Your "human life value" is the money your family would need to replace what you provide if you weren't there. This tool estimates that cover three ways — a quick income multiple, a present-valued income replacement, and a needs-based (DIME) build-up — so you can decide on merit, not on a single rule of thumb.
Your inputs
About you & your family
Used by the income-replacement method. The rest is what your family relies on.
A conservative 2–3% real is sensible. This discounts future income to today.
Your inputs
Liabilities & goals (for DIME)
Today's cost of goals you'd want funded regardless.
Suggested cover
₹0
rounded up to the next ₹25 lakh band
| Method | Cover it suggests |
|---|
How each method works
1. Income multiple — the quick check
Multiply your annual income by 10 to 15. It's the number most people quote and what insurers loosely underwrite to (issue caps run roughly 10–30× depending on age). It's fast and useful as a floor, but it ignores your actual loans, goals and what you've already saved — so treat it as a sanity check, not the answer.
2. Income replacement — the present value of your earnings
This treats your income as an asset. It takes the part of your income your family actually depends on (income minus what you spend on yourself), assumes it continues until you retire, and discounts those future years back to today's money using a real return. The discounting matters: a lump sum invested today grows, so you need less than the raw sum of all future salaries. A conservative real rate gives a larger, safer cover; an aggressive one shrinks it.
3. Needs-based (DIME) — the decision-grade build-up
DIME adds up what the money is actually for and subtracts what you've already arranged:
- Debt — personal loans, car loans, credit cards your family would inherit.
- Income — a lump sum to replace your earnings for the years you choose.
- Mortgage — the home loan, so the family keeps the house.
- Education — children's schooling, higher studies and other goals you'd want funded.
From that total it subtracts your existing savings and any life cover you already hold. What's left is the real gap — the number worth acting on.
Common mistakes this tool helps you avoid
- Forgetting inflation: a cover that looks large today buys far less in 15 years. Using a real (post-inflation) return for discounting keeps the number honest.
- Double-counting: if a goal is already funded by an existing investment, don't add the goal and ignore the asset. This tool subtracts what you've saved.
- Ignoring existing cover: employer group cover and old policies count — but employer cover ends with the job, so weigh it cautiously.
- Buying the round number, not the need: ₹1 crore is a marketing default, not a calculation. Your need is your need.