I am not a parent, but if I were I couldn't imagine not paying the extra 15 or 20 bucks so my wife could take off a longer period of time. A time until she felt it was right, not forced by economic strain because I saved a hundred bucks a year.

Additionally, we already had a great support network within our community and my parents had sound fiscal planning in place. There was no intended plan for anyone to stop working and remain out of the work force for an extended period, other than personal illness. That's the fiscal policy between my husband and myself as well– neither of us will leave the workforce for an extended period of time.

I am sorry to hear about your loss at such a young age. I think we disagree as to what is proper for a child, but imagine for an extra $15/$20 or $30 bucks per month (it might have been more depending on your father's health) if your mom's new routine was not working and being there for you for those few months? or few years.

“Keep in mind that prior to getting this insurance, all I had was around $200k in life insurance through my company.” – I didn't know that, and that makes the number a little more understandable.

“you only need to factor in 2 incomes if you rely on those 2 incomes. We don't rely on 2 incomes. We save, give, and live off of my income. What she brings in is just icing on the cake, which we use for extra savings, fun, and whatever.” – While I think your situation is bad ass and one to strive for, I doubt it is the norm. Are you saying, in a necessary 2 income family situation I am right? I don't think most people have a second income for just icing.

“Now what type of person couldn't provide for her family with a fully paid off house, car, college paritally funded, and more than $300k in the bank? Heck, you'd only need a part-time job to live very comfortablely.” You are putting your spending values on others. If you were spending $100K GROSS you need to earn approximately $150K. With 300K in the bank and the wife working part time to make $50K – there is a short fall of 100K, so that 300K is going to be eaten into pretty quickly. This is unlikely your situation.

But if one is living close to the edge with 2 incomes maybe they're living too extravagantly. Maybe they need to learn to live on a smaller amount. Maybe that person is the one putting their family at risk?? I live on Long Island (don't worry I don't have that annoying accent) – 2 incomes are the norm here, because housing, taxes and utlities dictate it to be. Could I move to a cheaper area to live? Probably but to say I was living extravagantly now would be wrong.

In the end, I think we are agreeing that everyone's situation is different, which is why when anyone makes a decision as big as buying a product to take care of their family for the decades after death it should be a little more serious than, 10x earned income.

While you took it seriously, I really believe most people don't.

Keep in mind that prior to getting this insurance, all I had was around $200k in life insurance through my company. So, the fact that I now have $500k on top of that puts me in a much better position. I say that to encourage any readers who don't have life insurance to take the step towards getting it. You'll be much better off than where you are now…even with a small policy.

Now, to answer your criticism directly, I'll say this: you only need to factor in 2 incomes if you rely on those 2 incomes. We don't rely on 2 incomes. We save, give, and live off of my income. What she brings in is just icing on the cake, which we use for extra savings, fun, and whatever.

If I die, my wife could pay off our home ($150K), provide some college assistance ($50k?), and still have over $300k to do whatever with.

How is that not enough cusion for a fully capable person?

Again, I'm not trying to make my wife a millionaire. Just provide some stability for a while. She's not going to get to sit on her ass for the rest of her life.

Now what type of person couldn't provide for her family with a fully paid off house, car, college paritally funded, and more than $300k in the bank? Heck, you'd only need a part-time job to live very comfortablely. She could live off the residuals from my blog. But my wife is a teacher and so she will make a good salary, could work where our child goes to school, and also will get a nice chunk in retirement through the teacher retirement system.

I agree with your main point in that you should factor in all of the income you require to live your current life. But if one is living close to the edge with 2 incomes maybe they're living too extravagantly. Maybe they need to learn to live on a smaller amount. Maybe that person is the one putting their family at risk??

I should prepare a full post about how I usually answer that question for financial planners in my office, but it is based off of living expenses, not income.

If the family is spending $120K/yr – then we need to get them close to $120K/yr of income (in conjunction with their other assets). If we get push back that a spouse is going to absolutely go back to work, we will reduce the expenses after X amount of years.

If they plan on paying off debt then the $120k/yr need would be reduced because expenses would be lowered.

Hope this kind of helps.