Question 1

What is term insurance?

Accepted Answer

Pure life cover: if you die during the policy term, your family receives the sum assured; if you outlive it, there is no payout. Because there is no investment component, term plans offer the largest cover per rupee of premium - which is exactly what protection requires.

Question 2

How does this calculator determine the ideal cover?

Accepted Answer

It totals what your family would need without your income - living expenses projected with inflation until your retirement age, plus future goals, plus outstanding loans - and subtracts the cover you already hold. The result is the gap a term plan should fill.

Question 3

Why do thumb rules like '10x income' fall short?

Accepted Answer

Because families experience expenses, not income multiples. On the default inputs - ₹8.4 lakh annual expenses at age 25, retiring at 50, with 5.5% inflation, ₹26 lakh of goals and loans, and ₹1 crore existing cover - the calculated need is about ₹3.6 crore, roughly triple what a 10x-income rule would suggest for a ₹12 lakh earner.

Question 4

Why does inflation matter so much here?

Accepted Answer

Cover that looks generous today must fund expenses decades from now. At 5.5% inflation, ₹8.4 lakh of annual expenses becomes over ₹31 lakh a year by year 25 - the year-by-year table shows exactly how the need compounds.

Question 5

What counts as 'goals and liabilities'?

Accepted Answer

Commitments your income was going to fund: children's education, weddings, parental care, plus every outstanding loan balance. Each rupee of debt or promised goal is a rupee of extra cover, because both transfer to your family intact.

Question 6

I already have some cover - how do I account for it?

Accepted Answer

Enter it in the existing cover field; the calculator subtracts it so you only buy the gap. Count personal term policies fully, but treat employer group cover skeptically - it lapses the day you change or lose the job.

Question 7

When should I buy, and for how long?

Accepted Answer

As early as possible - premiums lock in at your entry age and health. Run the policy until your planned retirement or financial independence, whichever comes first; beyond the point where your corpus can sustain your family, extra cover is an unnecessary expense.

Question 8

How often should I recalculate?

Accepted Answer

At every major life event - marriage, each child, a big loan, a large income change. A policy sized before a home loan and a second child is undersized after them; top up with an additional policy when the gap reappears.

Age	Years to retirement	Annual expenses	Cumulative cover
25	25	₹8,40,000	₹8,40,000
26	24	₹8,86,200	₹17,26,200
27	23	₹9,34,941	₹26,61,141
28	22	₹9,86,363	₹36,47,504
29	21	₹10,40,613	₹46,88,116
30	20	₹10,97,846	₹57,85,963
31	19	₹11,58,228	₹69,44,191
32	18	₹12,21,930	₹81,66,121
33	17	₹12,89,137	₹94,55,258
34	16	₹13,60,039	₹1,08,15,297
35	15	₹14,34,841	₹1,22,50,139
36	14	₹15,13,758	₹1,37,63,896
37	13	₹15,97,014	₹1,53,60,910
38	12	₹16,84,850	₹1,70,45,761
39	11	₹17,77,517	₹1,88,23,277
40	10	₹18,75,280	₹2,06,98,558
41	9	₹19,78,421	₹2,26,76,978
42	8	₹20,87,234	₹2,47,64,212
43	7	₹22,02,032	₹2,69,66,244
44	6	₹23,23,143	₹2,92,89,387
45	5	₹24,50,916	₹3,17,40,303
46	4	₹25,85,717	₹3,43,26,020
47	3	₹27,27,931	₹3,70,53,951
48	2	₹28,77,967	₹3,99,31,919
49	1	₹30,36,256	₹4,29,68,174

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