Survivor scenario
Last updated November 3, 2026
This shows what your plan looks like if one spouse dies earlier than expected. You pick which one, and at what age.
Three things change at once, which is why it's hard to reason about without running it. Household spending falls, but by less than half. One Social Security benefit stops, and the survivor keeps the higher of the two. The survivor also files as single, where the brackets are narrower, so the same income can be taxed more.
Term life pays out if the death comes in a year the policy is still in force. A pension's survivor percentage decides how much of the pension continues. You enter both in the Insurance and Income sections, and both show up here.
We simplify the survivor's Social Security to a step-up to the higher benefit. The real rules have more conditions than that.