actually need life insurance?
A clear test for who needs coverage and who does not, before you spend a dollar on it.
Rate classes & the medical exam
Why the same policy costs one person half what it costs another, and how to land a better rate class.
Life insurance riders, explained
Which optional add-ons genuinely earn their cost, and which are overpriced upsells to skip.
Is a life insurance payout taxable?
Almost never, but interest, big estates, and employer coverage over $50k are the exceptions to know.
How much does life insurance cost?
What drives the price (age, health, term vs whole) and how to pay less honestly.
How to choose a life insurance beneficiary
The step that decides who gets the money, and the mistakes that cost families.
How we’re different
Most insurance sites exist to sell you a policy, so every page ends in “get a quote.” We are not licensed agents and we do not sell coverage, which frees us to say the unprofitable thing, including when to carry less:
- For most families, level term life covering the years your kids are dependent does the whole job at a fraction of the cost of whole life.
- If you have no dependents and no shared debt, you may not need life insurance at all; do not let anyone talk you into a policy for a need that does not exist.
- Whole life is not a great investment for most people; buying term and investing the difference usually leaves your family further ahead.
Common questions
- How much life insurance do I need?
- Enough to replace your income and clear your debts for as long as your family depends on you. The DIME method adds Debt + Income (annual pay × years needed) + Mortgage + Education, then subtracts savings and existing coverage. The result, often several hundred thousand to a few million, is the term amount to shop for.
- Term or whole life: which should I buy?
- Term, for almost everyone. It covers the years your family actually needs protection at roughly a tenth of the cost, freeing cash to pay down debt and invest. Whole life fits only narrow situations like estate-tax planning or a permanently dependent child.
- Isn't whole life a good investment?
- Rarely. Its returns are modest, its fees are high, and its structure is opaque. For the same money, buying term and investing the difference in low-cost funds typically builds far more wealth, and leaves your family better protected in the meantime.
- Do I even need life insurance?
- Only if someone would suffer financially if your income disappeared: a spouse, children, a co-signed debt. If no one depends on your income and you carry no shared debt, you may not need any coverage at all. The need, not a sales pitch, should drive the decision.
Run your numbers
See what the coverage math says for your situation: free, instant, and nothing stored.
Open the life calculator →Method: the DIME formula (Debt · Income · Mortgage · Education) · term-vs-permanent cost comparison
Explore other insurance
Same approach, every line: real math, no sales pitch, and a straight answer on when to carry less.