Investing Advice for Your Retirement Accounts

It seems like every day brings a new story of corporate mismanagement – backdated stock options, inflated sales figures, and numbers that get fudged.

That's why I've been shifting my own investing strategy away from individual stocks into index funds.

Index funds are an easy way to diversify your retirement funds, and they're about as cheap as it gets.

At Fidelity and Vanguard, you pay just a tenth of one percent for a bunch of basic index funds. Most other investment companies charge 1 to 1 ½ percent for doing the exact same thing.

There are plenty of funds to choose from: I own a large cap index fund, a small cap fund, an international fund and a bond fund. With four index funds, I've cut way back on my risk with returns that will beat 85 percent of managed mutual funds. I can even buy sector index funds.

Check out how different index funds have performed – and how much they cost – at Morningstar.com.

Check the web for hard to find numbers

If you want to find a business, an item to purchase or even a person you used to date in high school, here are a few cool websites that will make your search a whole lot easier.

If you're looking to track down elusive business phone numbers, check out HARD TO FIND 800 NUMBERS DOT COM. The site lists customer-service, billing and other hotlines for all sorts of companies.

Want to avoid voice mail hell once you get the 800 number? Check out GET HUMAN DOT COM, which is the website that tells you how to bypass automated phone trees at major companies.

If you're looking for people, you can't go wrong with ZABASEARCH DOT COM. The website simply asks you to put in a name and state, and then lists all the possibilities. When I searched a few people on ZabaSearch.com, I was amazed at how many people came up.

Finally, if you want to search the web for prices to compare a specific product, try Google's advanced FROOGLE search at google.com.

Looking to get rid of a timeshare?

Every week, someone calls my radio show looking to unload a timeshare purchased under pressure at one of those not-so-free lunches.

If you're looking to sell, use your week to talk to other guests in the resort. Since they're there, they might be interested in picking up your week for a family member or friend. You can also ask the resort management company if they help owners resell timeshares.

As far as websites go, EBay is pretty active in the selling of timeshares. But you might also check out BidShares.com and TimeShareGateway.com. Neither of those websites charge an upfront fee.

If you can't sell it, try giving your timeshare away. If you itemize, you'll be able to claim a federal tax deduction for the timeshare's fair market value, and your local charity might able to resell it to someone else – or use it as a fundraiser at a silent auction night.

The website, DonateForACause.org will take a timeshare donation and can work with you on structuring the deal.

Attract Buyers Any Way You Can

If you're selling your house this fall, the news isn't great Existing home sales are down nearly 9 percent over the last year while the number of home for sale has grown by 40 percent.

That adds up to fewer sales, more competition and, in some cases, slumping prices.

But homes that are priced right and are in great condition for the money are selling well. Here's what you need to do to get buyers through the door:

First, price your house strategically – look around at all the homes for sale in your neighborhood and price your house just below the rest. Competitively pricing your home means more buyers will look at it.

Next, consider offering a bonus to the broker who brings the buyer to your door. Make sure your listing agent puts the bonus into the Multiple Listing Service, so all the buyer's agents see it.

Finally, you might consider paying for some or all of the buyers' closing costs. Now that'll attract some attention.

Don't Spend The Inheritance Just Yet

There's been a lot of talk through the years that Baby Boomers are going to receive trillions of dollars of cash when their parents die. But new research shows that the expected windfall may not actually materialize in your bank account.

As of 2004, just 20 percent of Baby Boomers said they had received a bequest, and the median value of the inheritance was $49,000. Where is all the money going?

Apparently, parents are spending their cash, rather than passing it down to their children and grandchildren. Parents are living longer, and then are sharing the wealth among more children and grandchildren.

Nursing home and health care expenses are eating up much of a seniors net worth, experts say. And traditional pensions that paid a monthly amount throughout retirement have been downsized or eliminated.

So if you've been spending more than you're saving for retirement, hoping you'll hit the jackpot with an inheritance, you might want to rethink where your money goes.