Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool and explanation of how it works: replacement years, obligations, education expenses, and what you've already built up.
A straightforward approach is to calculate how much your income would have supported over the years you want coverage, then subtract any resources that are already in place. This doesn't need to be exact—term coverage comes in round dollar amounts anyway—and the point is to arrive at a number that would keep your household stable through the years when money is most critical.
Coverage estimate
Basic calculation = (annual earnings × years of replacement) + outstanding debts + education costs − existing resources, rounded to the nearest $5,000. This is a framework for thinking about the question, not financial advice.
Why those inputs
Years of income replacement. Financial professionals often recommend covering ten to twenty years of earnings, but what's right for you depends on how long the people who rely on your paycheck would actually need that support. Families with young children in Aliso Viejo tend to pick the longer timeframes because the expenses for childcare, housing, and education tend to happen all at once.
Outstanding debts. For most families, a home loan is the biggest debt. Having coverage large enough to pay off the mortgage gives survivors the freedom to choose whether to keep the house, rather than being forced to sell because they need the cash.
Education costs. Set aside an estimate per child in current dollars. It's simpler to include it in the initial calculation than to buy another policy later to fill the gap.
Existing resources. Money in savings or investments you could draw on, plus any death benefit your employer provides. Keep in mind that employer coverage typically ends when you leave the job, so it's reasonable to count only a portion of it toward your total protection.
Once you've settled on an amount, head to the quote tool to see what different carriers charge for 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30-year terms. A lot of people choose a coverage level slightly above their estimate because the monthly premium difference is modest when you're younger.