How Much Life Insurance Do I Need When I Retire? 
Smart question . You are thinking ahead , seeing that Life Insurance is there as a retirement tool also , not just a death benefit , when you choose Whole Life Insurance . An experienced agent should go over with you the detailed needs you now have and can expect . Such things as the mortgage , a spouse , kids , your income and standard of living . Think of it as a pyramid with a ball rolling down it . The only thing that keeps the ball up now is your income . Later you will need life insurance for your family to keep that ball from down and their standard of living from rolling down with it . During retirement , however , you need to think about being able to take money from your growing whole life policy , to help fund your retirement . The more your expenses will be , the more whole life you will need to get now . Think of retirement as a week of Saturdays . Saturday is the most expensive day of the week for most . Retirement will probably be like all Saturdays for many . If your whole life policy started as $ 1 million , it could easily grow over time to a death benefit of $ 4 million . If you borrow against it for retirement , something that is regularly done by a few insurance plans , you may reduce that benefit over time , but the policy still continues to grow as though the money had remained in . The death benefit still could be more than sufficient , and your retirement could be very pleasantly funded too . You need an experienced agent to work with to make this happen . Gary Lane , Registered Representative and Agent with New York Life , 949 797 2424 . Thank you . 