Life insurance is the conversation nobody wants to have and everybody needs. If someone depends on your client's income, they need coverage. The math is cold but the reason is personal.
How I think about it
I don't start with products. I start with the question: if this person died tomorrow, what happens financially to the people who depend on them?
That question leads to a number. The number leads to a recommendation. The product conversation comes last, and it's usually not one I'm having anyway (that's the insurance agent's job). My job is to make sure the coverage amount is right and the client knows where they stand.
Three ways to calculate the need
Kerdora gives you three calculator methods. Pick whichever fits the conversation:
Human Life Value — the simplest. Takes their income and multiplies it by their remaining working years. If they earn $150,000 and have 25 years until retirement, the need is $3.75 million. It's a rough number, but it grounds the conversation fast.
Income-Expenses Hybrid — looks at total household income vs. the individual's income. Factors in how much of the household's financial picture depends on this one person. More nuanced than Human Life Value, still pretty quick.
Needs-Based — the most detailed. Starts with how much annual income the survivor needs, multiplies by years of income needed, adds burial expenses, then subtracts existing savings and investments. This is the method I use most because it ties directly to the client's actual situation.
Each method pulls data that's already in Kerdora (income, assets, age) so you're not re-entering numbers. You can override anything.
What you're tracking
For each life insurance policy, you'll capture:
Type — Term, Whole, Universal, Variable, Group, or Other
Owner — who's insured
Death benefit — the coverage amount
Beneficiaries — who gets the money
Cash value — for permanent policies (Whole, Universal, Variable), Kerdora tracks the current cash value separately from the death benefit
Premium — how much they're paying and how often
The cash value field only shows up for permanent policy types. Term life doesn't have it because there's nothing to track.
The gap
Once you have the calculated need and the existing coverage, the gap tells the story. If they have $500,000 in term life but the calculator says they need $1.5 million, that's a $1 million gap. Note the change.
If they have more coverage than they need (rare, but it happens), that's worth flagging too. They might be overpaying for coverage they don't need, especially if their kids are grown and the mortgage is paid off.
Quick note: policy end dates matter. A term policy expiring in 2 years might show "Good" coverage today but create a gap soon. Kerdora tracks expiration dates and flags expired policies.