How Much Life Insurance Should You Carry? 
This varies for each person . A lot of variables go into the calculation of determining how much life insurance you need , how long you need it , and what is an appropriate amount to actually secure . A life insurance calculator can help with this . A few things to get you started when calculating out what you need and how long you need it for are : 1 -RRB- Do you have a mortgage ? If so , how much is left on it and how many more years do you have to go until it 's paid off ? 2 -RRB- Any final expenses you want paid off -LRB- e.g. burial expenses , credit card debt , medical bills -RRB- ? 3 -RRB- Education expenses for you or a family member you want to pay off -LRB- such as college tuition -RRB- 4 -RRB- Income replacement - this is a big one ! A question to think about here is how much income would be needed if you died today and how long would your family need it to maintain their current lifestyle . An experienced life insurance broker can help you with this and make it a much smoother , easier process . One thing to also note , a lot of people think `` once i 'm retired , I wo n't need life insurance anymore so I can just buy term insurance and let it go when I retire '' - there are many many many reasons why you should have life insurance during your retirement years . For example , if you 're receiving a retirement pension and you die , the pension income may stop and not continue onto your spouse -LRB- if you chose the pension max option over the survivorship option when you started receiving benefits -RRB- - this can also apply to social security income . That 's just one scenario . Please feel free to contact me for help and if you have any other questions . Thanks very much . 