When both partners earn, the question of life insurance gets more complicated than people expect. It's tempting to assume that two salaries cancel out the risk. They don't. If one income disappears, the household still feels it, and often the loss is bigger than the missing paycheck alone.

So how should two earners think about splitting their cover? The honest answer is that it depends on who earns what, who owes what, and who would have to pick up the pieces.