[jayrobin]

The general aim is to figure out how much money you need at different points in your life, for example:

- how many years until you plan to retire?

- how much do you need in retirement? How much do you expect to receive from social security/other income sources?

- do you have/are you planning to have kids? Are you going to pay for college? If yes, how much might that cost?

- are you expecting any other big expenses in the future? e.g. wedding, down payment on a house

- are you planning to take a sabbatical at any point? If yes, for how long and how much do you expect to spend?