Syndicated Financial Columnist, Host of the weekly talk show Steve Savant's Money, the Name of the Game, Scottsdale Arizona
You need to collect tabulate your entire indebtedness, determine your future obligations, any charitable intentions and your human income value fro now until you retire. Totaling the amount from all four categories will give you a pretty good idea of the face amount you'll need to apply for. If you have a spouse, you'll need to include their human income value as well.
I usually use the acronym DIMEE as a place to start.
D= Debt or short term debt. This would be paying off credit cards, car loans, or any consumer debt.
I = Income or Income Replacement. You should deceide how much for how long. A good place to start is 3 to 5 years of replacing an income. You might consider longer if cost is not much different.
M = Mortgage = Paying off Mortgage. You should consider paying off the Mortgage if the income earner dies.
E = Education = An estimation of your children's tuition for a good state university if you die. You should consider 4 years of costs per child
E = Expense for funeral/burial: You should cover the costs of burial or cremation, funeral services, and transportation of loved ones.
These are a great place to start the discussion of what amount of Life Insurance that you need.
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D= Debt or short term debt. This would be paying off credit cards, car loans, or any consumer debt.
I = Income or Income Replacement. You should deceide how much for how long. A good place to start is 3 to 5 years of replacing an income. You might consider longer if cost is not much different.
M = Mortgage = Paying off Mortgage. You should consider paying off the Mortgage if the income earner dies.
E = Education = An estimation of your children's tuition for a good state university if you die. You should consider 4 years of costs per child
E = Expense for funeral/burial: You should cover the costs of burial or cremation, funeral services, and transportation of loved ones.
These are a great place to start the discussion of what amount of Life Insurance that you need.