Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
Use the calculator to think through the four building blocks: how many working years, your debts, how much school will cost, and savings or insurance you already hold.
The easiest path: add up future earnings your relatives need and remove anything you've already set aside. You don't need perfection—term policies come in round figures anyway, and your goal is just to keep things afloat during the critical years.
Coverage estimate
Quick formula: (earnings per year × number of years) + what you owe + schooling − existing funds, then round up to $5,000. Consider this your opening point, not a final decision.
Why those inputs
How long you need coverage. A common target is your pay for 10-20 years ahead; adjust based on when your family would stop relying on your earnings. Families with little children in Bell often lean toward the longer span since costs for child-rearing, housing and school bills come all together.
What you owe. Your home loan is usually the biggest obligation; insurance proceeds to settle it allow your family to pick what happens next instead of being stuck by money constraints.
Schooling expense. Estimate a dollar amount per kid using today's education costs; adding it now is simpler than purchasing extra insurance when you need more.
Money already in place. Bank balances you could use and work-provided life coverage. Keep in mind workplace coverage disappears if you lose the job, so you might count just half of it.
After you determine your target amount, our rate tool compares its cost across 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 year terms from over 12 carriers. Many people choose slightly more coverage since premium growth is gradual when you're younger.