Build the conversation around both of you.

Use this guide to prepare questions for your retirement planning conversation. It provides general education, not a personalized recommendation.

Create two household pictures

Begin with the income and spending picture while both partners are living. Then create a second worksheet for a surviving partner. Identify expenses that could change and those likely to continue. This is a conversation about resilience, not an attempt to predict which partner will live longer.

Check benefits instead of assuming

Social Security survivor benefits may be available to eligible family members. Review the agency’s guidance and your circumstances directly. Do not assume that a surviving spouse simply keeps every payment the couple received. For pensions and insurance contracts, use the actual survivor elections and policy terms to determine what continues.

Make the plan easy to find

Discuss where important documents are kept, who to contact, and which questions remain unanswered. This website does not need those documents or account numbers. A private household checklist can organize the work without placing sensitive information into an online assessment. Revisit the discussion as benefits or family circumstances change.

A question to take with you

Ask: “If one of us died, which income would continue, change, or stop?”

Start my Retirement Income Snapshot

Build the conversation around both of you.

Create two household pictures

Check benefits instead of assuming

Make the plan easy to find

A question to take with you

Further reading