What happens financially if you or your spouse dies?
When an adult dies, the income they earned and the work they did at home stop. The household's costs and plans don't.
The paycheck stops. The bills don’t.
Nearly half of people (46%) say their household would feel the financial impact within six months if the primary wage earner died. The mortgage or rent, the debts, the children's education and the cost of replacing what a parent did at home all remain. That is true for an adult who earns no income too — their childcare, caregiving and running of the home have a real cost. Your Protection Map measures how much your household would need to meet the goal you choose, after the life insurance and savings already in place.
Source: 2026 Insurance Barometer Study, Life Happens and LIMRA
What families want to know
How much would my family need?
It depends on the goal you choose. One goal is to support the household until your youngest child is grown. The other is to replace the income that would stop until the surviving spouse reaches age 67. Your Protection Map adds up what that goal would take: the take-home pay that would stop, the mortgage and other debts if you choose to pay them off, college for each child you plan to help, paying for the help at home the person provided, final costs and an emergency fund. Then it takes off the life insurance and savings you already have. What's left is the gap.
What if one of us doesn't earn an income?
Their death still costs the household money. Childcare, caregiving and running a home would have to be paid for. Your Protection Map puts a dollar figure on that help for as long as you say it would be needed, instead of counting it as nothing.
Does life insurance through work count?
Yes. Your Protection Map counts life insurance through work, up to age 65, along with any you own yourself, and your cash and investments outside retirement accounts. Retirement accounts and home equity are not counted against the gap.
Would Social Security help?
It can, with limits. Social Security says a surviving spouse may be eligible at age 60 or older (50 to 59 with a disability), or at any age while caring for a child of the person who died. Children may be eligible while under 18, or at 18 and 19 if still in school full time through grade 12.
Social Security: ssa.gov, “Who can get Survivor benefits.”
Three ways to protect against a financial risk
Fund it yourself: set money aside. Reduce the risk: arrange things so you'd need less if it happened. Transfer the risk: pay an insurer a set amount so a large loss doesn't fall on your family alone. Most households use a mix.
Life insurance protects the people who depend on you, and the income and work at home you provide. It turns a loss no family could save for into a set monthly cost, so the home, your family's plans and daily life can continue.
See where your family stands.
Loss of Life is one of four financial risks your Protection Map looks at, in dollars, with every step shown.
See all four risks