Life Insurance, Explained
Term, whole, universal, or mortgage protection — understand the differences, estimate your costs, and work out how much coverage your family actually needs. Every tool below runs instantly in your browser.
Life Insurance Calculators
Start with the needs calculator to size your coverage, then use the premium tools to estimate what it will cost.
Life Insurance Needs Calculator
Calculate how much life insurance you need using the DIME method, income replacement, and human life value approaches.
Term Life Insurance Calculator
Estimate your term life insurance premium based on age, coverage amount, term length, and health factors.
Whole Life Insurance Calculator
Project whole life insurance cash value growth and compare the savings component to term insurance.
Term vs Whole Life Insurance Calculator
Compare term life and whole life insurance side by side — cost, coverage period, and cash value potential.
Convertible Term Life Insurance Calculator
Compare convertible term life policies to see if converting to permanent insurance is worth the higher premium.
Universal Life Insurance Calculator
Compare universal life insurance costs and see how flexible premiums and cash value growth compare to whole life.
Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Calculator
Model indexed universal life cash value growth using cap rates and participation rates to compare with whole life.
Group vs Individual Life Insurance Calculator
Compare employer group life insurance coverage against buying an individual policy on your own.
Child Life Insurance Calculator
Estimate premiums for child life insurance riders and compare the cost of coverage for young children.
Mortgage Protection Insurance Calculator
Determine how much mortgage protection insurance you need to cover your remaining home loan balance.
Life Insurance Surrender Calculator
Calculate your cash surrender value after surrender charges and compare with keeping the policy.
Final Expense Insurance Calculator
Calculate the burial and final expense coverage you need to cover funeral costs and outstanding medical bills.
Long-Term Care Insurance Calculator
Estimate long-term care insurance costs and determine how much coverage you need for nursing home or in-home care.
Disability Insurance Calculator
Calculate how much disability insurance coverage you need to protect your income if you can't work.
Term vs whole life in 60 seconds
Term life covers you for a set number of years (10, 20, or 30). It is the cheapest way to protect your family while debts and dependents exist, and most policies let you convert to permanent coverage later.
Whole life lasts your entire lifetime, never expires, and builds cash value you can borrow against. The trade-off is a premium that can be 5-15 times higher than term for the same face amount.
Universal life offers flexible premiums with an investment component; unlike whole life, you can adjust payments and coverage over time.
Use the Term vs Whole Life calculator to see the year-by-year cost and cash-value difference with your own numbers.
Start with the DIME method
A common starting point for coverage is DIME:
- D — Debt: mortgages, loans, and cards you don't want passed along.
- I — Income: 5-10 years of annual income to replace your paycheck.
- M — Mortgage: enough to pay off the home where your family lives.
- E — Education: expected college costs for each dependent child.
Add the four and you have a planning estimate. The Life Insurance Needs Calculator does the math for you.
Common questions
How much life insurance do I need?
Term or whole life: which is better?
Can I buy life insurance without a medical exam?
Does age really change the premium?
Ready to see your number?
Estimate your life insurance needs in under two minutes. No sign-up, no email, and your data never leaves your device.
Calculate your coverage