<prompt> Human: We are 30 year old newlyweds with no kids but planning to have some. Do we need life insurance? If so, how much and what kind, whole life or term?  <response>: Avoid whole life or universal life, or anything except term life insurance.Other forms of insurance are poor financial decisions as it always will be better to invest the difference in premiums between them and term life, yourself.The rule of thumb for term life insurance is that when you have a child, or are about to, buy 25 year term life insurance to a value of 10-12x each of your incomes. Luckily term life insurance is cheap.This rule of thumb is a pretty good guide though, of course, it does not fit everyone. It tends to slightly under insure if you die early in the term and slightly over insure if you die late in the term, but it works pretty well for most people.Just to explain the thinking behind the rule of thumb, most peoples initial reaction is, 10x salary! Thats a lot of money, surely my dependents dont need that much. Then they think about it for a bit, and say, How the heck is 10 years salary supposed to replace my income for 20 or 25 years kids are not really independent until about age 25 these days to support my dependents if I die?Well, 10-12x salary just about can replace your income for 20-25 years probably not quite. Heres how:1. The lump sum payout from insurance is tax free, whereas your income is taxed. This means that 10x your salary in lump sum payout will be 13 or 14 years of after tax income.2. The life insurance you buy will not be the only insurance covering your dependents. They will also presumably qualify for Social Security Survivors benefits. These will not replace your income, but they will help considerably.3. The insurance will not need to cover your personal expenses second car, commuting costs, etc. etc..4. The lump sum payout can be invested, and the returns will add to the length of time it can cover though this can have risks.So, 10x coverage almost can replace an income for the length of the term.Now, your income will probably go up over the 25 years, whereas the coverage will remain the same. However, the length of time your dependents will need to be covered before they are independent will go down.So, its not a perfect rule of thumb, but its not bad. It works for most people.Good luck. 