Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool to work through the calculation, with explanations of each part: income years, debts you'd want to clear, education costs, and what you currently have.
A basic approach: multiply your yearly income by the number of years your family would need it (often 10 to 20 years), add expected major expenses like college, subtract money you already have set aside or group coverage through work, and round to the nearest easy number. The goal is not precision; it is a workable amount for the years when dependents actually depend on you.
Coverage estimate
One simple path: (annual income × years of coverage) + expected debts + college budget − savings and group insurance, rounded to the nearest $5,000. This is a starting point only, not a recommendation.
Why those inputs
Coverage years. Most advisors recommend ten to twenty years, depending on how long someone will depend on your income. Pleasanton families with young kids often pick toward the longer end since childcare and education costs all peak together.
What you owe. Most households carry a mortgage. Insurance proceeds large enough to pay it off give your family the freedom to choose their next home instead of forcing a sale to pay the bank.
College costs. Set aside a round number per child in today's dollars for their education. It is simpler to include this now rather than buy another policy later to add it.
Existing protection. Bank accounts you could tap and any group insurance through your employer. Employer coverage stops when you leave the job, so most people only count a portion of it.
Once you have a target figure, the quote tool lets you see what each carrier charges to protect that amount for 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 years. Many people choose slightly higher coverage than their calculation suggests because the monthly premium is not much higher when you are younger.