Insurance · 6 min read
How much term-life cover do you actually need?
Most agents will quote you 10× your salary. The honest number is usually 15-20× — and the 'human life value' method is the only one that holds up.
Krish Dalal
Founder and editor, PaisaExpert. Master's in Business Management, SP Jain School of Global Management, London. · Last updated 2026-04-18
If you have anyone financially dependent on you, term life is the most important financial product in your life. It also has some of the worst sales practices in financial services. Here's how to think about it without an agent in the room.
The 'human life value' method
Add up: your dependants' annual living costs × years until your youngest is financially independent, plus any outstanding loans, plus children's future education costs, minus existing investments. That's your minimum cover. For most 30-year-olds, this works out to 15-20× annual income.