One way to take stock is to analyze your finances in terms of various life stages:
* Before you marry: Discuss money, insurance, savings goals, and living expenses with your fiancé. One person's bad credit record may make it hard to get a mortgage together.
* Before you have children: Check your health insurance policy for family benefit waiting periods and prenatal leave. Plan to increase your life insurance with the birth of each child.
* Before your children reach middle school: Start setting aside money for higher education. Check state 529 college savings programs. Increase your retirement savings to at least 10 percent of your income.
* Ten years before you retire: Increase retirement savings to at least 15 percent of your income. Your goal is to cover 70 percent or more of your pre-retirement income. Check your Social Security statement annually.
For a simple financial self-assessment and a list of areas to improve, visit http://www.rce.rutgers.edu/money/ffquiz/.
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