How much life cover do you need?
Nobody can answer that for you in a web page, so this does not try. It works one common rule of thumb — debts to clear, plus the income you want replaced, plus one-off costs, less what you already have — and prints the whole sum underneath so you can argue with it.
Checked for the not-advice wording on 2026-09-16
Your numbers
Every box starts empty on purpose. We do not pre-fill a “typical” figure, because we have no New Zealand source for one and a made-up default would quietly become your answer. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
We never ask your age, your health, whether you smoke or your date of birth. None of it would improve an estimate this simple, and it is not ours to hold.
General estimate, not a recommendation. This is a general estimate from a common rule of thumb, not a recommendation and not a quote. It does not consider your health, your existing policies, your tax position or what you are trying to achieve. It is arithmetic on the numbers you typed, and every step of it is shown below. A licensed financial adviser can advise you on your own situation; we cannot.
Type a number into any box and the ledger fills in.
The figure goes onto the form where you can see it and take it off again. Nothing is sent until you fill the form in and tick the consent box.
Debts line up with mortgage protection and life cover; the income line with income protection. Those pages explain what each kind of cover does, in general.
How this calculator works
The sum, in full:
(debts + (annual after-tax income × years) + one-off costs) − (savings + KiwiSaver + existing cover)
The result is rounded to the nearest $10,000, because presenting a figure like $732,418 would imply a precision that a rule of thumb does not have.
What it assumes
- That every number you typed is roughly right, today.
- That a lump sum today is a fair stand-in for money needed over years. It is not, but this is a rule of thumb.
- That the savings and cover you listed would actually be available when needed.
What it ignores
- Inflation and investment returns. Money set aside for fifteen years does not keep its value, and it might also earn something. Neither is modelled.
- Tax. On the payout, on any income it generates, and on your estate.
- Your health and your age. They change what cover costs and whether an insurer will offer it, not what this arithmetic produces.
- Everything about you. Whether a partner earns, whether a relationship property agreement applies, what a business would need, who would look after children, what ACC would pay for an injury, what an employer's cover already does.
- Which kind of cover fits which line. A lump sum, a monthly benefit and a payment on diagnosis are different products doing different jobs. The cover type pages explain each one in general.
Why we show the working
Because a number with no arithmetic behind it is just an assertion, and because the moment a calculator stops showing its working it starts to look like an opinion about what a particular person should buy. Under New Zealand law that is the line between information and regulated financial advice, and this site stays firmly on the information side of it. The disclosure page quotes the sections.
Questions about the calculator
Is this telling me how much cover to buy?
No, and it must not be read that way. It adds up numbers you typed and subtracts other numbers you typed. It knows nothing about your health, your existing policies, your tax position, your family's circumstances or what you are trying to achieve, and all of those change the answer. A licensed financial adviser can work through it with you.
Why are all the boxes empty?
Because a default is a claim. If we pre-filled “funeral costs” or “cost per child” with a typical New Zealand figure, that number would become most people's answer — and we could not find a source for one we were willing to publish. Empty boxes are honest; invented defaults are not.
What rule of thumb is this?
The common one, sometimes called DIME: debt, income, mortgage, education, less what you already hold. It is widely used because it is simple, not because it is right for anybody in particular. Its weakness is exactly its simplicity — it ignores inflation, tax, how long money would actually need to last, and everything about the person.
Does anything I type get sent to you?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is transmitted or stored. We record one analytics event saying that somebody started using the calculator, with no amounts and no inputs attached. If you press the button to talk to an adviser, the rounded total is carried onto the form where you can see it and remove it.
Why does it not ask my age or whether I smoke?
Those change the price of cover, not the amount a rule of thumb suggests. They are underwriting questions and they belong with an insurer or an adviser, not with an information site. We do not ask for health information anywhere on this site.
The number looks enormous. Is that right?
It is the arithmetic on what you entered. Replacing an income for many years produces a large figure, which is one of the honest things about showing the working: you can see which line is driving it and change that line. There is no correct answer here, only a calculation you can inspect.
Sources
- Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (legislation.govt.nz)
- Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014, Schedule 21A
Read on 2026-09-16. If a source and this page disagree, the source is right.
The calculator itself cites nothing, because it invents nothing: every figure in it is one you typed. The sources above are the law that decides how a tool like this may be described.