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Term Insurance Calculator

Find the right amount of term life cover for your family. Enter your income, debts, mortgage and the savings already in place, then press Calculate to see your cover gap and an indicative premium.

Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026

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Your inputs

Describe your household, then press Calculate.

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Recommended cover

$1,315,000

About $121 per month indicative premium

Income replacement$1,050,000
Gross cover need$1,405,000
Cover and savings offset$90,000
Estimated annual premium$1,447

Cover need over the term

Remaining need
$0$328.8k$657.5k$986.3k$1.3M0 yr10 yr20 yr

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How the term insurance calculator works

The goal of life insurance is to leave your family financially whole if your income suddenly stops. This tool sizes that gap by adding the big costs your payout would need to cover: several years of replacement income, the mortgage, any other debts, a fund for your children's education and immediate final expenses. It then subtracts what your family already holds, such as existing policies and liquid savings.

The chart traces how the need shrinks over the term. Each year that passes is one fewer year of income to replace, so the curve slopes down, which is one reason a fixed level term often provides more cover than a household strictly needs in its final years.

A worked example

A 35 year old earning 70,000 dollars wants 15 years of income replaced. That is 1.05 million dollars, plus a 220,000 dollar mortgage, 20,000 dollars of other debt, 100,000 dollars for education and 15,000 dollars of final expenses, for roughly 1.4 million dollars of gross need. Subtract a 50,000 dollar existing policy and 40,000 dollars of savings and the recommended new cover lands near 1.3 million dollars.

Things to keep in mind

The income-replacement multiplier is a judgement call: replacing more years buys more security but costs more in premium. Remember too that a payout invested can earn returns, so the raw sum may overstate the need slightly. For an independent primer on choosing cover, see the NAIC. To weigh term against a cash-value policy, try our term vs whole life calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How much term insurance do I actually need?

A common starting point is the DIME method: add up Debts, Income to replace, Mortgage and Education costs, then subtract money your family already has, such as existing cover and savings. The result is the gap a term policy should fill. This calculator runs that math for you and lets you tune how many years of income to replace.

Why is term insurance so much cheaper than whole life?

Term insurance is pure protection. It pays only if you die within the chosen period and builds no cash value, so almost all of your premium goes toward the death benefit. Whole life bundles in a savings component and lifelong cover, which is why it can cost five to ten times more for the same payout.

How long should my term length be?

Match the term to the years your family relies on your income. Many people pick a length that carries them until the mortgage is paid and the children are independent, often twenty or thirty years. A longer term locks in cover for more years but costs more per year, which the premium estimate here reflects.

How accurate is the premium estimate?

Treat it as a ballpark, not a quote. The figure uses average non-smoker rates by age band and term length to give an order of magnitude. Your real premium depends on health, smoking status, family history and the insurer, so always compare actual quotes before you buy.

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