Is My Life Insurance Through Work Enough for My Family?
Group life insurance through an employer is typically one or two times your salary. For a household with a mortgage and kids, that covers a few months, not the years of income, debt, and child-rearing costs it would actually take to replace.
It also disappears the moment you leave the job, voluntarily or not, which is the part most people never think about until it's the wrong time to think about it.
Why employer coverage falls short
The 1-2x salary figure is set by what's cheap for the employer to offer broadly, not by what your family would actually need. It's a baseline, not a plan.
Some employers let you buy supplemental coverage on top of the base amount. That is worth knowing about, but it is still tied to your employment and still disappears if you leave.
What 'enough' actually means
A simple, honest way to think about it: add up what your family would need to replace — years of your income, the mortgage balance, and the cost of raising any kids to adulthood — then subtract what you already have, work coverage plus any personal policy. Whatever is left is the gap.
This isn't a formula only an actuary can run. It's arithmetic anyone can check, which is exactly why it's worth doing rather than assuming the employer number is fine.
What happens if you leave your job
Group life almost never travels with you. Quit, get laid off, or get let go, and the coverage typically ends on your last day or shortly after, sometimes with an expensive, time-limited option to convert it to an individual policy.
A personal policy, separate from any employer, is the only kind that stays yours regardless of where you work.
Check whether your coverage actually covers your family.
Answer a few short questions to see if your coverage is enough.
Coverage Gap Calculator
Check your coverage gap
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Outside of work. Leave blank if none.
What your family would need to replace each year.
Common questions
- Is 1x salary life insurance enough?
- For most households with a mortgage or kids, no. One year of income rarely covers even a fraction of a mortgage balance plus years of income replacement.
- Is my life insurance through work enough after having a baby?
- Usually not on its own. A new dependent adds years of costs that a 1-2x-salary employer policy was never sized for. It's worth checking the actual gap rather than assuming.
- Do I lose my life insurance when I leave my job?
- In most cases, yes, on or shortly after your last day. Some plans offer a conversion option to an individual policy, usually at a higher cost than buying one independently.
- Should I get life insurance outside of my employer?
- If you have people depending on your income, a personal policy that isn't tied to your job is generally worth having regardless of what your employer offers, precisely because it can't be taken away by a job change.
- How much life insurance do I actually need?
- A simple starting point: years of income you want replaced, plus your mortgage balance, plus the cost of raising any children, minus what you already have. That gives you a number to work from with an agent.
The coverage-gap check on this page is a free, non-binding rough estimate for informational purposes only. It's not a formal needs analysis or an actual insurance quote.