Home / Calculators / Human life value
Term cover calculator
How much would your family need if your salary stopped tomorrow?
That is the only question a term plan answers. This calculator puts a rupee figure on it: the income your family would lose, what you still owe, the goals you have promised, minus the cover and savings already in place.
Suggested term cover
₹1.8 crore
About 15 times your yearly income
- Income your family would lose, in today's money
- -
- Plus liabilities
- -
- Plus goals still to fund
- -
- Less cover you hold
- -
- Less savings and investments
- -
- Gap to cover
- -
Figures are rounded up to the next ₹5 lakh. Return on the payout is an assumed rate for illustration, not a promise. Mutual fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.
How the number is built
No black box. Five lines, the same way we would work it out with you on paper.
Take out what you spend on yourself
₹12 lakh income minus ₹2.4 lakh of your own spending leaves ₹9.6 lakh. That is the money that actually runs the house.
Grow it for rising costs
Household costs go up every year. At 6% a year, ₹9.6 lakh becomes about ₹17 lakh in ten years. Your family's need grows with it.
Bring every future year back to today
A lump sum paid today can be invested while it is drawn down. We discount each year's need at the return on the payout (8%, assumed rate for illustration) and add them up. For 25 years this gives about ₹1.79 crore.
Add what is owed and what is promised
Liabilities get cleared on day one so nobody inherits them. Goals like a child's degree are added at today's cost.
Subtract what already exists
Cover you hold and savings the family can use reduce the gap. Office group cover counts only while you stay in that job, so we show it separately in a review.
Three households, same method
Thumb rules miss by lakhs
"Ten times your income" is quick to say and often wrong. Age, what you owe and how many people depend on you move the answer a lot. Same assumptions as the calculator: 6% expense growth, 8% return on the payout (assumed rate for illustration).
Rules as of 2026, check current rules and insurer terms before you buy.
| Household | Income / own spend | Years left | Owes + goals | Has | Suggested cover | 10x income rule |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salaried, 30, spouse and baby | ₹9 lakh / ₹1.8 lakh | 30 | ₹40 lakh | ₹5 lakh | ₹1.9 crore | ₹90 lakh |
| Shop owner, 42, two teens | ₹15 lakh / ₹3 lakh | 18 | ₹55 lakh | ₹45 lakh | ₹1.85 crore | ₹1.5 crore |
| Couple, 50, child in college | ₹20 lakh / ₹5 lakh | 10 | ₹15 lakh | ₹80 lakh | ₹65 lakh | ₹2 crore |
Before you type a number
What to count, what to leave out
- Count: what you still owe on a house or car, card balances, money borrowed from relatives.
- Count: children's school and college fees, a parent's medical care, any marriage you have committed to.
- Count as savings: mutual funds, deposits, PPF and EPF balances your family could actually use.
- Leave out: the house you live in, gold kept for the family, money already earmarked for your own retirement.
- Treat with care: office group cover. It ends the day you change jobs.
Four mistakes we see in almost every review
Most families are under-covered, not because they skipped insurance, but because they bought the wrong kind.
Counting endowment plans as cover
A savings-type policy of ₹10 lakh premium often carries only ₹10 to 15 lakh of life cover. It looks big on paper and pays little on a claim.
Leaning on office cover
Group cover is useful, but it is tied to the employer. Lose or change the job at 45 and you are buying fresh cover at a higher premium.
Cover ending too early
A plan that stops at 55 when you work till 60 leaves the costliest five years open. Match the term to your last working year.
Never revisiting the number
A raise, a second child or a new house changes the answer. Recheck it every three years or after any big life event.
Questions
About human life value
Still unsure what to put in a box? Send us your figures on WhatsApp and we will fill it in with you.
What is human life value?
It is the money your family would need to keep living the way they do now if your income stopped. In practice it is the present value of your future earnings that go to the household, plus what you owe, minus what is already set aside.
Why does my own spending get subtracted?
If you are not there, your fuel, lunches and personal costs stop too. Leaving them in would over-insure you and raise the premium for no reason.
Is an 8% return on the payout realistic?
It is an assumed rate for illustration only. A family that keeps the money mostly in deposits may earn less, which means they need more cover. You can change it in the assumptions box. A lower rate gives a bigger, safer number.
Does a homemaker need term cover?
Yes. Childcare, cooking and running the house cost real money to replace. Insurers have their own limits for non-earning spouses, so we check what each one allows before suggesting a figure.
Will an insurer give me the full suggested amount?
Insurers cap cover at a multiple of income that falls as age rises, and they look at medicals and existing policies. If your number is above that cap, we split it across two plans or plan a top-up later.
Should I buy term cover or a plan that returns premium?
For the cover amount this calculator suggests, plain term is usually far cheaper. The difference in premium, invested every month through a SIP, does the saving job separately. We show both side by side before you decide.
Term plan quote
Get quotes for your cover figure
Send the number from the calculator. We compare plain term plans from partner insurers on claim record, premium and exclusions, and reply on WhatsApp with two or three options.
- No charge for the comparison
- We explain medical tests and paperwork before you pay anything
- Help with nominee details and claim filing later
Related reading
Once you have the figure, these pages help you buy it right.
Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. Vision Wealth arranges insurance through partner insurers; the policy terms of the insurer apply.