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Human Life Value Calculator
Put a number on the income your family relies on. Enter your age, earnings and a few assumptions to see your human life value and the life cover that would replace it.
Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026
Income value accumulated (today's dollars)
Present value
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How the human life value calculator works
Your earning power is one of your largest financial assets, yet it rarely shows up on a balance sheet. This tool measures it by projecting the part of your income that supports your household each year until you retire, then discounting those future amounts back to what they are worth in today's money.
The chart traces how that value builds up over your remaining working years. Early years add the most because they are discounted the least, which is why protecting a younger earner usually means a larger number than many people expect.
A quick example
Suppose you are 35, plan to work to 60, and earn $80,000 a year. You spend about a quarter of that on yourself, expect roughly 3% annual raises, and use a 6% discount rate. The income that flows to your family, discounted to today, works out near $900,000. After subtracting $50,000 of savings and a $100,000 policy you already hold, the gap that new cover should fill is around $750,000.
Things to keep in mind
The result is sensitive to your growth and discount assumptions, so try a few scenarios rather than trusting a single figure. The human life value method ignores lump-sum needs such as paying off debt or funding college. For a broad overview of life insurance basics from a neutral source, see Investor.gov. To project what your savings could grow into alongside any cover, try our future value calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is human life value?
Human life value is the present value of the income you would earn over the rest of your working life that supports your family. It is a way to put a dollar figure on the financial protection your loved ones would lose if your income suddenly stopped, and it is one of the main methods used to size life insurance cover.
How is human life value calculated?
Take the share of your income that supports your family, which is your income minus what you spend only on yourself. Grow that amount each year by an expected income growth rate up to retirement, then discount every future year back to today using an assumed return. Adding up those discounted amounts gives your human life value.
Why subtract personal expenses?
If something happened to you, the money you spend purely on yourself would no longer be needed by the household. Insurers and planners replace only the part of your income that actually flows to dependants, so excluding your own spending gives a more realistic cover figure rather than overstating the need.
Does this replace a full insurance review?
No. The human life value method is a useful starting point, but it does not account for one-off needs like clearing a mortgage, funding education, or final expenses, nor for changing family circumstances. Treat the result as a guide and confirm the right cover with a licensed adviser before buying a policy.
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