How Much Life Insurance Do I Need In Retirement? 
The answer to this is very subjective depending upon your situation , but I 'll try to make it a little more simple . The idea has always been that , when you retire , your need for life insurance decreases . Today , that 's not always the case . It 's much more complicated now , but there are some universal ideas : What is your need for pure death benefit ? How much debt do you have and how long will you have it ? How is your pension , 401 -LRB- k -RRB- , etc. set up ? Will the income from this be set up in a way that can provide both you and a spouse with adequate income should either of you die ? If not , how much income do you need to provide in the event of your death ? What will your death cost in terms of funeral expenses , taxes , and estate settlement ? Do you want to have that provided for ? Do you have people or institutions that you want to leave money for ? Will one or both of you need special care ? When you answer these questions and have an amount in mind , it 's time to explore how best to go about setting it up the right way . I 'm not going to go into the type of insurance or any income you may need to offset a shortfall in your retirement . That 's a much larger discussion that I 'll leave for you and an agent you can trust . He/She will be able to talk with you and come up with the program that fits your need and your budget . 