Reference
Checklist & glossary
A printable master checklist pulling every action item from the other pages into one age-ordered list, plus plain-English definitions for the jargon you'll run into along the way.
01 Master checklist
Check items off as you go — everything is grouped by the age it applies to. This browser doesn't save checkbox state between visits, so print it if you want a copy you can keep filling in.
Age 50 savings
- Increase 401(k)/IRA contributions to the age-50 catch-up limit if you can afford to2026: +$8,000 for 401(k), +$1,100 for IRA
Age 55 savings
- If leaving a job this year or later, know the Rule of 55 before rolling that 401(k) into an IRARolling over forfeits penalty-free access until 59½
Age 59½ savings
- Penalty-free IRA/401(k) withdrawals now available — revisit your withdrawal strategy
Age 60–63 savings
- Eligible for the "super" catch-up contribution limit2026: $11,250 instead of the standard $8,000 catch-up
Age 62 social security
- Decide whether to claim early or wait — model both scenarios, don't default to claiming as soon as you're eligible
- If divorced, check whether you qualify for a divorced-spouse benefit
~3 months before turning 65 medicare
- Confirm whether you'll be auto-enrolled in Medicare (only if already collecting Social Security)
- If still working, confirm your employer's size (20+ vs under 20) to know whether you can delay Part B
- If not auto-enrolled and not delaying, file Form CMS-40B during your Initial Enrollment Period
- Decide: Original Medicare + Medigap, or Medicare Advantage — research before your window closes
Full Retirement Age (66–67) social security
- Earnings test no longer applies — work as much as you want without benefit withholding
- If you claimed early and had benefits withheld for working, confirm SSA recalculated your benefit upward
Age 70 social security
- Claim by now if you haven't already — delayed credits stop accruing at 70, so there's no benefit to waiting longer
Age 70½ savings
- Now eligible to make Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from an IRA if you're charitably inclined
Age 73 or 75 (your RMD age) savings
- Calculate your first RMD and decide whether to take it by December 31 or delay to April 1 of the next year
- Set up automatic annual RMD withdrawals with your custodian to avoid ever missing one
- Set up withholding on retirement distributions (Form W-4P or W-4R) so you're not surprised at tax time
Ongoing / do periodically all topics
- Review beneficiary designations on every retirement account and life insurance policy
- Reconfirm current-year contribution limits, IRMAA thresholds, and benefit amounts — these adjust annually
- During Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period (Oct 15 – Dec 7), re-check whether your plan still fits
02 Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the terms used across this site.
- AEP — Annual Enrollment Period
- Oct 15 – Dec 7 each year. The window to switch Medicare Advantage or Part D plans for the following year.
- COLA — Cost-of-Living Adjustment
- The annual increase applied to Social Security benefits to keep pace with inflation, announced each October for the following year.
- Combined income (provisional income)
- Your adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half of your Social Security benefit. Used to determine how much of your Social Security benefit is taxable.
- Creditable coverage
- Health or drug coverage considered at least as good as Medicare's — having it lets you delay Medicare enrollment without a late penalty.
- Delayed Retirement Credit
- The roughly 8%-per-year increase to your Social Security benefit for each year you delay claiming past your Full Retirement Age, up to age 70.
- FRA — Full Retirement Age
- The age at which you receive 100% of your calculated Social Security benefit — 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later.
- GEP — General Enrollment Period
- Jan 1 – Mar 31 each year. A fallback window to enroll in Medicare Part B if you missed your Initial Enrollment Period and don't qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.
- IEP — Initial Enrollment Period
- Your personal 7-month window to first enroll in Medicare, centered on your 65th birthday.
- IRMAA — Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount
- An income-based surcharge added to your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums if your income is above certain thresholds, based on your tax return from two years earlier.
- Medigap (Medicare Supplement)
- Optional private insurance that works alongside Original Medicare to cover costs Part B leaves you owing (like the 20% coinsurance). Doesn't work with Medicare Advantage.
- PIA — Primary Insurance Amount
- The Social Security benefit you'd receive if you claimed exactly at your Full Retirement Age — the baseline every early/delayed claiming adjustment is calculated from.
- Pro-rata rule
- An IRS rule that taxes Roth conversions proportionally across all your pre-tax and after-tax IRA money combined — you can't selectively convert only after-tax dollars.
- QCD — Qualified Charitable Distribution
- A direct transfer from an IRA to a qualified charity, available once you're 70½+, which counts toward your RMD without being included in your taxable income.
- RMD — Required Minimum Distribution
- The minimum amount you're legally required to withdraw each year from most pre-tax retirement accounts once you reach your RMD age (73 or 75, depending on birth year).
- Rule of 55
- An IRS exception allowing penalty-free 401(k) withdrawals from your most recent employer's plan if you leave that job in or after the year you turn 55.
- SEP — Special Enrollment Period
- An 8-month Medicare enrollment window that opens after qualifying employer coverage ends, letting you enroll without a late penalty. (Not to be confused with a SEP IRA, an unrelated small-business retirement account.)
- Uniform Lifetime Table
- The IRS table of age-based "distribution factors" used to calculate most people's RMD: account balance ÷ factor = RMD.
This checklist is a general-purpose starting point, not a substitute for a personalized plan. Some items won't apply to you, and some situations — self-employment, a pension, pre-1960 birth years, non-U.S. citizenship — involve rules not covered here. When your situation is unusual, that's exactly when a fee-only financial planner or tax professional earns their fee.