The problem with the "10x your income" rule
It is a sales heuristic, not a calculation. A 29-year-old renter with no kids and a 44-year-old with a mortgage and two toddlers do not need the same coverage, even on identical salaries. The number you need is a function of what your household would still owe and still spend if your paycheck stopped permanently.
DIME, line by line
D — Debt. Every balance that would not vanish: credit cards, auto loans, student loans (private student debt usually survives death; federal loans are generally discharged), personal loans. Add final expenses, and budget realistically: a funeral commonly runs $8,000 to $12,000.
I — Income replacement. Take the share of your income your household actually depends on, and multiply by the number of years they would need it. Most families should think in terms of "until the youngest is independent," not an arbitrary ten years.
M — Mortgage. The full outstanding principal. Paying off the house converts a fragile monthly obligation into a fixed asset, which is the single biggest stabilizer for a surviving spouse.
E — Education. What you intend to fund per child. Be honest here — an aspiration you have never budgeted for is not a liability.
Add the four, subtract liquid assets already earmarked for the family, and you have a defensible face amount.
Term, not permanent — for most people
DIME produces a need that shrinks over time. Debts amortize, the mortgage drops, the kids grow up. That declining need is exactly what level term insurance is priced for. Permanent insurance solves a different problem — estate liquidity, a lifelong dependent, a business buy-sell agreement. If none of those describe you, the honest recommendation is term, and the difference invested.
The gap nobody checks
Coverage is only half of it. The other half is the beneficiary designation, and it overrides your will. We audit every policy and retirement account in your Boss Finances vault for missing, outdated, or "estate"-named beneficiaries, because a correctly sized policy pointed at an ex-spouse is a very expensive clerical error.
Do it now
Open the Insurance section in your portal, enter your income and essential expenses, and the DIME panel runs the whole calculation against your real debts and mortgage balance. Then check the disability tab — statistically you are far more likely to lose your income to injury or illness than to death, and that is the coverage most households actually lack.