Having the correct amount of life insurance coverage is one of the most important aspects of financial planning. Everyone wants to feel comfortable that their loved ones and beneficiaries will be well cared for after they pass. The thought of leaving a family unprovided for in the event of an untimely death is scary. At Life Ant, we want all our clients to feel confident that they are doing the right thing for their families and dependents. As a service to our clients, we have provided the following life insurance calculator. This is simple and easy to use but still gives an excellent estimate of the amount of life insurance coverage you need.
How to Determine the Amount of Coverage That you Need
If you would like to read an in-depth discussion about different methods that insurance professionals use to figure out how much life insurance coverage someone needs, you should read our extensive piece here. This is a simple calculator, but if you want to take a more holistic approach to determine your needs you can use one of the methods described.
For most people, calculating their life insurance needs are a bit mysterious. People wonder if they can trust their insurance agents to really be looking out for their needs. Common questions people are asking themselves are: Is someone trying to sell me too much life insurance? Do I have enough coverage to provide for my loved ones? How can I estimate my life insurance needs? Well, the simple form above is here to give you an estimate of your needs.
This form provides an estimate of the total insurance coverage needed for our clients. If you have existing life insurance, you may not need a new policy of this size so you should deduct that from the total in coverage that you decide is warranted. If you are short life insurance coverage and you decide to purchase more, you may want to compare quotes to see if a new, larger life insurance policy will save you money.
Remember this calculator is not a substitute for a full financial planning analysis, but it does provide a good quick estimate of your needs. Everyone’s personal financial situation is specific to them and can be highly complex. There are no one sized fits all methods to figure out how much life insurance you should carry.
Final Word on Our Life Insurance Needs Calculator
Our calculator here tries to be fairly comprehensive by not only taking your income and age into account but also including an adjustment for inflation and additional costs associated with death. While this estimator tool provides a reasonable calculation for providing lost income to loved ones after a passing, it may not provide you with an exact figure because personal circumstances and needs can vary significantly between different people and families.
If you have a more complex need for life insurance such as estate planning, trust planning, business key man insurance, or if you have a very complex financial planning need, a more sophisticated and comprehensive analysis may be needed. This calculator is not financial advice. Please consult with a financial planner or tax professional to obtain personal advice.
WHY didn’t your life insurance needs calculator ask me how much Insurance and investments I already own, before it told me I needed $786,000 in life insurance. Is all you advice this inaccurate?
Hi Kevin. The calculator is meant to be as simple for people as possible. A true financial analysis is very complex and investments can not simply be subtracted from the total need. You are right, you can subtract current coverage if you plan on keeping the policy. Often, an existing policy may expire soon, or maybe more expensive than replacing the coverage in some cases. If you would like a more detailed analysis than this calculator, please contact us and we will be happy to help!