<prompt> Human: Wife is due Feb 2. I make 82500 annually. She has just been hired part time at 18 per hour. We expect 30 hours of work a week. Obviously my career is a bit more stable, but I think we still want a smaller policy on her as Id be an emotionally wrecked single dad if she died. We have student loans. Mine 57k through SoFi and hers 23k still through the feds. Its my understanding that these are both discharged upon death and dont need to be factored in. We have no mortgage but almost certainly will at some point during the term. Were in a reasonable COL area so maybe 200k as a rough estimate? We dont plan on pursuing home ownership until our student loans are gone or significantly reduced. We want 1 kid minimum, obviously, but are unsure after that. I have 50k and counting in retirement accounts, contributing about 650 a month including employer match. It is my understanding that my wife, as named beneficiary, would receive 401k and Roth IRA money upon my death without penalty. Theres a lot of uncertainty in our future expenses, which is leaving me struggling here. Ive read a ton about this, mostly on this subreddit, and I still just dont know. How much do we need on each of us? Thanks for any advice. Much appreciated.  <response>: I believe a shorthand is 8x-10x income. As ualexm2816 mentioned, it depends a lot on what you want to do. Also, you dont have to buy all of it now. For example, buy enough now to cover certain expenses, buy more insurance later when your needs have changed e.g. kid. It might cost a bit more when youre older, but if you have cash flow problems now, this is one way to avoid it. 