HarborPlain

Insurance

Life and disability insurance are the first big money decision most new parents face. These calculators and guides help you size the right amount of cover and compare quotes with confidence, with no agent and no upsell.

Tools

Life Insurance Calculator

Quick estimate

A quick 10-second ballpark from the 10× income rule: a fast starting point, no line-by-line breakdown. Want an exact figure? Use the detailed DIME calculator.

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Life Insurance Needs Calculator

Detailed

The detailed DIME worksheet (debts, income, mortgage, and education, minus what you already have) for a precise, obligation-based number, with an illustrative 20-year term premium.

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HDHP vs PPO Baby Cost Comparator

Compare the total annual cost of an HDHP (with HSA) and a PPO for a childbirth year: premiums, deductible, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket max. Computes both from your numbers; no assumed winner.

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COBRA Cost Calculator

Coverage gap

See your real monthly COBRA cost when job-based coverage ends: the full premium plus the admin fee, the jump from your old paycheck share, and a side-by-side with a Marketplace plan.

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Umbrella Insurance Calculator

Liability

How much excess liability coverage to carry: protect your net worth and income on top of your auto and home limits, with an illustrative premium range.

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Stay-at-Home Parent Value Calculator

Put a dollar figure on the childcare, cooking, cleaning, driving, and admin a stay-at-home parent does, then see the life cover it would take to replace it.

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Short-Term Disability Calculator

Maternity leave

Estimate what short-term disability pays during maternity leave: weekly benefit, paid weeks after the waiting period, and the income gap to plan around. Works from your own plan terms.

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Guides

Insurance

Life Insurance for Stay-at-Home Dads: How Much You Need

Stay-at-home dads need life insurance too. Learn how much coverage fits your family, which policy type to buy, and how to sidestep the most common mistake.

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Insurance

Life Insurance for Parents of Twins: How Much You Need

Parents of twins need more coverage than singleton parents. Learn how to size your policy, compare term vs. whole life, and lock in rates before delivery.

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Insurance

When to Buy Life Insurance for a Baby: A Parent's Guide

Learn when to buy life insurance for a baby, which policy types make sense, how much coverage to weigh, and the enrollment window new parents often miss.

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Insurance

Life Insurance for Foster Parents: Coverage You Need

Foster parents face unique life insurance gaps. Learn which policies really work, how much coverage fits your household, and what fostering agencies expect.

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Insurance

Life Insurance for Adoptive Parents: Timing and Coverage

Adoptive parents face unique life insurance timing questions. Here's what actually changes at finalization, and how to get covered before it's complete.

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Insurance

Life Insurance During and After IVF: Timing and Rates

Applying for life insurance during or after IVF? How timing, disclosure, and underwriting shape your rate before a cycle, after a birth, and after a loss.

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Insurance

Child Rider vs Separate Life Insurance Policy

Child rider vs separate life insurance policy: compare the real cost and coverage differences so new parents can pick the right option for their child.

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Insurance

Life Insurance and Guardianship for New Parents

How new parents can align life insurance and guardian designations, using a trust or UTMA account and a will, so the right money reaches the right people.

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Insurance

Life Insurance After Gestational Diabetes

Had gestational diabetes? Learn how it affects life insurance rates, what underwriters look for, and how to get the best coverage as a new parent.

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Insurance

How Much Life Insurance Do New Parents Actually Need?

New parents usually need term life worth about 10 to 12 times income, plus the mortgage and future education. Here is the math and how to compare quotes.

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How to think about cover as a new parent

The core question is simple: if your income disappeared, how much money would your family need to keep the household running until the kids are independent? For most young families the answer is a level term policy sized around ten to twelve times annual income, plus enough to clear the mortgage and fund education. You buy it for the two decades your children depend on you, and no longer.

Two things trip new parents up. The first is whole life: it bundles insurance with a savings product and costs many times more for the same cover, which is why almost every household is better served by plain term. The second is relying on coverage from work. Employer policies are typically one to two times salary and vanish when you change jobs, so they are a supplement, not a plan.

A stay-at-home parent needs cover too. Replacing the childcare and household work they provide costs real money, so many families insure both parents even when only one earns a paycheck.