hat's your life worth? If you've shopped for life insurance, that's sort of what you're trying to find out. Chances are you've heard different people suggest vastly different calculations on how to reach the right number.

It's not unusual to have one source say that you need five times your yearly income, while another says you need $100,000 for each child and your non-working spouse.

The problem is that every person's situation is different, and although your financial situation may look the same as your colleague's in the office next to you, your needs are different.

A lot of insurance advice seems to be based on your marital status. To a certain degree, you should take this into consideration because it gives you the biggest clue as to how much insurance you need. That's because the most important factor is your dependents - those who are (or who will be) counting on you to support them, either partially or fully. Here are other major factors to consider:

Even if you're wealthy and think you might not need coverage, think again. You still may need life insurance if your taxable estate approaches $700,000 if you're single or $1.4 million if you're married (in which case you should have already done proper estate planning to minimize estate taxes).

If either of the above applies to you, and your estate doesn't have enough liquid assets to pay estate taxes, you need more insurance. The Internal Revenue Service will want cash from your estate within nine months and you might have to invest in a life insurance policy to do this.

If you're married and don't have children, your insurance needs could vary from almost nothing to needing heavy coverage. If your spouse can live on her income alone and you either don't have a mortgage or don't care whether it's ever paid off, your only need may be to cover any final expenses incurred at your death.

You still should consider the possibility that your parents may be dependent on you in the future, or that you may want to help pay for college costs for a family member (a niece or nephew, for example).

There is another kicker, though, that you should consider. If you're childless now but think you might have children in the future (in which case you will definitely need insurance), you might want to buy an inexpensive life insurance policy now that guarantees you the right to purchase additional insurance at a future date, regardless of your health. You usually have at least five specific dates (commonly three years apart) at which to buy more coverage.

You're probably thinking, "Why not wait until I have children?" The answer is that at that point you may be uninsurable, or you may have developed a health problem that makes insurance very expensive.

Divorced people have special insurance needs. If you fall into that category, you'd better dig out your divorce agreement. It may stipulate that you have to keep a certain amount of life insurance in force for your ex-spouse or to pay your part of your children's education. Even if your divorce agreement doesn't require it, if you have children, you should have life insurance in order to leave them an inheritance and to cover your part of their college costs.

Single people are often told that they don't need insurance, or that the small policy that comes with their work benefits is enough. In many cases, that's absolutely right. If you lead a simple life with no mortgage and no significant other, a life insurance policy may just be an unnecessary expense. There are certain instances where you may need it, however. If one of these scenarios applies to you, start thinking about life insurance:

Calculating how much life insurance you need shouldn't be a guessing game. You can assess your needs - and the needs of your loved ones - and make a calculated assessment. The numbers won't add up to what you're really worth, but it will add up to a more comfortable lifestyle.