The Eleven Reasons People Can't Sell Their Homes

The environment for home sales becomes more difficult with each passing month. Some estimates put 11 million mortgages, about 20% of the U.S. total, underwater, meaning that homeowners owe their banks more than the underlying properties are worth. Home repossessions reached more than 100,000 for the first time in September. Rising foreclosure rates continue to further depress housing prices. The federal government let its tax benefit for homeowners expire in April and has not renewed it since them. The program did boost sales earlier this year. Shoppers must now face a market without the credit in which many home prices continue to fall. The clamor over flawed foreclosure paperwork and robo-signers could further chill the housing market. People who might buy have bought a home in foreclosure...

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15 Ways to Tell if You Are Ready to Retire

It can be difficult to determine if you are prepared to permanently exit the workforce. You need to save enough to last the rest of your life--and you'll need to manage that money to beat inflation and minimize taxes. Retirees should also have a plan for remaining connected to others and staying relevant in this new life stage. Here's how to tell if you are ready to retire. Establish a Retirement Budget Retirees no longer have to pay for professional work clothes or transportation to the office. But unless you enter retirement newly mortgage-free, most of your other expenses are likely to remain the same after you leave your job. "I don't find that people's expenses go down in retirement," says Leisa Brown Aiken, a certified financial planner for Veo Financial Counsel in Chicago. "You're...

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How to Make Your Money Last in Retirement

People are living longer and saving less. But there are ways to stretch out your dollars. If you're like many people, you've put considerable time and effort into socking away money for retirement. But you've probably put less thought into how slowly you'll spend the money and in a way that will make it last--a potential disaster. A perfect storm has foisted this challenge upon individuals. People are living longer. Fewer have pensions. Instead they have 401(k) plans that may have been decimated. Assets in savings accounts may actually be losing value thanks to short-term interest rates that are actually lower than the inflation rate. And Social Security seems iffy for younger workers. There are steps you can take to make your money last. Spend less and work longer, of course. But even...

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How to Do Estate Planning on the Cheap

You could use software to write your own will, but here's a safer alternative. Yes, it can be painful to pay for estate planning. Lawyers charge a lot. The benefits of a plan are delayed, and you don't live to see them anyway. Who wants to spend big bucks on a plan when times are so tough and the federal estate tax is in flux? Fewer and fewer Americans, it seems. Only 35% had a will in 2009, and only about half had any estate-planning documents at all -- a will, a trust or a financial or medical power of attorney, according to a survey by Lawyers.com. That's a drop from previous years. What about do-it-yourself planning? In theory, you can use books or software and websites that spew out documents for free or for a fraction of what lawyers charge. There's a decent argument that doing...

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How to Become a One-Income Family

It's no myth: More couples than ever are relying on two incomes to get by. According to the Families and Work Institute in New York, 79 percent of today's married couples have both people in the work force, up from 66 percent in 1977. But at some point, life happens — you start a family, go back to school or face a layoff — and this new reality may force you and your partner to question whether you're ready to jump off of the dual-earner treadmill. While there are steep odds to overcome, living with only one family income can be done with thorough planning and a willingness to make choices Get on the Same Page With Your Partner It is critical to have a frank conversation with your spouse about why you're making the choice to live on one family income. "Be sure to talk about all...

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