How Coordinated Is Your Retirement and Legacy Plan?
24 questions across six areas—spending, income, withdrawals and taxes, survivor changes, healthcare, and estate arrangements. Get your score and the two areas to focus on first.
Spending clarity
1. Do you know your current essential monthly household expenses?
2. Have you separated essential spending from discretionary and irregular expenses?
3. Have you calculated your desired annual retirement spending?
4. Have you tested how spending might change with inflation or a major household expense?
Dependable income
5. Do you know your estimated Social Security benefits at different claiming ages?
6. Have you confirmed the terms and start dates of any pension or annuity income?
7. Have you calculated the gap between dependable income and essential expenses?
8. Do you know which income sources continue, change, or stop after the first spouse's death?
Withdrawals and taxes
9. Have you listed every account by tax type (traditional, Roth, taxable, cash)?
10. Do you have a plan for which accounts will fund withdrawals first?
11. Do you know when required minimum distributions begin and which accounts they apply to?
12. Has a tax professional projected your retirement-year taxable income?
Household and survivor changes
13. Have you created a separate budget and income projection for the surviving spouse?
14. Do both spouses know where accounts, policies, and documents are located?
15. Have you reviewed how tax filing status changes could affect a survivor?
16. Is there a written plan for the first 90 days after a spouse's death?
Healthcare and care costs
17. Have you estimated healthcare costs before and after Medicare eligibility?
18. Do you understand what Medicare does and does not cover, including custodial care?
19. Have you discussed how a long-term-care need would be paid for?
20. Do you know how higher retirement income could affect healthcare premiums?
Estate and legacy coordination
21. Have your will and any trusts been reviewed since your last major family change?
22. Have you confirmed current primary and contingent beneficiaries on every account and policy?
23. Do your account ownership and beneficiary designations match your estate documents?
24. Are your financial power of attorney and healthcare directives current and accessible?
Your two priority areas
Next step: Read the matching article in our Retirement & Legacy Intelligence Series, then talk with a licensed professional using the form below.
A self-assessment, not a validated financial-readiness test. A high score indicates documented coordination, not a guarantee of retirement sufficiency or legal effectiveness. Your answers are not saved or sent.