Someone turning 65 has almost a 70% chance of needing some long-term care (ACL, LongTermCare.gov, last modified February 18, 2020), and in 2025 the national median was $80,080 a year for 44 hours a week of in-home help and $129,575 a year for a private nursing home room (CareScout Cost of Care Survey, data collected July to November 2025).
How to use this self-audit
Answer each question yes, no or not sure. A no is not a failure; it is a place to look before a deadline passes.
Several of these rules have dates attached: a claiming age, a December 31 cutoff, a two-year Medicare lookback, a ten-year clock for your children. Many preparers, advisors and attorneys raise them, but each engagement covers a slice, and questions in between can fall through. See tax preparation vs tax planning.
The income questions: claiming age, tax on benefits, Medicare
1. Do you know what your claiming age is worth?
With a full retirement age of 67, claiming at 62 cuts the benefit by 30%: 5/9 of 1% for each of the first 36 months early (20%) plus 5/12 of 1% for each of the other 24 months (10%) (20 CFR 404.410, checked October 14, 2026). Waiting past 67 adds 2/3 of 1% a month, so 24% by 70 (20 CFR 404.313, checked October 14, 2026). Test yours in the Social Security claiming calculator.
2. Do you know how much of your Social Security is taxed?
The test is provisional income: half your benefits plus your other income, including tax-exempt interest. On a joint return, up to 50% of benefits can be taxable above $32,000 and up to 85% above $44,000 ($25,000 and $34,000 for single filers) (IRS Publication 915 (2025), checked October 14, 2026). Check with the Social Security tax calculator.
3. Do you know your distance from the first IRMAA line?
In 2026, joint filers with modified adjusted gross income above $218,000 ($109,000 single) pay an income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) of $81.20 more for Part B and $14.50 more for Part D, per person (CMS, 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles, November 2025). It is based on the return from two years earlier. Check with the IRMAA calculator.
The IRA questions: RMDs, Roth window, your children's 10-year clock
4. Do you have a plan for required withdrawals?
Required minimum distributions (RMDs) generally start the year you reach 73. Missing one can cost an excise tax of 25% of the amount not taken, or 10% if corrected within two years (IRS, RMD FAQs, Q8, updated December 10, 2024). Estimate yours with the RMD calculator.
5. Have you used the low-bracket years before RMDs?
For 2026, the 12% bracket on a joint return runs to $100,800 of taxable income and the 22% bracket to $211,400 (IRS, 2026 inflation adjustments, October 9, 2025). The years between retirement and RMDs are often the only time a couple sits in the low brackets, which makes them a Roth conversion window. Model it with the Roth conversion calculator.
6. Do your heirs know about the 10-year rule?
Most adult children who inherit an IRA must empty it by the end of the 10th year after the year of death (IRS, Retirement topics: Beneficiary, updated August 1, 2026). See inherited IRA from a parent and the inherited IRA calculator.
7. When did you last read your beneficiary forms?
The form, not the will, usually controls an IRA or 401(k). In 2009 the Supreme Court held that a plan properly paid an ex-wife still named on the form (Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont, January 26, 2009). See does a beneficiary override a will.
The protection questions: care, a bad first year, an old trust
8. What is your long-term care plan, in dollars?
Someone turning 65 has almost a 70% chance of needing some long-term care, and about 20% will need it for more than five years (ACL, LongTermCare.gov, last modified February 18, 2020). The 2025 national median for in-home help was $35 an hour, or $80,080 a year at 44 hours a week, and a private nursing home room was $355 a day, or $129,575 a year (CareScout Cost of Care Survey, data collected July to November 2025). Medicare does not pay for long-term custodial care (Medicare.gov, Long-term care, checked October 14, 2026). The survey shows in-home care up 3% and private rooms up 1% from 2024, so a forecast that care costs double by a set date is a guess, not a survey finding.
9. Could you survive a 30% drop in year one? What is your income floor?
An income floor is the part of essential spending covered by income that does not depend on markets: Social Security, a pension, an annuity or a bond ladder. Social Security's yearly raise follows the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers (CPI-W); for 2026 it was 2.8% (SSA, Federal Register notice, November 3, 2025). Stress-test withdrawals with the sequence of returns calculator and read sequence of returns risk and the period certain annuity bridge.
10. Is an old A/B trust still in your estate plan?
Many A/B (bypass) trusts were written when the federal estate tax exemption was far lower. For 2026 the basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person (IRS, 2026 inflation adjustments, October 9, 2025). Inherited property generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the owner's death (IRS Publication 551, checked October 14, 2026), but assets held in the bypass trust after the first death usually do not get a second step-up when the survivor dies. See A/B trusts and the step-up in basis and ask an estate attorney.
How much could a no cost you? Hypothetical arithmetic
Our article How much are you leaving on the table puts rough, order-of-magnitude ranges on five of these decisions. Here is hypothetical arithmetic behind several line items, so you can swap in your own numbers.
- Claiming age. A full-retirement-age benefit of $3,000 a month becomes $2,100 at 62 or $3,720 at 70. Claiming at 62 collects $2,100 x 96 months = $201,600 before 70. Waiting pays $1,620 a month more, or $19,440 a year, so it takes $201,600 / $19,440 = about 10.4 years after 70 to catch up: around age 80. This ignores raises, taxes and survivor benefits.
- IRMAA. One dollar over the first 2026 line costs $81.20 + $14.50 = $95.70 a month per person. For a couple: $95.70 x 12 x 2 = $2,296.80 a year, or $45,936 over 20 years at 2026 rates.
- Missed RMD. A missed $40,000 withdrawal x 25% = $10,000 excise tax, or $4,000 at 10% if corrected in time, plus the income tax still owed on the withdrawal.
- Two years of in-home care. $80,080 x 2 = $160,160 at 2025 medians. Paid from an IRA in the 24% federal bracket, the gross withdrawal is $160,160 / 0.76 = about $210,737, before any state tax.
- An old bypass trust. If $600,000 of growth builds up in the trust after the first death and is sold by the children after the survivor dies, a 15% federal long-term capital gains rate (IRS Topic No. 409, updated September 24, 2026) means $90,000 of tax that a step-up might have avoided.
- A bad first year. Take $50,000 from $1,000,000, then lose 30%: $950,000 x 0.70 = $665,000. The same $50,000 is now 7.5% of the portfolio, and getting back to $1,000,000 takes a 50.4% gain.
- A lagging raise. If your costs outpace your Social Security raise by 1 point a year for 20 years, a $40,000 benefit buys 1 / 1.01^20 = about 82% as much: roughly $7,218 a year less.
Your total could be far smaller or larger. Most households find only two or three apply; the audit shows which.
When your answers are mostly yes, and where to get help
If several answers are no, start with the nearest deadline: a December 31 decision, a claiming birthday or an RMD start year.
A tax professional can project brackets, Medicare lines and RMDs. An estate attorney can review an old trust and beneficiary forms. A fee-only fiduciary planner can stress-test an income floor. Check any adviser on FINRA BrokerCheck or the SEC's Investor.gov, and ask each question in writing.
The self-audit as a table
Mark each row yes, no or not sure. Figures are the latest we could verify as of October 14, 2026; sources are listed at the end of the page and in the sections above.
| Question | Why it matters | Sourced figure | Where to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Claiming age chosen on purpose? | Locks in a lifetime check and a survivor check | 62 = 70%, 70 = 124% of the full benefit at full retirement age 67 (20 CFR 404.410, 404.313) | Claiming calculator |
| 2. Know how much of your Social Security is taxed? | IRA withdrawals can pull benefits into tax | Up to 85% taxable above $44,000 joint provisional income (IRS Pub. 915, 2025) | Social Security tax calculator |
| 3. Know your distance from the IRMAA line? | Medicare surcharge set two years later | Above $218,000 joint MAGI: +$95.70 a month per person, Parts B and D (CMS, 2026) | IRMAA calculator |
| 4. Have an RMD plan? | Forced taxable withdrawals for life | Missed RMD: 25% excise, 10% if fixed in time (IRS FAQ, 2024) | RMD calculator |
| 5. Used the Roth window? | Low-bracket years close when RMDs start | 2026 joint 12% bracket ends at $100,800 taxable (IRS, 2025) | Roth conversion calculator |
| 6. Heirs know the 10-year rule? | Children may owe tax in peak earning years | Most adult children must empty an inherited IRA within 10 years (IRS, 2026) | Inherited IRA calculator |
| 7. Beneficiary forms read since your last life change? | The form usually beats the will | Plan paid an ex-spouse still on the form (Supreme Court, 2009) | Beneficiary vs will |
| 8. Long-term care plan in dollars? | Medicare generally does not pay custodial care | $80,080 a year in-home, $129,575 private room, 2025 medians (CareScout) | Retirement calculator |
| 9. Stress-tested a bad first year, with an income floor? | Selling low early can be permanent | 2026 Social Security raise: 2.8%, tied to CPI-W (SSA, 2025) | Sequence calculator |
| 10. Old A/B trust reviewed? | May cost heirs a step-up in basis | 2026 estate exclusion: $15,000,000 per person (IRS, 2025) | A/B trust and step-up |
Count your no and not sure answers. Zero to two: keep the list for your next annual review. Three or more: pick the row with the nearest deadline and bring that question, in writing, to your tax professional or attorney before December 31, 2026.
Red flags
- Your claiming age was picked because a friend or coworker claimed at that age.
- You cannot say whether 0%, 50% or 85% of your Social Security is taxed.
- Your Medicare premium went up and no one connected it to income from two years earlier.
- No one has shown you the year and dollar amount of your first required minimum distribution.
- You retired before 73 and no one has mentioned the years of low tax brackets before RMDs.
- Your children do not know an inherited IRA has a 10-year clock.
- Your IRA beneficiary form was last signed before a marriage, divorce, death or birth in the family.
- Your long-term care plan is that Medicare will cover it.
- Your withdrawal plan has never been tested against a large loss in the first year.
- Your estate plan still includes an A/B trust written when the estate tax exemption was far lower.
- Someone uses one of these questions to rush you into buying a product the same day.
Questions to ask before you sign
- What is our break-even age for claiming Social Security at 62, 67 or 70, and what does the survivor receive in each case?
- How much of our Social Security will be taxable this year and after RMDs start?
- How far is our modified adjusted gross income from the first IRMAA threshold, and what will this year's return do to premiums two years from now?
- In what year does our first RMD start, and roughly how large will it be?
- How much could we convert to Roth this year and stay in our current bracket?
- If our children inherit our IRA, how much tax might they owe over 10 years?
- Can you confirm, in writing, who is named on each of our beneficiary forms?
- If one of us needed two years of in-home care, which account would pay, and what would the tax be?
- If the market fell 30% in our first year of withdrawals, what would we change?
- Does our old trust still fit today's estate tax rules, and does it cost our heirs a step-up in basis?
Read This Before You Sign
A one-page checklist: the red flags in annuity and indexed universal life (IUL) sales, and the questions to ask before you sign anything. The ten self-audit questions, with the deadline that applies to each and where to check your numbers. We’ll email it to you.
The Retirement Literacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 41-5062266). General education, not tax, legal or investment advice. Nothing is sold here. Unsubscribe any time.
Sources
- Cornell Law School LII: 20 CFR 404.410, reduction of old-age benefits (checked October 14, 2026)
- Cornell Law School LII: 20 CFR 404.313, delayed retirement credits (checked October 14, 2026)
- IRS: Publication 915 (2025), Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits (checked October 14, 2026)
- CMS: 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles (November 14, 2025)
- IRS: Retirement plan and IRA required minimum distributions FAQs (Q8 updated December 10, 2024; page reviewed January 29, 2026)
- IRS: Tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, IR-2025-103 (October 9, 2025)
- IRS: Retirement topics: Beneficiary (updated August 1, 2026)
- U.S. Supreme Court: Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan, No. 07-636 (January 26, 2009)
- ACL, LongTermCare.gov: How Much Care Will You Need? (last modified February 18, 2020)
- CareScout: Cost of Care Survey, 2025 national medians (data collected July to November 2025; checked October 14, 2026)
- SSA: Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2026, Federal Register (November 3, 2025)
- IRS: Publication 551, Basis of Assets (checked October 14, 2026)
The Retirement Literacy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity. This page is general education, not tax, legal or investment advice. Nothing is sold here, no product is recommended, and RLF accepts no funding from financial companies. Rules and figures change; each one above shows its source and date. Check anything you plan to act on with your state insurance department or a qualified professional who is not paid on the product.