re: need direction on a life insurance plan. who has the best coverage?

I actually went with a higher amount because I'm so young. We're in the first 5 years of a 30 year mortgage (even though it's just a starter). I've got a newborn who may or may not go to private school and who knows about a second child. Then there is cost of living, daycare (my wife isn't working at this time). Plus, we're in the top tier health-wise so we could get a high DB for cheap. Finally, we plan to convert some to whole once my wife goes back to work and we feel comfortable adding that expense. Mine is about 13x my salary and I also have 200k on my wife who's not working.

Point being, so much of these decisions depend on upon each situation. Very few generalizations are relevant.