<prompt> Human: As the title says, my spouse is near the end of a decade battle with cancer and has been given about a month to live. While shes sleeping so many hours a day now, Ive been trying to keep my mind off of her dying any way possible. Ive got the memorial slideshow done, weve gone to the funeral home so her wishes are not in question, etc. etc. Today while she sleeps I want to start making sure all our affairs are in order. She wants to make sure Ill be ok financially once she passes away.I have made a throwaway account so I can use figures.Weve never really had any money to invest or anything - just our required payments to our municipal pensions. We just got out of credit card debt for the first time in November 2011.Heres what is outstanding in debt: Mortgage 5.25, 179K HE Loan currently 4.25, 35KHouse value is probably down to about 165K now Auto Loan 1.9, 36 months remaining 435mo, outstanding balance 15KThats it.When she passes, there is a 200,000 term life insurance policy 100,000 group term life insurance through her work 20,000 group term life insurance through my work spouse amount approx 85,000 lump payout from pension with an optional surviving spouse pension instead if Im reading this correctly it would be about 475 a month for the remainder of my life, taxable, and I think it would start now even though I am not 55 - Im in my early 40sSalary info: I make 57K before taxes Before she went on disability last month she was making 60K before taxes We have about 10K in liquid savings for emergencies.I think I should be paying off the house for sure, and I think Ill pay off or sell the car I dont really need two, but mine is paid off and hers has far fewer miles. Paying off the three debts frees up 1600 a month. Ill have about 150K left over. Ill be able to fully fund a roth IRA for myself every year. There is also a 457b option at my work.My worries are finding the right person to make sure I am making the right choices and investments to keep me going, while not getting beaten up in fees.As I said before, I dont even know where to start. Everyone I know is pretty much blue collar paycheck-to-paycheck type people that at most have a small retirement contribution and an emergency savings account. The majority of people I know have neither and are buried in CC debt.Im just rambling now but thanks for reading and any tips you can offer.edited to add at a suggestion of a fellow redditor. This was a separate post I made down below:A few more things in comments I had not read while typing -Funeral expenses are 8K immediate and 5-7K for her final wish eternalreef.comThere should be no outstanding medical expenses. We are HMO and everything has been paid.Some people are saying here I shouldnt do anything for 6-12 months...would it be ok to pay off the house at least? Id hate to piss away 4-9K in interest if I dont need to. I really dont think I could walk away. We prided ourselves on our 770 FICO scores and never being even a day late on anything. It would just seem wrong. We made an investment and it didnt pan out - I shouldnt get bailed out or cheat the system because of it. Just my opinion of course.another separate post:First off Id like to thank everyone for your thoughts and well wishes. It has not been easy, but we are somehow keeping our shit together - I thought I would have lost it by now. 17 years in total, the last 13 almost non-stop chemo, radiation, surgeries, etc.Im sad Im losing her but happy we got 17 years after diagnosis. Some people get diagnosed and dont even get 17 weeks.Now to answer some questions that Ive seen here and maybe to ask some more:I called our pension offices...the 85K is indeed taxable unless rolled over into a traditional IRA. The optional surviving spouse option is 3,000 lump sum taxable unless rolled into traditional IRA plus 487 a month increasing 3 of the original 487 every January 1st, or 14.61 per month every year. That is taxable as well but since Im the spouse they say theres no 10 penalty on top of it.So it seems like a nobrainer to go monthly... well, as long as I live about 13-14 more years. I figure this amount will almost fully fund my yearly roth IRA - and am I reading I should go with Vanguard target date funds?So that takes care of the Roth IRA every year.Next... the house. Will I be able to live here even when shes going to die here? I think Ill be able to. Besides, we are quite upside down on it. Its already too big for the two of us at 1650 sq ft plus unfinished basement so if I went anywhere it would be smaller. Could I figure out a way to hide all this money and walk away - short sale or foreclosure and buy another place cash? I have no idea, but Im still mostly morally opposed to it even though a GMAC rep laughed at me when I asked if we could refinance under HARP last year - we re-fid a few months after the 53109. Yes. Laughed.My 457b option seems to be a tax-deferred option only. It is ICMA. Apparently roth is allowable but only if my employer approves.All that being said, leftover expenses for everything else are about 1700 a month, so I think its doable. Plus, Ill have about 80K left from insurance. Im thinking two years living expenses 40K and the other 40K...where? Just a CD, or I-bonds or something else?Thanks again for the opinions and options. I have lots to think about. I also know thanks to you all how not to get rolled by someone.  <response>: Here is a link to National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. Ive never needed to use one, but from what I understand this site ONLY allows fee-only planners, so they wont try to sucker you into buying useless crap.Best wishes to you and your wife. 