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Insurance Planning Hub

Personal and business life insurance sizing calculators plus guides: the DIME method for families, buy-sell funding for partners, and key person coverage for critical employees.

Life insurance is easier to size right when you use a framework instead of guessing at a round number. This hub pairs the personal life insurance calculator (DIME method) with the two business-side calculators (buy-sell funding and key person coverage), and links each to the guide that explains the rule behind it.

These tools estimate a coverage amount only. They do not recommend a specific policy type, insurer, or carrier. A licensed insurance professional should confirm the final product and structure for your situation.

Start here

Life Insurance Calculator

Size personal life insurance coverage using the DIME method.

Calculators

CalculatorLife Insurance CalculatorDIME method: Debt, Income, Mortgage, Education, minus existing assets.CalculatorBuy-Sell Funding CalculatorCross-purchase or entity redemption funding for a business buyout.CalculatorKey Man Insurance CalculatorSalary-multiple and replacement-cost coverage on a critical employee.

Planning and reference guides

GuideHow Much Life Insurance Do I Need? The DIME Method GuideBuy-Sell Agreements Explained GuideKey Man Insurance Explained

Common questions

What does DIME stand for?: Debt, Income replacement, Mortgage, and Education: the four buckets a personal life insurance policy should be sized to cover, minus existing coverage and savings.
Cross-purchase vs entity redemption?: Cross-purchase has each owner buy a policy on each other owner and is simpler for 2 or 3 owners; entity redemption has the business own one policy per owner and is simpler when there are many owners.
How is key person coverage sized?: Either 5 to 10 times the key person's compensation, or a bottom-up estimate of recruiting, training, and lost-revenue cost during the transition, whichever is higher for revenue-critical roles.

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Retirement projection, contribution, and distribution calculators.

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All insurance sizing calculators in one place.

Financial Calculators

The full financial calculator hub.

Sources and methodology

These are coverage-estimation frameworks (DIME for personal life insurance, salary-multiple and replacement-cost for key person, and pro-rata business value for buy-sell funding). They size a target coverage amount only. Final coverage, product type, and carrier selection require a licensed insurance professional. See our full methodology page for how we source and review each figure.

Life insurance needs analysis (DIME method)

Last reviewed January 15, 2026.