Leonard Hoffman (Alan Arkin) is an insurance salesman struggling to make ends meet. The fact that he has triplet sons who all want to go to Yale isn't making things any easier. Blanche Rickey (Beverly D'Angelo) is also worried about money; her husband is a millionaire with a weak heart (Peter Falk), and she worries that he'll blow through all his cash before he finally dies. When Blanche meets Leonard, she devises a murderous plan that she claims will fix both their problems.