Life Insurance Calculator
DIME, 10x Income, and Human Life Value, all three methods from a single input set
Last updated: June 2026
Method
Income & Family
Debts & Other
Auto + student + credit card
Funeral + final medical
Comparison Across All Three Methods
DIME Breakdown
Human Life Value Method Detail
Pick the method that fits your situation
DIME is best when you can list specific debts and obligations. 10x is best for a sanity check. HLV produces the most theoretically defensible upper bound and is what insurance underwriters use to justify large policies. Most agents will let you buy coverage up to roughly your HLV before requiring extra justification.
Three Methods, One Answer Range
DIME (Debt + Income + Mortgage + Education)
DIME builds coverage by paying off every fixed obligation: non-mortgage debt, an income replacement stream for the years the surviving spouse needs it, the mortgage, and education funding for each child. It is intuitive, easy to explain, and produces a defensible number for families with kids and a mortgage.
10x Income (rule of thumb)
10x annual income is a quick screening number. It ignores your debt, the spouse’s earning power, the number of kids, and the years to retirement. Use it as a sanity check, never as a final answer. For high earners with no kids, 10x usually overstates need; for young families with a 30-year mortgage and three kids, it usually understates.
Human Life Value
HLV computes the present value of your remaining lifetime earnings, after taxes, net of the share you would have personally consumed. It uses a real (inflation-adjusted) discount rate so that a flat real earnings stream maps cleanly to today’s dollars. HLV is the most theoretically rigorous of the three methods and tends to produce the highest dollar number.
Frequently Asked Questions
Term vs whole life insurance, which should I buy?
For pure protection during the years your family depends on your income, term life almost always wins. Term life buys $500k-$1M of coverage for $20-$50/month in your 30s; whole life buys the same coverage for $300-$800/month. The whole-life "investment" component (cash value) typically earns 2-4% over decades, far below the 7-10% historical return of a low-cost index fund. Buy term, invest the difference, and your family ends up with both more protection AND more wealth.
How does DIME differ from 10x income?
The 10x rule is a quick rule of thumb that ignores your actual situation. DIME (Debt + Income + Mortgage + Education) builds coverage from real obligations: pay off all debt, replace income for the years your family needs it, pay off the mortgage, and fund the kids through college. DIME tends to produce higher numbers than 10x for younger families with a mortgage and small kids, and lower numbers for empty nesters with little debt.
When does whole life or permanent insurance make sense?
Three legitimate use cases: (1) estate planning when net worth exceeds the federal estate-tax exemption (currently $15M per person under OBBBA) and you need liquidity to pay estate tax; (2) a max-funded whole-life policy AFTER you have already maxed 401(k), IRA, HSA, and a backdoor Roth; (3) a special-needs dependent who will need lifetime care regardless of when you die. Outside those, term is almost always the better tool.
Does a stay-at-home parent need life insurance?
Yes. The household services a SAHP provides (childcare, household management, transportation, meal prep) would cost $40,000-$70,000/year to replace at market rates per Salary.com 2024 survey. If they died, the surviving working spouse would face that bill plus reduced earning capacity. A $500k-$750k term policy for a SAHP with young kids is standard advice.
Why is term life so much cheaper in my 30s than my 50s?
Insurance premiums price the probability of death during the term. A healthy 35-year-old has roughly a 1-2% chance of dying in the next 20 years; a 55-year-old, roughly 10-15%. The premium reflects that ratio plus the insurer's margin. Locking in a 30-year term in your 30s for $30/month vs waiting until your 50s and paying $300/month is one of the cheapest financial moves you can make.
Should I rely on my employer group life insurance?
No, treat it as a bonus, not a foundation. Most employer group plans cap at 1-2x salary, which is far below DIME or 10x calculations, AND the coverage usually ends the day you leave the job. If you have a medical condition that develops while employed, you may be uninsurable at any price when you try to buy individual coverage after leaving. Buy individual term that you own and that is portable.
When can I safely drop life insurance?
When the original need has gone away. The classic trifecta: kids are financially independent, the house is paid off (or the mortgage balance is tiny relative to liquid assets), and the surviving spouse can fund retirement from existing assets without your future income. At that point, term life premiums become a pure expense with no protection benefit, and letting the policy lapse is the right call.
How accurate is the Human Life Value method?
HLV is the most theoretically sound of the three because it discounts your actual future earnings to today at a real (inflation-adjusted) discount rate, after taxes and personal consumption. It tends to produce the highest number of the three methods, especially for younger high earners with decades of earnings ahead. The downside: it assumes flat real earnings, ignores employer benefits, and is sensitive to the assumed discount rate. Use it as the upper bound on a reasonable coverage range.