Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A tool and an explanation: how to account for income years, liabilities, education, and what you already own.
The basic approach: combine what your income would have supported, subtract what's already covered, and round to the nearest convenient number. Precision is not the point; what matters is having a sum that sustains your household through the years when it depends most on your income.
Coverage estimate
Rough estimate: (income × years) + debts + education − existing coverage, rounded to $5,000 increments. This is a framework, not personalized guidance.
Why those inputs
Years of income. Planners typically recommend covering ten to twenty years; your choice depends on how many years dependents would benefit from the support. In Santa Rosa, families with younger kids often lean toward the longer end because housing, education, and childcare expenses overlap most during those years.
Liabilities. For most households, a mortgage is the biggest obligation. Insurance covering the mortgage gives survivors the freedom to choose their path forward instead of being constrained by financial pressure.
Schooling costs. Set aside a modest estimate per child, in current dollars. Including it now is simpler than taking out another policy later.
Existing protection. Consider savings available to survivors and workplace group coverage. Keep in mind that group policies typically terminate with employment, so many people count only a portion of that benefit.
Once you know your target, the quoting tool displays pricing across 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30-year options for all carriers. Many younger applicants bump their figure up slightly since each additional $100,000 costs very little monthly.