{"id":25486,"date":"2025-09-13T20:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T02:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/?p=25486"},"modified":"2026-04-13T20:49:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T02:49:51","slug":"what-would-you-do-if-you-were-told-you-had-only-one-week-to-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/what-would-you-do-if-you-were-told-you-had-only-one-week-to-live\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would you do If you were told you had only One Week to live?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>You\u2019re essentially trying to answer one question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <em>\u201cIf I\u2019m gone, how much money does my family need to stay financially secure?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A clean way to do this is to combine <strong>obligations + income replacement \u2013 existing resources<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Core DIME Formula<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Use this as your base:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Insurance Needed = (Debt + Income Replacement <strong>+ Mortgage + Education Costs <\/strong>) \u2013 Existing Assets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Step-by-Step Breakdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>Debt<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Credit cards<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Personal loans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Car loans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 Use total outstanding balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>Mortgage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use the remaining mortgage balance (not the monthly payment)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add extra if you want to cover property taxes\/maintenance buffer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>Education Costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Estimate:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cost per child \u00d7 number of children<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Include tuition, housing, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>$25K\/year \u00d7 4 years \u00d7 2 kids = $200K<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. <strong>Income Replacement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the biggest component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <strong>Income \u00d7 Years of Support Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Typical ranges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>10\u201315 years (standard)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Until the youngest child turns 18\/22<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Or until spouse&#8217;s retirement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>$100K income \u00d7 15 years = $1.5M<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. <strong>Subtract Existing Assets<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Savings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current life insurance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Retirement accounts (optional, depending on strategy)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Simple Example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Debt: $50K<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mortgage: $400K<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Education: $200K<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Income: $100K \u00d7 15 years = $1.5M<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Assets: $250K<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 Calculation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>($50K + $400K + $200K + $1.5M) \u2013 $250K = $1.9M<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2705 Suggested insurance: <strong>~$1.9M (round to $2M)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quick Rule-of-Thumb (if you want speed)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>10\u201315\u00d7 annual income<\/strong><ul><li>mortgage<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>\u2013 savings<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pro Insight (this is where most people get it wrong)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Underestimate <strong>income replacement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Forget <strong>inflation<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Overestimate how long savings will last<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>A smarter refinement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 Instead of raw multiplication, think in terms of <strong>cash flow generation<\/strong><br>(e.g., \u201cHow much principal is needed to generate income safely?\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>$1M invested \u2192 ~$40K\/year (at ~4% withdrawal)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udde9 Optional Advanced Formula (More Accurate)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you want to think like a financial planner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Insurance Needed = Lump Sum Required to Generate Annual Income + (One-Time Costs) \u2013 Assets<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. <strong>\u201cLump Sum to Generate Income.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 \u201cHow big does the piggy bank need to be so it can give your family money every year?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Family needs $50K\/year<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A piggy bank gives ~5% per year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You need about <strong>$1,000,000<\/strong> in the piggy bank<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. <strong>\u201cOne-Time Costs\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>These are big bills you pay once:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>House (mortgage)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>School (college)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Debt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mortgage: $300K<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>College: $100K<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 Total = $400K<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. <strong>\u201cAssets\u201d (Money You Already Have)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is your existing piggy banks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Savings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investments<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Current insurance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You already have $200K<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfaf Put it all together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 <strong>Insurance Needed =<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Big piggy bank ($1,000,000)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Big bills ($400,000)<br>\u2013 Money you already have ($200,000)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 Final Answer:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 You need <strong>$1.2 million of insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udde0 One-line intuition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udc49 \u201cGive my family a machine that replaces my income, pays off big bills, and ignores money we already have.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re essentially trying to answer one question: \ud83d\udc49 \u201cIf I\u2019m gone, how much money does my family need to stay financially secure?\u201d A clean way to do this is to combine obligations + income replacement \u2013 existing resources. Core DIME Formula Use this as your base: Insurance Needed = (Debt + Income Replacement + Mortgage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/insuranceNeeded.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25486"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25490,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25486\/revisions\/25490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.designandexecute.com\/designs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}