Work out how much money your family would need if you were no longer there to provide it. This calculator adds living costs, debts and a future goal, then subtracts usable assets and existing personal life cover. Use your family’s needs, rather than a multiple of salary.
Future goal
Keep a goal separate from everyday living costs to avoid counting it twice.
Growth assumptions and employer cover
Where the number comes from
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Family living costs | |
| Future goal funding today | |
| Debts to clear | |
| Other immediate costs | |
| Total funding required | |
| Less: usable assets | |
| Less: personal life cover | |
| Additional cover shortfall |
The goal’s future cost is . Its funding requirement today is lower when the assumed return is positive. The return after family-spending inflation is .
What if savings earn less?
Only the after-tax savings return changes. Spending inflation and all other inputs stay the same.
| Savings return | Shortfall |
|---|
Show the employer-cover comparison
If the employer death cover you entered also paid out today, the modelled shortfall would be . The main estimate does not rely on this benefit continuing after a job change.
The example inputs are illustrative. This calculator does not submit or save the numbers you enter.
Start with what the family still needs
Remove spending that would stop without the person being insured, such as their commute. Keep costs that would continue, and add replacement childcare or household help where relevant. If you enter a debt to be cleared immediately, do not also include its EMI in monthly spending. Keep education fees separate if you fund them through the future-goal box.
Choose support years from your dependants’ circumstances: children becoming independent, a partner’s needs or support for parents. This number is a planning horizon, not a recommendation for a policy term. The method is explained in How Much Life Cover May Be Enough?.
Count assets once, and only if they are usable
Use savings and investments the family could actually access and spend for these needs. Do not subtract the home they need to live in, inaccessible assets or a reserve you plan to preserve. An investment earmarked for the education goal can be counted here, but only once: do not also reduce the goal cost by that same investment.
Existing personal cover means active death benefits on the same insured person. Maturity values, health-insurance limits and another family member’s policy are different things. Policies that expire before the support horizon need separate consideration. Employer death cover appears only in the optional comparison, because job changes can change the benefit.
Inflation and returns, made explicit
The living-cost calculation discounts monthly spending in today’s rupees using the real return: (1 + savings return) ÷ (1 + spending inflation) − 1. That annual real return is converted to a monthly rate. Each month’s spending is treated as a month-end payment, over the support horizon.
If the savings return and spending inflation are equal, the real return is zero. The living-cost requirement then becomes monthly spending × 12 × support years. At ₹40,000 a month for twenty years, that is ₹96 lakh. If savings earn less than inflation, the required funding increases.
For the future goal, the calculator first increases today’s cost by the goal-inflation rate for the years remaining. It then discounts that future amount at the assumed after-tax savings return to find the funding needed today. This version models one goal, or several costs due at the same time. If your goals fall on different dates, estimate them separately rather than assuming a single date.
The savings return is after tax and investment fees. The example’s 6% return and 6% spending inflation are assumptions, not market rates or promised returns. Try a lower return in the sensitivity table before relying on the result.
Read the shortfall, not just the large number
Total funding required is living costs plus goal funding, debt balances and immediate costs. Subtract usable assets to estimate total personal cover needed. Subtract existing personal cover to find additional cover. Both cover results are floored at zero. An excess in this model does not establish that your family has no other financial risks.
Our Child Education Calculator can help you examine education costs. For the distinction between protection and an investment product, read Term Insurance Without the Sales Pitch.
What this estimate cannot decide
The model assumes steady growth, immediate access to the assets counted and a lump-sum death benefit available today. It does not model volatile returns, claim delays, staged policy payouts, changing survivor income or needs beyond the support horizon. It does not calculate premiums, underwriting eligibility or whether a claim will be paid. Check policy terms and review the estimate when your family, debts or savings change.
This calculator is for education, not personal insurance or investment advice. An assumed investment return is uncertain, and the result is not a recommendation to buy or cancel a policy. For advice about your circumstances, speak to a qualified insurance professional or a SEBI-registered investment adviser.