Life insurance coverage amounts recommended
Professionals suggest you should have 8 to 12 times your income in life insurance. It’s not that simple. Here are some important questions which will help determine your insurance needs.
- How much will your funeral cost?
- Do you want to pay off your mortgage if you should die?
- Do dependents count on your income?
- Should you have money set aside for college education or retirement for your spouse?
- What other expenses do you have that would still exist if you died?
Attach a dollar figure to each of these numbers. You can use our life insurance needs calculator to do some of the math for you. One way to calculate income needs is to multiply the number of years your spouse/family will need income
by how much income is needed. This method works best if only a limited number of years are required, say 5-10 years. If your family will need the income for
an extended period of time, then it’s probably better to divide the income needed by an conservative interest rate of say, 3%. This way, the life insurance
death benefit will ‘spin-off’ the desired amount of income for an indefinite period.In any event, it is a good idea to discuss your needs with an experienced life insurance agent and to compare rates among a few companies.
