Link: Don’t let your ex-spouse inherit your 401(k) Great article, with unfortunate example provided by Ed Slott. Mentions, but doesn’t say how to resolve, some community property state issues, too.

Link: Starting an IRA for your kid Worth reading. I recommend that if your kid has any qualified earned income, consider putting that much into your kid’s IRA, especially a Roth.

Link: Deciphering ETF Yield Metrics – Seeking Alpha A pretty good article describing some of the different “yield” numbers which may be published about a given mutual fund, particularly bond funds.  Just because a fund has been making distributions at a particular level lately doesn’t mean that it can reasonably be expected to keep it […]

Link: Estate Planning Done Right: How to Help Your Family from the Great Beyond More really great estate planning notes

Link: Reader Story: Estate Planning – The First Month Some really great pointers here.  Including some things one might not have thought about before such as the importance of liquidity (not just naming beneficiaries), up-to-date access to passwords and files, etc.

Link: Americans Lose Faith in Stock Pickers – BusinessWeek

Link: Hourly Financial Advice – The Right Model? – CBS MoneyWatch.com

Link: Using your IRA to invest in real estate? Get expert advice – SFGate Nice article about using self-directed IRAs in order to invest in non-traditional IRA assets – particularly real estate.  Some quotes from the president of Pensco Trust.  Notes, briefly, a couple of the caveats.  Maybe an article about self-directed IRAs and their […]