Recent personal finance clippings

WSJ — Blogs Expose Personal Finance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Looks at browing field of personal finance blogs

What really struck me about many of these blogs, and the people behind them, was the level of sensitive financial information they were willing to reveal. In the “real world,” people tend to jealously guard the intimate details of their financial lives: What you earn, how much you’ve saved, what you owe is viewed as so personal that many are unwilling to share the details with anyone — occasionally even their spouses.

Baltimore Sun — Roth 401(k) beckons for many workers next year. Next year, many employers are expected to add a modified Roth 401(k).

Fidelity — Fidelity Survey Provides Real-Time Look at the Retirement Readiness of Today’s Recent Retirees “Although many recent retirees (66%) report that they are living the lifestyle that they had hoped in retirement, over half (57%) look back on the years before leaving the workplace and wish they had done more to prepare, according to a new study by Fidelity Investments.”

NY Times — Analyzing the I.Q. of Money. “Walter Hertler, a technical analyst, thinks he has it figured out, and many stock market investors won’t like the news.

American Medical News — Medical costs lead more people to bankruptcy: Most debtors had health insurance when the illness that fueled their financial problems struck. Study from Health Affairs: MarketWatch: Illness And Injury As Contributors To Bankruptcy. “Among those whose illnesses led to bankruptcy, out-of-pocket costs average $11,854 since the start of illness; 75.7 percent had insurance at the onset of illness. Medical debtors were 42 percent more likely than other debtors to experience lapses in coverage. Even middle-class insured families often fall prey to financial catastrophe when sick.”

NY Times — After Writing a Will, You Still Have I’s to Dot. “But when people fail to make estate-planning decisions while they are alive and well, the results for their heirs can be costly and stressful.”

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