Is the life insurance you get through work enough?
Usually not. Employer group life is typically one to two times salary, ends when you leave the job, and can be reduced or dropped by the employer. It's a valuable floor, especially for people who'd struggle to qualify elsewhere, but it rarely covers the years of income a family needs. Keep it, then buy an individual term policy for the gap while you're healthy and employed, when the price is lowest and locked in.
If your employer offers life insurance, you may have ticked a box during onboarding and considered the matter handled. It's worth a second look. Group coverage is a real benefit, but it has three limits that most people only discover when it's too late to fix them.
What you probably have
Employer-provided group life is typically a multiple of your salary, most often one or two times, sometimes with the option to buy more through payroll deduction. It usually requires no health questions up to a certain amount, which is why it's easy to get and why it's valuable for people who would otherwise struggle to qualify. Keep it. Everything below is about adding to it, not replacing it.
Limit one: the amount
Run the arithmetic from our new-parent guide, or simply compare your coverage to the years your family would need income. One or two times salary covers one or two years. If your youngest child is five, the gap between that and what's needed is measured in seven figures for many households. Group coverage is a floor, not a plan.
Limit two: it's tied to the job
When you leave the employer, whether by choice, layoff, or illness, the coverage generally ends. Some plans let you convert or port the policy, but the price after conversion is usually far higher than what a healthy person would pay on the open market, and the window to act is short. The uncomfortable scenario is the one where you leave a job because of a health problem, which is exactly the moment you'd no longer qualify for new individual coverage at a good price.
Limit three: you don't control it
The employer chooses the carrier, the terms, and whether to keep offering the benefit at all. Coverage can be reduced in a cost-cutting year. That's fine for a benefit; it's a poor foundation for the one financial promise you're making to your family.
The clean way to think about it. Group life is like the company car: useful while you're there, gone when you leave, and not something to plan your family's transportation around. An individual term policy is the one you own.
How to fill the gap
Buy an individual term policy for the difference between what your family needs and what work provides, with a term that matches how long the need lasts. Because it's yours, it stays in force through job changes, and the price is locked in from the day it's issued. Buying while you're healthy and employed, rather than after either changes, is the single most effective thing you can do about the cost.
A common pattern that works well: keep the free employer coverage as a bonus, decline the optional payroll-deduction extras if their price per thousand dollars is higher than an individual policy would be (it often is once you're past your early thirties), and put that money toward a term policy you own. Your HR benefits summary will show the rate; the application on this site will show you the individual price for comparison before you commit.
One more check
Look at who's listed as the beneficiary on your work policy. People routinely find an ex-partner, a parent, or nobody at all. It takes two minutes to fix in your benefits portal, and it's the kind of thing that's very hard to fix later.
Questions people ask
Should I buy the extra 'supplemental' coverage at work?
Compare its rate per $1,000 of coverage to an individual term quote. Group supplemental rates rise with age bands and often cost more than an individual policy once you're past your early thirties.
Can I take my work policy with me if I leave?
Sometimes, through portability or conversion, but the price after conversion is usually far higher than an individual policy for a healthy person, and the window to act is short.
Is group life insurance taxable?
Employer-paid group term above $50,000 of coverage creates a small amount of imputed taxable income for the employee under federal rules. The death benefit itself is generally income-tax-free.
How much individual coverage should I add?
Run the four-number method from our new-parent guide, then subtract your work coverage. Buy the difference with a term that matches how long the need lasts.
Ready to run your own numbers?
The estimator on the home page takes about a minute. The application itself takes about ten, and shows you your price before you commit.
Applications contain certain health questions. Many, not all, applicants qualify without a medical exam.