Berger Insurance Services	How Much Insurance?
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How Much Life Insurance Do I Need? 

The following are some general guidelines for minimum amounts of life insurance you should have and will generally be allowed by underwriting with many companies.

Basic Family Income Replacement:

♦ Children under age 6 - use 20 times income

♦ Children age 6 to 10 - use 15 times income 

♦ Children age 11 to 15 - use 10 times income   

♦ Children ages 16 up - use 5 times income               

♦ Special needs children at least 15 times annual living expenses for that child alone   

♦ For each child you want to send to college add $50,000 to $100,000                                  

♦ Amount of your current mortgage   

Add all these needs together for an approximate total life insurance need. 

♦ For at-home parent taking care of children use same factors above with equivalent annual income = $35,000+.

Additional life insurance needs may include: 

♦ Funding for estate taxes

♦ Charitable contributions 

♦ Other debt repayments

♦ Retirement planning

For self employed individuals, you may have additional business related needs such as buy-sell funding, key-person insurance, employee benefits, and funding for SBA loans. Contact Fredric A. Berger, CLU, ChFC, MSFS, FALU at UndSolutions@cs.com for addition guidance. For tax and legal questions, please refer to your tax professional and legal counsel.