Life insurance needs
calculator

Add up income, debt, mortgage, and existing coverage to estimate the life insurance your family may need.

Runs in your browser
No signup · no quote forms
Planning range only —
not insurance advice

Coverage tally

Annual income

Replacement yearsDebt to clear

Mortgage balance

Education fund

Existing coverage

Your planning range

Low

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Mid

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High

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Coverage gap after existing coverage—

Audit of your tally (midpoint)

Planning range (midpoint)

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A coverage number is a stack of obligations

What you see here is a planning range, not a product recommendation. It adds up the obligations a household would actually carry, then subtracts what is already covered. Nothing is sold, scored, or forwarded to an agent.

Two households with the same income can need very different coverage. A larger mortgage, more years of income to replace, or existing group coverage all move the number. Change one input and watch which row of the audit shifts.

1
Income multiple
Replaces a set number of years of earnings, then adds debts and goals on top.
2
DIME
Sums Debt, Income, Mortgage, and Education without a separate final-expenses line.

Start with the question you actually typed

Life insurance calculator How much coverage do I need?

Start from the situation, not the policy label

Use How much life insurance do I need? when the question is broad and personal. Use the Life insurance calculator for the full input sheet. If you want the assumptions laid out like an audit trail, use Life insurance needs analysis.

Term-focused pages are coming in batch 2. A term length or a monthly premium is only meaningful after the coverage need has been written down. NeedTally will show a planning range; it will not ask for your phone number and it will not route the result to an agent.

A small example, with the math left visible

Suppose a household wants to replace $90,000 of annual income for ten years, clear $35,000 in debt, cover a $280,000 mortgage, and reserve $80,000 for education. On the DIME tab the obligation stack is $1,295,000 before existing coverage. On the income tab, the same inputs plus a $25,000 final-expenses estimate reach $1,320,000. A plain 10× income check is $900,000. That difference is not an error. It tells the household that the mortgage and education choices are doing real work.

If $300,000 of employer group life insurance is already in force, first ask how stable that employer coverage is, whether it is portable, and whether it would still exist after a job change. The calculator can subtract a number. It cannot determine whether that number is dependable.

What the result is not

NeedTally does not quote a premium, verify insurability, choose a company, predict an insurer's underwriting decision, or replace estate and tax planning. It gives you a structured starting point for a conversation with the people who share the risk and, if needed, a licensed professional.

Home FAQ

What does NeedTally calculate?: It estimates a life insurance coverage range from two visible planning methods: income replacement and DIME. It also compares the selected result with life insurance coverage you say you already have.
Why do the income multiple and DIME results differ?: They answer the problem from different angles. Income multiple focuses on replacement income; DIME adds named obligations such as debt, mortgage, and education. A difference usually points to an assumption worth discussing rather than a calculator mistake.
Does NeedTally sell insurance or collect quote requests?: No. The calculator runs in the browser and has no quote form, agent matching, or phone-number gate.
Should I enter employer-provided life insurance as existing coverage?: You can enter it for planning, but check whether it ends when employment ends and whether it is portable. A coverage amount that disappears with a job may not fill a long-term need.
Is this a recommendation for how much insurance I should buy?: No. The result is a planning estimate, not insurance, legal, tax, or investment advice. It cannot account for every household, policy, health, or underwriting detail.
Can I use the calculator if I do not have children or a mortgage?: Yes. Leave irrelevant fields at zero and focus on the obligations that would actually remain.

Life insurance needs calculator