How much coverage do you actually need?

A calculator is a starting point, not an answer. It can only work with what you tell it, and the things it cannot see are frequently the things that move the number most: a special needs dependent, a business with a personal guarantee behind it, a spouse whose earning capacity is very different from yours, or a health history that changes which products are available to you at all.

Where people underestimate

• Property taxes. On Long Island they are a meaningful share of the monthly payment and they do not shrink when a household loses an income.
• The non earning spouse. The work of running a household has a market price, and a surviving partner who keeps working will be paying it.
• Years of replacement. People pick five because it sounds reasonable. If your youngest is three, the honest number is closer to eighteen.

Where people overestimate

• Group coverage through work. It is real, but it usually ends with the job and is rarely more than one to two times salary.
• Retirement savings. Count only what your family would actually spend down, which is usually a fraction of the balance.

If your number came out higher than you expected, that is common, and it does not mean the coverage is unaffordable. Term life is priced so that large benefits are reachable on ordinary budgets. Getting the amount right matters more than getting the product perfect.