How much life insurance do you actually need? A plain-English guide.

Most people Google this question after a friend or family member had a scare. You're not trying to buy the biggest policy money can buy — you're trying to figure out the smallest number that would actually keep your family whole if you weren't here to write the next paycheck.

The good news: the math is simpler than the insurance industry wants you to believe. The bad news: the famous "10× your annual income" rule is doing a lot of harm, because it ignores the actual obligations you've already signed up for.

Why "10× your income" isn't the answer

If you earn $75,000, the 10× rule says buy $750,000. Easy. But it doesn't ask:

• How much is left on your mortgage?
• How many years are your kids from being financially independent?
• Does your spouse earn too?
• Do you have $20,000 in credit card debt?

Two families with the same income can need wildly different coverage. A 28-year-old renter with no kids has very different obligations than a 42-year-old with two kids, a mortgage, and a stay-at-home partner.

The DIME method — actually useful

DIME is a four-letter shortcut that gets you a realistic floor in about three minutes:

• Debts: total of credit cards, auto loans, personal loans (not including mortgage)
• Income: annual income × number of years your family still needs it
• Mortgage: current balance remaining
• Education: roughly $80,000 per child for state college, $200,000 for private

Add those together. That's your floor.

A worked example

Let's say:

• Debts: $18,000
• Income: $75,000 × 15 years = $1,125,000
• Mortgage: $240,000
• Education: 2 kids × $80,000 = $160,000

Total: $1,543,000

That's wildly different from the 10× answer of $750,000 — and it's the more honest number. If you pass, your family uses the death benefit to clear the mortgage and debts, bank the rest, and draw from it for living expenses and college. They don't run out in year 6.

What the 10× rule gets right

It isn't completely wrong. For a young couple with no kids, no mortgage, and low debt, 10× income is probably a fine approximation. The rule breaks down the moment you add obligations to the picture — and most people adding up their DIME number realize they've been underinsured for years.

Three adjustments that change the number

1. Partner's income. If your partner earns 80% of what you do, you may only need to replace 40–60% of your income, not 100%.
2. Social Security survivor benefits. Kids under 18 may qualify for monthly benefits. Factor that in honestly — it's real money.
3. Existing coverage. Most people have a work policy (usually 1–2× income). Subtract that from your DIME number. Don't double-count.

"The family I worked with last week had been paying for a $250,000 policy for 12 years. Their DIME number was $1.4 million. They had no idea they were covered at 18% of what they needed — until we sat down with paper and a calculator."

— Daniel Keane, Founder

Term or whole life at that amount?

Once you have your number, the next question is which kind of policy. For a family with 15+ years of obligations (kids at home, mortgage), term life at the DIME number is almost always right — it's affordable, it matches the timeline, and when the obligations wind down, you don't need the coverage anymore.

Use our calculator to run your own DIME number in under a minute, or talk to an agent if you'd rather walk through it with someone.

What to do this week

Run the DIME math on a scrap of paper. If the number is more than 2× what you currently have, you're underinsured — and you don't want to learn that during a health scare.

It takes about 60 seconds, and a licensed Patriot agent will call within one business day to walk you through your options. No pressure, no spam, no upsell — just the math.