How much life insurance do I need?
A simple way to start to figure out how much life insurance you need is a Dime calculator.
Debt and final expenses – Add up your debts outside of your mortgage and estimate your funeral expenses.
Income – Take what you earn and multiply it by the number of years you need to support your family. For example, if you are 40 and you have 20 years of working left.
Mortgage – What is the amount you need to still pay off on your mortgage.
Education – Do you plan on helping your kids to college, what will that cost? How much do you want to help with?
I would recommend that instead of just planning for life insurance, consider an overall financial plan.
There are other things to consider, as well regarding retirement and current and future investments.
Getting an understanding of this was important as I looked to provide for my family.
A great place to start is getting your budget in order.
Try this free budget tool to help track and plan your budget.