The time to buy life insurance is when you need it. If you don't yet have children and you don't yet own a home, you are probably jumping the gun by getting insurance now. Just my opinion there.
As for how much you need, yes, 10X is the general rule of thumb and that's a good starting point. From there, though, you need to adjust up or down based on your situation. I'm 44, married with one child. I started with a larger amount years ago when we had first bought our house, had an infant and had a ton of student loan debt. Over the years, I have twice reduced the amount of coverage on me as our needs changed and our personal savings grew. Eventually, we should reach a point where insurance isn't necessary at all because our daughter will be independent and our investments will be sufficient to support my wife if I were to die. So you have to run the numbers and see what needs you actually want to provide for and how much insurance you need to do that.
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Steve
* Despite the high cost of living, it remains very popular.
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* There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going.
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