I currently have $50k in life insurance through work but my wife keeps telling me I need to get more.  Whenever I ask her how much she says she doesn't know and ask an agent.  My concern is that insurance agents are "salespeople" and I don't want to let them decide.  I guess it's a trust issue.  Anybody know of a formula that tells how much insurance a person really needs?

Ask 5 different life insurance agents "How much life insurance is enough?" and you'll get 7 different answers.  If they can't answer the question who can?  When it comes to life insurance you need to see it as income replacement for your family.  If something happened to you how much income would your family need to maintain their standard of living?  The next question is what would your family do with the proceeds from the policy?  Would they invest it somewhere safe and live off the interest?  If that's the case you have a pretty good idea how much insurance would be enough.  For example if you have a $500,000 insurance policy and your family invested the money at 5% a year they would have $25,000 a year in income.  Right now with $50,000 they would have an annual income of $2,500.   See why your wife says you need more?    

Insuring your family against catastrophic loss is always a good idea but you don't want to become "insurance poor" in order to do so.  To determine how much life insurance is enough you first have to decide why you need it.  If it is for income replacement in the event of your death you can usually save some money by buying term insurance versus cash value insurance.  Next you need to determine how much income you need to replace, and for how long.  If you have minor children you may feel the need to maintian a high income for your family, however, it is important to remember that if you have been paying social security for some time your minor children may be eligible for benefits, which would reduce your income needs.  As you can see there are many variables to consider when considering appropriate insurance coverage and costs. 

The best advice I can give you is to get several quotes from different agents before you make any decision.  You should be able to tell the good ones from the bad ones by how honest and informative they are with you.  If you still have doubts, hey, that's what this community is here for.