If you are interested in protecting your survivor’s living standard (keeping that living standard at the same per-adult equivalent he or she had when you were alive) in an ideal world you would purchase a life insurance policy that would match exactly our calculated coverage amount each year. However, our calculated coverage usually involves different amounts in each year, and we are not aware of any life insurance companies that sell term life insurance in varying annual amounts. Typically you will see policies with terms of 5, 10, 15, and 20 years. One option is to purchase a policy that will provide adequate coverage for the highest amount shown on your plan. Another would be to purchase for the average amount shown on your plan. Another possibility is to purchase more than one policy, possibly with different terms, and stagger them so you have overlapping coverage that reduces over time due to policy expiration. Whichever route you choose, the coverage will almost certainly be lower or higher than our calculated amount in some years, so you will have to consider whether you’re more comfortable with some risk of a reduced living standard or with being somewhat over-insured.