Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool with step-by-step guidance: determining years of income, managing debts, setting education funding and accounting for what you already own.
A straightforward approach: multiply your yearly income by the number of years you want to cover, add your debts, add an education reserve, and subtract any existing coverage. The result doesn't need to be exact—term policies sell in round numbers anyway—and serves as your starting estimate.
Coverage estimate
Coverage estimate = (annual income × coverage years) + total debts + education fund − existing policies, rounded to a $5,000 increment. This is a rough benchmark, not tailored financial advice.
Why those inputs
Years of income. Insurance specialists typically recommend insuring 10 to 20 years of earnings, adjusted for your particular situation—particularly how long your dependents would rely on your income. In the Cerritos area, families with children in the early school years tend to prefer longer terms due to the combination of education, childcare and housing costs.
Outstanding obligations. The biggest is typically a home loan. Having coverage equal to the remaining loan balance allows your family the freedom to stay in your home if they choose, rather than being forced by finances to relocate.
Education reserves. Set aside a rough amount per child in present-day dollars. Including an education component now is simpler than taking out a separate policy in ten years.
Existing resources. Savings available for emergencies, and coverage you get through an employer. Employer plans often stop when employment ends, so many families only count a portion of group benefits.
Once you settle on a coverage amount, use the quote tool to get costs across all years (10 through 30) from participating carriers. Many people opt for coverage slightly above their calculation because the monthly cost difference is modest when you're young.