The Complete Insurance Checklist for Your 30s
What made sense at 25 usually doesn't fit anymore. Run through this once a year, or after any major life change.
Insurance coverage that made sense at 25 usually doesn't fit anymore by your mid-30s — income changes, dependents show up, debt structures shift. This is the checklist to run through once a year, or after any major life event.
If anyone depends on your income — a partner, kids, aging parents — term life is the highest-priority gap to close. A common starting benchmark is 10-12x your annual income, adjusted for debt and existing savings.
Confirm your plan type (HDHP, PPO, HMO) still matches your actual healthcare usage — this is worth revisiting every open enrollment, not just when you first sign up.
Your income is the asset behind every other financial goal. If your employer's group plan is your only coverage, check whether it's own-occupation or any-occupation, and how long that lasts.
Confirm your personal property coverage still reflects what you actually own — this creeps out of date fast after a move, a renovation, or a few years of accumulating stuff.
Re-shop at every renewal. The same driver can see quotes vary by hundreds of dollars a year between carriers for identical coverage.
Once your net worth has grown past what your auto and home liability limits would cover in a lawsuit, an umbrella policy is inexpensive protection for the gap.
Life insurance, retirement accounts, and any policy with a named beneficiary should be checked after every major life event — marriage, divorce, a new child. These override your will if they're out of date.
When to run this checklist
- Once a year, ideally around the same time each year (open enrollment, a birthday, tax season — pick an anchor you won't forget)
- After a marriage, divorce, or new child
- After buying a home or paying off a major debt
- After a significant income change in either direction
- After a job change, especially if it changes your employer-provided benefits
If a full review feels like too much, start with just two things: confirm your life insurance coverage amount still matches your actual income and debts, and confirm your beneficiary designations are current. Those two catch the highest-stakes gaps fastest.
Run the interactive version
Our Coverage Gap Quiz walks through this same checklist interactively and flags what's likely missing based on your specific situation.
Take the Coverage Gap Quiz →