An ONA interactive walkthrough · Personal
How much cover do you actually need?
Not "as much as possible", and not the round number a calculator spits out. There's a right amount for your life, and it comes down to four numbers. Let's find yours, in about five minutes.
Why it matters
Too little leaves a gap. Too much wastes money.
Under-insure and your family hits a shortfall at the worst possible moment. Over-insure and you pay every month for cover you'll never use. The goal isn't "more", it's enough, matched to what your family would actually need to keep going.
The framework
It all comes down to four numbers.
Debt
What needs clearing so the family keeps the home.
Income
The earnings that would need replacing, for how long.
Dependants
The future costs of raising and educating your kids.
Existing
What you already have, subtract it to find the gap.
Number one · Debt
Clear the debt so the family keeps the home.
Start with the mortgage, then add any other loans, car, personal, credit cards. This is the lump sum that wipes the slate clean, so no one is forced to sell the house or carry repayments on a single income.
Rule of thumb: the full balance owing on your mortgage and loans today.
Number two · Income
You are the asset that pays for everything else.
Picture the household income disappearing. How many years would the family need it replaced, until the kids are grown, or the mortgage is gone, or a partner can retrain? Multiply the yearly figure by that many years. This is almost always the biggest of the four.
Rule of thumb: annual income × the number of years it needs to be replaced.
Number three · Dependants
The costs of raising kids don't pause.
Childcare, schooling, the extra hand a sole-surviving parent would need to pay for, these are real and they add up. A common approach is a set amount per child through to the age they're independent. If it's just the two of you, this number can be zero.
Rule of thumb: a buffer per child for childcare, education and support.
Number four · What you already have
Subtract what's already covered.
Add up any existing life cover, serious savings, and the portion of KiwiSaver your family could draw on. Take that off the total. What's left is the gap, the cover you actually need to arrange.
The gap: Debt + Income + Dependants − what you already have.
Try it yourself · Indicative only
Slide in your numbers.
Indicative cover gap
$1,400,000
$500k debt + $900k income − $0 existing
A rough starting point, not advice. Your real number depends on your full situation, that's the conversation worth having.
A fair word on cost
The right number is often cheaper than people fear.
Big cover figures can look alarming, but premiums are driven by your age, health and the mix of cover, not just the dollar amount. Often the right structure brings strong protection within reach. We'll always frame cost as indicative and honest, never a hard sell.
The three most common gaps
Where Kiwis usually slip.
Insuring the house, not the income
The mortgage is covered, but the salary that pays it isn't. Income protection is the piece most often missing.
"Set and forget"
Cover bought years ago for a different salary, mortgage and family. Life moved on; the policy didn't.
Guessing the amount
A round number picked off the top of the head, usually too low, occasionally needlessly high.
Your move
You've got a ballpark. Let's get the real number.
In a free 15-minute chat, Daniel turns your rough estimate into a precise figure built around your situation, and shows you what it would actually cost. No jargon, no obligation.
ONA Insurance Brokers · Independent, plain-English advice for New Zealanders