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Every number Coverlee shows comes from a formula you can read. This page lists each one, the defaults we use, and where the data comes from.
DIME: Debts + (Income × Years) + Mortgage + Education + Final expenses − Existing life insurance − Savings
Income replacement: (Income × Share × Years) + Final expenses − Existing life insurance − Savings
Defaults: income share 75%, final expenses $15,000, years of support 10. Results below zero show as $0. The range is the lower and higher of the two results, each rounded to the nearest $10,000. Not included: investment growth, inflation, taxes on investment income and Social Security survivor benefits.
| Tool | Formula |
|---|---|
| Group-term life imputed income | (Coverage − $50,000, to nearest $100) ÷ 1,000 × IRS Table 2-2 monthly rate × months − after-tax employee payments |
| Term life length | Smallest standard term (10/15/20/25/30) ≥ max(support age − child age, mortgage years, other years) |
| Stay-at-home parent value | Weekly childcare × weeks + 12 × monthly help; × years |
| Final expense | Sum of costs − money set aside |
| Actual cash value | Cost × max(floor, 1 − age ÷ useful life) |
| Coinsurance | Loss × min(1, limit ÷ (replacement cost × required %)) − deductible |
| Home rebuild cost | Sq ft × cost × (1 + soft % + code %) + extras |
| Hurricane deductible | Dwelling limit × percentage |
| Flood coverage | Amounts above NFIP caps of $250,000 building and $100,000 contents |
| Additional living expenses | (Temporary costs − normal costs that stop) × months |
| Umbrella | Net worth + income × years − highest underlying limit, rounded up to $1,000,000 |
| Deductible | Break-even years = extra deductible ÷ yearly premium saving |
| Drop full coverage | Maximum payout = car value − deductible; compared with yearly premium |
| Underinsured motorist | Excess: min(loss − their limit, your UIM); reducing: min(loss, your UIM) − their payment |
The health plan checker uses the CMS Marketplace API, the public data service behind HealthCare.gov plan information. It finds your county from your ZIP, requests an eligibility estimate (premium tax credit, cost-sharing reductions, Medicaid/CHIP), and searches for the lowest-premium Bronze, Silver and Gold plan. It then compares:
If you qualify for cost-sharing reductions, it recommends Silver. The tool always uses the newest plan year the API supports. States that run their own marketplace are not in the federal data; we link to the official state site instead. Coverlee is not affiliated with the government and is not an enrollment site.
All defaults and thresholds are stored in one data file in our codebase, so a change appears everywhere at once. When we change one, we update this page and note it in the affected guides.
These are estimates. Real coverage needs depend on policy wording, underwriting, state law, health, taxes and personal goals. Please confirm decisions with a licensed professional or your state insurance department. See our disclaimer.
No. All calculators except the health plan checker run entirely in your browser in plain JavaScript and store nothing. The health plan checker sends only your ZIP, ages and income, through our server, to the official CMS Marketplace API to fetch plans, and we do not save or log them.
Because the DIME method and the income-replacement method answer the question in slightly different ways. We show the lower and higher result, rounded to the nearest $10,000, so you can choose within a sensible range.
From each state's insurance department, motor vehicle agency or statute, with the date we checked it shown next to each state.
No. They are Coverlee's starting points, chosen to reflect common recommendations, and are listed here so you can judge them. Your own situation may call for more or less.
Each formula has automated unit tests, including the IRS's own worked example for group-term life imputed income and the worked examples shown in our guides.
In a single data file, so a change to a default or threshold updates every tool and page that uses it.