How much coverage does your family actually need?

242 S Washington Blvd, Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 256-9114 · gala.s@capstanins.com
Florida Agency License #L132362

Life insurance

How much coverage does your family actually need?

A worksheet that beats the rules of thumb.

Capstan Insurance Group · Education

Ask the internet how much life insurance you need and you get a number immediately: ten times your income. Maybe twelve. It is a reasonable place to start a conversation and a poor place to end one, because that number has never met you. It does not know whether you have a mortgage on your home, a working spouse, three children under ten, or a pension that already covers most of it.

So here is the version we actually walk through with families at our desk. It needs four numbers and a pen.

The four-number worksheet

1

The income your family would need to replace

Not your gross salary. The part your household actually lives on, after tax. Then pick the years: until the youngest finishes school, until the mortgage is paid, or until your spouse reaches their own retirement income. Annual figure × number of years.

2

What you owe

Mortgage, car loans, credit cards, any business debt you have personally guaranteed. Write the payoff figure, not the monthly payment.

3

What is still coming

Education is the big one, and the one most often left out. Add anything else with a due date: a parent you help support, a wedding you intend to pay for.

4

What is already in place

Savings you would be willing to spend down. Existing policies. Group coverage at work, at its real value, which is usually one or two times salary and typically ends the day the job does.

=

Your gap

Add 1, 2 and 3. Subtract 4.

What that looks like in practice

A hypothetical, for discussion only. A couple, both 38, two children aged 6 and 9. They live on about $95,000 a year of the household’s income, and they want that covered until the youngest is through college: fifteen years.

Income to replace ($95,000 × 15 years)	$1,425,000
Mortgage payoff	$340,000
Two state-school degrees	$180,000
Less: savings they would actually use	−$120,000
Less: his group policy at work	−$170,000
Their gap	$1,660,000

The rule of thumb (10× income)$950,000

What the worksheet found$1,660,000

The rule of thumb was short by $710,000, and it was short in the direction that matters.

Why people stop before they start

Cost, almost always. And the fear is usually worse than the bill.

40%

of American adults say they need life insurance, or need more of it. Around three quarters of us also overestimate what it costs. Those two findings are related: people price a policy in their head, flinch, and never ask.

LIMRA, 2025 Insurance Barometer Study

We would rather you ask and find out you need less than you feared than never ask at all.

What this worksheet cannot tell you

It cannot tell you what you will pay. That comes from an insurance carrier after underwriting, and it depends on your age, your health, and how the policy is structured. Nothing here is a quote.

It also cannot tell you the shape of the answer. A $1.66 million gap does not automatically mean a $1.66 million policy. It might mean term coverage sized to the years the number is real, which is usually the least expensive way to close a gap that shrinks as the mortgage falls and the children leave. It might mean layering two policies of different lengths. That part is a conversation, not arithmetic.

This worksheet is provided for general educational purposes and is hypothetical. It is not a quote, an application, or a recommendation of any product, and it is not tax or legal advice. Figures shown are illustrative only and do not reflect any specific policy. Coverage is subject to underwriting approval and is governed solely by the terms of the issued policy.

Bring your four numbers. We will tell you clearly what they mean, including if the answer is that you are already covered.

Capstan Insurance Group, LLC is an independent insurance agency licensed in the State of Florida (Florida Agency License #L132362). Insurance products are offered through Capstan Insurance Group, LLC and are issued by third-party insurance carriers. All guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability and financial strength of the issuing insurance carrier. This material is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or investment advice. Please consult your own qualified tax and legal advisors. © 2026 Capstan Insurance Group, LLC.