Expenses
Living expenses - Using the Cash
Flow Calculator determine how much money your family
will need per month to live life as it does now.
Adjust this number up or down to account for things such
as diminished expenses in your absence, additional child
care expenses in your absence, health care coverage that
will disappear should you die, etc.
Funeral expenses - Funeral and other expenses
run between $4,000 and $10,000.
Estate administration expenses - Your
spouse will be charged perhaps 5% of your family's asset
value to handle the estate. Use the Net
Worth Calculator to determine your asset value (not
the net worth - the asset value). Multiply by 5% to determine
administration expenses.
Taxes - If your net assets total more
than $600,000, your spouse will have to pay perhaps 40%
in taxes on it. You will want to see an estate lawyer to
ameliorate this expense, but account for it here.
Mortgage and other loan payoffs - It would
make life much easier for your family if all loans were
erased.
College expenses - If you plan to send
your children to college, enter $25,000 for each child for
state college or $75,000 per child for private college.
Be sure to multiply by the number of children.
Other expenses - Enter any other expenses
you may wish to cover, such as emergencies, cars for the
kids, etc., in today's dollars.
Income
Spouse's Income - Enter your spouse's
annual income after taxes . You may want for your
spouse to be able to stop working in the event of your death,
and if that is the case enter zero here.
Social Security Income - Enter the amount
of money your spouse will receive from Social Security.
Social security benefits are paid immediately if you have
children under age 18 and they remain in school. You may
call the social security administration to get an exact
reading based on your contributions and number of children.
If you have children and want to enter a rough but fairly
accurate number use $20,000. If you do not have children
enter 0.
Other Income - Enter the total annual
income your spouse will receive from any other sources.
Other
Information
Years of social security - Enter the number
of years until your youngest child reaches age 18. If you
have no children enter 0 here.
Spouse's age - Enter your spouse's age.
Existing Life Insurance - Enter the value
of any existing life insurance policies you have.
Click
this button to calculate the total amount of life insurance
you need.
Total
Life Insurance - This is the total amount of life insurance
you need.
