Life insurance
How much life insurance do I need? The DIME sum, with your figures
Type your debts, the income your family would need and for how long, the mortgage, education and savings. Nothing is sent and no quote is asked for.
Independent site, not an insurer or a broker, and not a funeral home or a government agency.
How much life insurance: the DIME sum
Example, not your result yet· change a figure to see yours
Life insurance still needed
$1,157,964
| Debt, income, mortgage, education, funeral | $1,183,219 |
| Income part alone | $900,000 |
| Already there, with the Social Security lump sum | − $25,255 |
No interest or inflation on the income part: the two are left to cancel. Social Security survivor benefits are not counted; ssa.gov gives your own estimate.
How much life insurance you need is the money your family would have to find if you died tomorrow, less what they would already have. The DIME method, used by many planners, adds four things: Debts, Income to replace for the years it is needed, the Mortgage balance, and Education to fund, plus the cost of a funeral. Then it takes off savings, life cover from work and any policy already held. For a household with $60,000 a year of income to replace for 15 years, $220,000 left on the mortgage, $15,000 of other debts, $40,000 for education and a funeral at the US spending per death of $8,219, the total is $1,183,219. With $25,000 of savings and the Social Security lump sum of $255, the cover still needed is $1,157,964. A rule of thumb of ten times income would give $600,000. The calculator does the sum with your own figures.
Data read and sums checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are worked out
Each line of the sum
- Debts: credit cards, car and student loans that would fall on the family or the estate. Federal student loans are generally discharged when the borrower dies, so they can be left out; private loans may not be.
- Income: what the family would need each year in place of yours, times the number of years. It is usually less than your salary, since your own spending stops; it is more if your partner would cut back on work. The calculator assumes no interest and no inflation on this part: the two are left to cancel.
- Mortgage: the balance today, if the family would want to clear it.
- Education: the amount you would want to leave for school or college.
- Funeral: loaded with what death-care businesses take in per death nationally at September 2026 prices, $8,219; the funeral cost calculator gives the figure for your state.
Then what is already there: savings and investments the family could use, life cover through work, policies you already hold, and the Social Security lump sum of $255 if a spouse or eligible child would receive it.
The chance a term policy pays out
The amount is one decision; the term is the other. Most term policies expire without a claim, which is why they cost little at younger ages. Probability of dying within 20 or 30 years, NCHS United States life tables 2024, whole population:
| Age | 20 years, men | 20 years, women | 30 years, men | 30 years, women |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 5.6% | 3.1% | 12% | 7.1% |
| 35 | 7.4% | 4.3% | 17% | 10% |
| 40 | 10% | 6.1% | 23% | 15% |
| 45 | 14% | 9.0% | 31% | 21% |
| 50 | 20% | 13% | 43% | 31% |
The term rates page adds the two federal rate tables that can be published, VGLI and the IRS table for group cover, as yardsticks.
Term, whole or universal
A need that lasts for a set number of years, while children grow up or a mortgage is paid, is what term insurance is built for. A need that lasts for life, such as a funeral, an estate that will owe tax, or a dependent who will always need support, is what permanent insurance, whole or universal life, is built for, at a much higher premium for the same face amount. The cash value page shows how a permanent policy is taxed if it is surrendered, and the tax page when a payout can be taxed at all.
What the sum leaves out
It does not model Social Security survivor benefits, which depend on your earnings record, or the tax on any part of the payout, which for most families is none. It does not price a policy: no insurer’s prices are published under terms that allow a site to reprint them, and this site asks for no contact details. Once you know the amount and the term, a quote from two or three insurers or an independent agent gives the price.