Abstract: An apparatus for illustrating a life insurance needs computational presentation includes a computer including a memory and a processor, a video-style screen operatively connected to the computer for displaying data in numbers quantifying estate tax obligations of a proposed insured's estate to a viewer and obtaining the data to be displayed from the computer, a data input device operatively connected to the computer for inputting data concerning the proposed insured's estate to the computer, the computer memory including a first routine operable by the processor to receive estate data from the data input device and to act on the data in a computational fashion and to show the result of the computation including estate tax numbers on the video-style screen and a second routine operable by the processor to respond to an input from the data input device to display on the screen a derivation of an estate tax computation shown on the screen.