How much life insurance do I need?
Enough to replace your income for the years your family would need it, clear your debts, finish your children's education and pay for the funeral, less the savings and life cover you already have. The calculator below adds it up in shillings and compares it with Kenyan advisers' rules of thumb of 6 to 15 times annual income.
Life cover calculator
An estimate to guide your decision, not advice or a quote. It uses today's shillings and ignores inflation and investment returns. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.
How this calculator works
- Cover needed = yearly income × years + debts + education + funeral costs − savings − existing life cover.
- The result is rounded to the nearest KES 100,000 and compared with advisers' rules of thumb of 6 to 15 times annual income.
- Figures are in today's shillings, with no allowance for inflation or investment returns.
What to include
- Income: your take-home pay, or what your family relies on each year
- Years: until your youngest child is independent, or your spouse could manage alone
- Debts: mortgage, car loan, SACCO and personal loans, but not a loan already covered by credit life
- Education: fees still to pay for every child, through university
- Funeral and final costs: Kenyan funerals range from about KES 50,000 to 2.5 million
- Savings and investments your family could use, such as SACCO deposits, money market funds and shares
- Existing life cover: group life at work and any policy you already hold
After the calculator
- Term cover is usually the cheapest way to buy the full amount
- Split it if it helps: a long term for the income, a shorter one matching a loan
- Name your beneficiaries, and an adult to receive money for children
- Review the figure when your family, income or loans change
Frequently asked questions
How does the life cover calculator work?
It adds the income your family would need for the years you choose, your debts, the school fees still to pay and funeral costs, then subtracts your savings and the life cover you already have, including group life at work.
Is 10 times my salary enough?
It is a starting point only. Kenyan advisers' rules of thumb range from 6 to 8 up to 10 to 15 times annual income, but a family with a mortgage and young children may need more, and a single person with no debts much less.
Does the calculator allow for inflation?
No. It uses today's shillings. To allow for rising costs, add a few years of income or choose a longer replacement period, and review your cover every few years.
Is what I type into the calculator saved or sent?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is stored. Only if you then send the quote form do we receive your details, with the cover band you chose.
How often should I review my cover?
Whenever your life changes: marriage, a new child, a new loan or mortgage, a big salary change, or a loan paid off. Otherwise every two to three years.
I have group life at work. Do I still need my own cover?
Usually, yes. Group life typically pays 3 to 5 times your salary, which is often less than your family needs, and it ends when you leave the job. Your own policy stays with you and can be sized to your debts and dependants.
Happy with the figure?
Send us the cover amount and your age. We compare Kenyan insurers and send term and whole life prices within the hour.
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Sources (1)
Facts and published prices checked 28 Oct 2026; last reviewed October 2026 by Naveah Capital. Prices shown are insurers' published starting prices and planning estimates in Kenya shillings; they are not a quote. Naveah Capital Insurance Agency is an IRA-licensed insurance agency in Nairobi; this page is general information, and your policy wording decides your cover.
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