Ensure your family never loses their home if the unexpected happens.
For most families, their home is their largest asset — and their mortgage is their largest debt. If an income earner passes away, the surviving family may not be able to afford the monthly mortgage payment on one income alone. Life insurance provides the funds to pay off the mortgage entirely, eliminating the largest monthly expense and letting your family stay in the home.
At minimum, your life insurance coverage should include enough to pay off your remaining mortgage balance. But housing costs don't stop at the mortgage:
A good approach: coverage = mortgage balance + (annual housing costs × 5 years). This gives your family breathing room while they adjust.
You may see ads for “mortgage protection insurance” — policies specifically marketed to homeowners. Here's the key difference:
For most homeowners, a standard term life insurance policy is a better value because it gives your family flexibility. Your coverage should be larger than just the mortgage — because your family has other expenses too.
Take your mortgage balance, add 10x your annual income for living expenses, then subtract any existing coverage. That's a rough estimate of the coverage gap. Our Family Protection Planner can calculate a more precise number in about 3 minutes.
No. PMI protects the lender if you default on the loan — it has nothing to do with your death. It pays the bank, not your family.
Decreasing term policies (where the death benefit drops over time) are typically not worth the small savings. A level term policy gives your family much more flexibility and the premium difference is usually minimal.