Guide
How much life insurance do you need?
A calculator plus the thinking: how many years of wages to replace, major debts, kids' education costs, and existing protection.
The standard approach: total up what your paycheck covers, take away what you already have, and aim for a round number. Exactness isn't required—term policies come in round figures anyway, and the real aim is a number that stabilizes your home for the crucial years ahead.
Coverage estimate
Rough calculation: (income × years) + debts + education − existing coverage, then round to the nearest $5,000. Use this as a starting thought, not a recommendation.
Why those inputs
Income years. The usual span is ten to twenty years—it hinges on how long your dependents rely on your wages. In La Puente, households with small kids often lean toward the longer horizon since daycare, rent or mortgage, and school costs all run high at the same time.
Debts. For many households, the mortgage is the biggest obligation. Enough coverage to pay it off gives the surviving family the choice to keep the home instead of having finances force the issue.
Education. Set aside a ball park number per kid in current dollars. It's simpler to build it into one policy now than to layer on another policy later.
What you have. Liquid savings and work-provided group insurance. Group protection typically disappears when you leave that job, so most folks only factor in a portion.
Once you settle on an amount, head to the quote tool to see what each carrier charges for 10- to 30-year windows. Many people opt for coverage above their estimate because the monthly cost increase stays modest when you're younger.