Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool for working out how much you might want: thinking through income years, obligations, education funds, and what you've already saved.
The typical way is to sum what your income would have supported and take away what you have already set aside. Precision isn't essential here; people purchase term insurance in large round figures, and what matters is a number that would hold your family steady during the critical years.
Coverage estimate
Estimate = income × years + debts + education − what you already have, rounded to the nearest $5,000. Use this as a starting place to explore options, not as personal guidance.
Why those inputs
Income years. Planners typically suggest 10 to 20 years of earnings as a guideline; pick the number based on how long your family would need money if you weren't around. In Antioch, parents with young children often go with the longer side because housing, school, and childcare all cost the most at the same time.
Debts. A home loan is the biggest debt for most households. If your coverage could pay it off, your family could choose to stay in the home based on what they want, not what cash flow forces.
Education. Set aside a rough estimate per child in today's money. Adding it now is easier than buying another policy to cover it later.
What you have. Money in savings you could use, plus any life insurance your employer provides. Since employer coverage typically stops when you leave that job, a lot of people only count part of it.
Once you know the amount, use the quote tool to see prices from each carrier for 10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 years. Picking an amount above your estimate is ordinary; when you're younger, a slightly bigger benefit costs only a bit more per month.