Before you Google “life insurance quotes” or call the number your mortgage lender included in the closing packet, do one thing that costs nothing and commits you to nobody: write down your number. Take your Debt (mortgage, car loans, credit cards), Income (years you need to replace it), Mortgage (the remaining balance), and Education (future college costs for your kids). Add them up. That’s your coverage floor. Next to it, write the exact term length your obligations require—usually matching the years until your youngest child finishes college or the mortgage hits zero.
Now, contact at least two independent brokers—not captive agents tied to a single carrier—and request illustrations for only the coverage amount and term length you calculated. If they push whole life or a hybrid product you didn’t ask for, that’s useful data about who you’re dealing with. According to Consumer Reports, independent brokers can pull quotes from dozens of insurers, which gives you pricing leverage a single-carrier agent can’t match.
When the quotes arrive, close the email. Wait 48 hours. A legitimate term life offer won’t evaporate over a weekend, and the pause strips away the manufactured urgency that drives costly, decade-spanning mistakes.