How this is worked out
If one of us dies first
Income and spending for the one who is left.
The one who is left plans to live to. Assumed to be 10 years after the first death. Change it if you know better.
Your Social Security a month at full retirement age. From your statement at ssa.gov: the amount at your full retirement age, which is worked out from your age (66 and 2 months to 66 and 10 months if you were born 1955 to 1959, 67 from 1960).
Age you start Social Security. Starting before your full retirement age (67 for most) pays less each month; after it pays more.
Payments after the fund runs short. The 2026 Trustees Report.
Your pension a month. The choice you made, in today’s dollars.
Other income a year while both are alive. Rent or an annuity, for example.
Spending a year now, both alive. In today’s dollars.
Spending of the one left, as a share of the couple’s. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024: one-person households spend 60% of two-person households (55% to 62% since 2015); households with no earner, mostly retired: 61%.
Income and spending, before and after. A year, in today’s dollars. Social Security is shown after the 22% cut, which applies from 2033. A one-time Social Security death payment of US$255 is not counted.
Before and after. Pensions and other income are counted as you entered them. The savings draw stays the same, which assumes the accounts pass to the one who is left. Income tax is not included: a single person files differently.
Income and spending a year. Today’s dollars. The strong bar is the income of the one who is left.
How Social Security changes. A survivor whose own benefit has not started could start it later; that is not shown. Rules for couples with earlier marriages, children under 16 or disability benefits differ. Check your own statement at ssa.gov.
Spending of one person and of two people. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey 2024, yearly averages for all ages: the survey does not publish this split for people over 65 living alone. Households with no earner, which is closer to a retired couple, give about the same share: 61%.
Questions to settle together. Things couples often find out too late. Write the answers down where the one who is left can find them.
Questions to settle together
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| 1 | Which accounts pay a survivor directly (beneficiary named) and which go through a will or court? |
| 2 | Is every beneficiary form current (retirement accounts, life insurance, pensions, brokerage "transfer on death")? |
| 3 | Who can sign into each bank and investment account today, and do the banks know about both of you? |
| 4 | What does each pension pay a survivor, and did the choice get made in writing? |
| 5 | When would the survivor start Social Security survivor benefits, and when their own? Which of the two is larger? |
| 6 | Does a spouse who inherits a retirement account treat it as their own, and what withdrawal rules then apply? |
| 7 | Where are the will, power of attorney and health directive, and which country's law and notary apply to each? |
| 8 | If you live abroad: does the local bank, property registry or insurer accept a foreign will or require its own? |
| 9 | If you live abroad: which accounts and property are in whose name, and what happens to a foreign-held asset? |
| 10 | How are bills, insurance premiums and property taxes paid, and who knows the passwords and the schedule? |
| 11 | What is the monthly spending that continues if one person remains (housing, insurance, healthcare, car)? |
| 12 | Which health insurance covers the survivor, and does coverage end with the other spouse's death or job? |
| 13 | Who should be called first (lawyer, accountant, advisor, family), with phone numbers on one page? |
| 14 | What do the tax filing status and the tax brackets look like for a single person next year? |
| 15 | Is there life insurance, and does the payout replace the lost pension or Social Security? |
| 16 | Who in the family or circle of friends can help the survivor, and do they know that? |
Your answer in words. If you die first at 80, household income falls from US$104,928 to US$91,824 a year (12%), while spending is assumed to go from US$90,000 to US$54,000. Income covers 117% of spending before and 170% after. Social Security drops by US$13,104 a year because the survivor keeps only one benefit. There is no shortfall under these inputs.
Some choices came from your profile.
US inflation 3.4% (August 2026, US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
How every calculator on the site is built, and what changed and when, is on How it works.