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[sweet_citer]

Hi.  My partner and I are about to finally plug our last financial hole: life insurance.  We're looking to get $1 million term life policies each (so that interest or dividends from the payout will replace lost income), but the question is, for how long.  We have a second-grader, so if we get 15-year policies, that will carry through until our child is through college, but a 20-year policy will extend into grad or professional school (if that's in the cards).  It is very unlikely that we will have another (though if we did, we would, of course, want the longer term).  If we had gotten insurance earlier, when we should have (we would have been covered already, for less), then the 20 years would end the same time a 15 year policy would today (or even sooner).  The major difference, of course, is cost.  The difference in premiums over 15 years plus the premiums for the additional five years would add up to $20,000.  Is it worth it?

[parispundit]

Why are you buying $1 million policies? Are you unusually well paid? TIAA-CREF's rule of thumb is your policy should be for 6-10 times gross income. With only 1 child, that should be plenty, unless you insist on leaving a large inheritance as well as paying expenses.

15 years. They can pay for grad school themselves

[cgfunmathguy]

Chime on all Parispundit said. 6 to 8 times your gross income is enough in all but the most unusual circumstances. It is more than enough in some cases. Don't overbuy; you'll only be paying for coverage you dont need.

[soymilk]

I have a work-based policy that will pay 3x my current income; I also have a life insurance policy for 550K. My spouse, who makes a lot less than I do, has a 300K policy. My insurance amounts to a bit more than 10x income and I don't consider it excessive. Our child's guardian wanted to ensure that we had sufficient funds to pay for college. I would also want to help them out with other expenses in adulthood --we would not be around to help if they faced tough economic times. And I would hate to burden the guardians with unexpected costs for medical care, rehab, or whatever. My kids are high maintenance now and that might translate to high costs later.
  I have to renew the policy within two years and my biggest concern is that my blood pressure is fluctuating and I will probably have an official hypertension diagnosis soon. And of course I need to lose weight. Even if I manage to improve my weight I am concerned that the diagnosis may raise my premiums.
  If you are healthy now I would suggest the 20 year term. However, see if your employer already offers some insurance; this might reduce the amount you need.

[octoprof]

If you will be financially stable 15 years from now (and have your retirement saved up and so forth) then go for the 15. If you need 5 more years to be sure your savings/retirement/etc. is ready even if one of you dies, then go for the 20 year.

10x income is a very good rule of thumb.