Which type of life insurance fits me?

How to use it

Choose one answer to each of six questions:

1. The main job of the coverage: replace income, pay a mortgage or debt, pay funeral and final bills, cover estate taxes or leave a guaranteed inheritance, or protect a business.
2. How long the need lasts: under 20 years, 20 to 30 years, or your whole life.
3. What matters more: the most coverage for the lowest premium, guarantees even at a much higher premium, or building cash value.
4. Your health: good or managed, serious conditions, or not sure.
5. Your age: under 50, 50 to 64, or 65 and older.
6. Whether you already save the most allowed in a 401(k) and IRA.

The answers produce a short list of policy types, each linked to a guide, with a one-sentence reason and any flags. The tool does not recommend a company or a price.

How the math works

There is no formula. The tool applies a fixed set of rules in order, and the first one that matches decides the list. In plain words:

1. If the job is final expenses, or you are 65 or older with a lifelong need and the job is not an estate need, it points to final expense insurance, plus guaranteed issue if your health is serious.
2. If the need is shorter than your lifetime and the job is income or debt, it points to term life insurance, a ladder if the need runs 20 to 30 years, and convertible term.
3. If the job is an estate need, or the need is lifelong and you prefer guarantees, it points to guaranteed universal life and whole life, and to survivorship coverage for an estate need.
4. If the job is a business need, it points to key person coverage and buy-sell funding.
5. If you want cash value and already save the maximum in retirement accounts, it points to participating whole life and indexed universal life.
6. Otherwise it lists term and whole life.

Hypothetical example: you want to replace income for 20 to 30 years, choose the lowest premium, and answer under 50 and good health. Rule 2 applies, so the tool lists term life, a term ladder and convertible term.

What it assumes

• Six answers can describe a situation only roughly, and the tool uses no outside data.
• It extends general rules of thumb: term for temporary needs, permanent insurance for needs that never end, and cash value policies only after retirement accounts are full.
• Flags appear in addition to the list. They warn that you have not maxed retirement accounts if you want cash value, that serious health conditions call for shopping several insurers, and that term options narrow after 65.

Where it stops being right

• Because the first matching rule wins, order matters. A person 65 or older with a lifelong need is sent to final expense insurance unless the job is an estate need, even if the job is business. Read the whole list and the reasoning, not only the top item.
• Real choices depend on price, health and product details the tool cannot see. Contested products, such as indexed universal life and whole life as an investment, have strong critics and strong supporters.
• It does not size the coverage. Use the How much life insurance do I need? for the amount.

For the trade-offs behind the answers, read term vs whole life insurance: which fits you and the types of life insurance, explained. The buy term and invest the difference calculator tests one common alternative to permanent coverage, and guaranteed universal life: permanent coverage without the cash explains the second choice in rule 3.