What an executor must know before a parent dies

My aunt passed away recently, and after her memorial service, my cousin Patrick mentioned that he was grappling with several tasks that he hadn’t realized would be quite so time-consuming. Why? Of the three kids in his family, he was the one named executor.

My parents have asked me to be the executor of their wills, too. But like many people who have been tapped for this role, I don’t have a thorough grasp of all the duties that involves. My ..read more

Foreclosure is hitting well-off families, too

Who is falling into foreclosure? The Florida Association of Realtors wanted to find out, so it commissioned an analysis that cross-referenced three years of foreclosure filings with demographic data. The study focused only on primary residences; the idea was to ignore investors and speculators, looking instead at people who'd bought homes to live in themselves.

Some of the findings about foreclosed homeowners were pretty interesting:

20% of the filings went to households with more than $100,000 in annual income. 15% of homeowners had ..read more

The market boomed… and 401(k) investors sat on their hands

A new survey out today from Hewitt Associates finds that 401(k) investors haven't been very busy lately. Just 16% of participants made any kind of fund transfer in 2009, vs. about 20% the year earlier. In other words, relatively few people noticed the 27%-return rally in the works and said to themselves, "Hey, I should jump back into stock funds." That's good… and it's bad. And it's an opportunity to make 401(k)s work better.

Why it's good: Chasing hot-performing funds or ..read more

Mortgage rates climb upward

For months, economists have warned that historically low mortgage rates couldn't last forever. It looks like that promised rate increase may finally be starting to materialize.

Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.31% from 5.04% the previous week, marking the third straight week of rate increases, and the highest rate since August 2009. The higher rates reflect continued improvement in the economy and the end of a federal program that kept mortgage rates artificially low. Nobody expects rates to ..read more

Mutual fund investors win Supreme Court victory

Good news for mutual fund investors: The Supreme Court on Tuesday overruled a lower-court ruling that would have made it much harder for shareholders to challenge fund fees.

The unanimous decision, issued in the case Jones v. Harris, reaffirms a quarter-century-old standard for assessing the fairness of fees charged by mutual fund managers and other investment advisers: Namely, whether those fees are in the range of what would be negotiated in an arms-length transaction and not so large that they bear ..read more

More Money Friday roundup: Baby denied health insurance & endangered bond rally

Personal finance from around the Web:

Turns out you don't have to actually exist in order to have a pre-existing condition. An insurance company has denied coverage for a newborn with a birth defect because of a pre-existing condition. [Star-Telegram] The American consumer is apparently more resilient than thought. Spending has been on the rise since the second half of last year, and shoppers will likely keep shelling out through the end of the year. [TheStreet.com] Experts such as fixed-income king Bill Gross ..read more

What health care reform means to you

During the many months of talking, yelling, finger-pointing and partisan spinning about the best way to reform our health care system, it was hard for Americans to actually understand exactly how any sort of overhaul would affect them. Given how often things were moving and changing, even this blogger — who covers health care as one of her beats — found it difficult to stay on top of what the various bills meant to consumers, and what provisions were ..read more

Cash-strapped states leave taxpayers empty-handed

Alas, I’m not getting a refund on my state taxes this year. But my fellow New Yorkers who are expecting money back should be prepared to wait for it: Governor David Paterson announced Wednesday that some checks may be delayed in light of the state’s fiscal crisis.

The state’s fiscal year ends April 1, right in the middle of the filing season. And for 2010, New York reduced the cap on how much it can pay before that date — from ..read more

Target texts bargains to shoppers' phones

My mother is certifiably coupon crazy. It’s not unusual for her to emerge from the grocery store having paid only a few bucks for a few bags of food.

To the detriment of my checking account, however, this is not a gene I inherited. Not that I don’t love saving money. I just know that even if I diligently sat down with the Sunday circulars and a pair of scissors, I’d neglect to bring the coupons with me when I actually ..read more

More Money Monday roundup: Job expansion & tax tips for gays

Personal finance from around the Web:

Two Bloom Boxes can power the average American home. What is a Bloom Box? A device, unveiled on 60 Minutes Sunday night, that allegedly uses a new kind of fuel cell that is entirely self sufficient. [Huffington Post] A new survey produced by the National Association for Business Economics forecasts job expansion and sustained growth in the next two years. [FOX Business] If you're funding a prepaid tuition plan, be on the lookout. Some institutions are trying ..read more

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