bob_cville brings up an important point which the rest of us had overlooked. As more and more people inherit 401k's and IRAs, it is critical to understand that one needs to make the correct decision in such a case, BEFORE the funds are distributed. For our parents this was not an issue, the grandparents of Boomers didn't have these type of accounts. However, for us and succeeding generations, it is incumbent upon us to be aware not only of the current laws, but any future changes that will made in those laws by Congress. If you are inheriting any portion of an IRA, it's important that you know whether or not the owner was taking distributions. Once distributions are begun, they MUST be continued by the heirs. An IRA passed to multiple heirs may be split in any proportion the owner has specified. The heirs are best served by opening up a new IRA. Titling of this new IRA is very specific to avoid IRS problems. I've excerpted part of a WSJournal article on this issue: "...Inherited IRAs don't work like regular IRAs. If you inherit an IRA from anyone other than your husband or wife, you can't roll it into your own IRA. And you can't consolidate IRAs you inherit from different people into one account. So, if the heir had withdrawn the assets from a parent's IRA and deposited them into her own IRA, she would have undone the inherited IRA, making all its assets taxable. She also would have to remove any assets she deposited in her IRA above her allowed IRA-contribution limit for the year -- $5,000 if she's under 50, or $6,000 if she's 50 or older -- to avoid further penalties. But it appears that the account in question was left as is, except for being improperly titled. Thus, the error should be considered an administrative one that can be fixed. The reader would need to retitle the IRA so it's clear that the owner died and that she is the beneficiary. Ed Slott, an IRA consultant in Rockville Centre, N.Y., recommends using this format: John Smith IRA/ Deceased 1/1/2009/ FBO Mary Smith as beneficiary. (note: FBO means "for the benefit of") Make sure that the financial institution gets the titling right not only on the statements it sends to you, but also on the internal records it uses for reports to the IRS, he says. Some large IRA custodians use the beneficiary's name on the statements sent to him or her, but use the formal titling (as in the "John Smith" example, above) on the information it sends to the IRS to avoid confusing beneficiaries. After you have retitled the inherited IRA, you can stretch out withdrawals from the account across your lifetime, rather than being forced to withdraw the funds sooner. That gives you a chance to extend the time that tax-deferred earnings can accrue, possibly increasing your inheritance."

It is like surgery--you don't heal up in one day--and may take weeks. This is such a complicated mess, it will take years to recover, if ever. People still want to invest their money, get big interest, have big houses, big wages, but expect to pay little prices. It it not the farmer, builder, small business person that makes the money, it is the middle people and also realize that way too many of our jobs are in too many countries. We Americans refuse to pay a living wage to a person making clothes, but expect to pay low prices for products. Ordinary dresses made in other countries who pay there people pennies, sell here for hundreds. Loggers who lost their job, saw mills closed down, and even our oil is shipped across seas, returned because we have only 2 (TWO) refiniers in the entire US, because the government refuses to build more. We need to stop all "pork" for all states, fix the roads, improve our medical, stop suing everybody for dumb things, insist our precription companies charge so much: example those tiny strips diabetics use to test their blood $116.00 for 50. We need to tell our elected officials, enough is enough. Even the poll calls on the phone are coming from across the seas.

As a banker, I know that in the industry there are certain groups of high-earning professionals that have a reputation for being very poor money managers. There are lots of banker insider jokes about this particular pool of professionals. I know they are not unintelligent people. They couldn't be as judged by their education level & career successes. Many, fortunately, turn their money over to a financial manager. Those who do not are a banker's worst nightmare (well, that's not true...but close enough). Honestly, the reputation is so bad that if bankers could reject people without feeling they were discriminating soley on career...they would. So, I know from experience that IQ level does not guarantee understanding of finances. It seems to be rather that these people have been so involved with the education process in their chosen career that other areas of knowledge are short-changed. They 'could' understand but don't bother to learn. I've found myself in situations that required IQ testing several times. My scores have ranged from 131 to 136 with the higher score coming on a day I was completly stoned on Roxicet (recovering from major surgery & the test day couldn't be changed) & could hardly read the questions. The breakdown of my test scores tell a much different story though than one might assume from just the overall score. I'm just on the positive side of the moron level spatially. Well, not quite but didn't score very well at all. However, my language score was 187. So, when the other test parts like math (I think there was another part also?) were averaged, I came out OK. Since this was a private test situation with no privacy concerns, the administrator of my test said that they rarely saw such a divergence in scores & asked about my background. I was sick as a kid & missed 5th, 6th, 7th, & almost all of 8th grade. During those years, I had a home teacher who came for one hour/day. We mostly focused on maintaining the dexterity in my hands (I play piano) & history. I clearly remember going through my 6th grade history book in two week's time. I did A LOT of reading during those years. But, I was mostly bedridden so had few experiences out in the world. At 14, I was given IQ tests & some type of highschool equivilency exam (this was in CA mid-60s). The school determined I didn't need to attend highschool. What to do with a kid that young who's not in school? In conjunction with my parents, we decided that I would attend school for 3 periods a day in the morning taking classes of my choosing. I took ONLY foreign language & literature plus one lonely history class. I took zero math or science classes. When I was old enough to work, the school got me a job in the Mayor's office & that, in essence, became my 'school'. I held that job for 3 years. The school gave me a diploma when I was seventeen. I went on to art school. I don't think my IQ score has played any significant role in my life other than frustrating me because I was always lost until GPS became available in cars! Did I mention that I love my GPS?! So, it's no surprise that my language skills developed at a higher level than my spatial abilities. It's not ALL in the DNA. Life experiences do contribute to our IQ scores. My father only had an 8th grade education & didn't learn English until he was thirteen; yet he became a very successful business owner (Russian immigrant family). He was a math whiz but not exceptional at reading/language. Yet, he was extremely adept at understanding the finances of his business & banking relationships. I believe he was successful because he deemed understanding his finances as critical to the success of his business and, therefore, devoted energy to learning how money works. My father was a musician & that's how he earned his living & supported his family until purchasing his first business at around age forty. Music taught him math skills (as it did me) as well as personal discipline. I believe it was those skills as opposed to his IQ (don't know what it was?) that contributed the most to his success. So, anyway...I'd be very hesitant to place any responsiblity for the country's mortgage debacle on IQ. I do, however, feel we are seriously lacking in even the most basic financial education in our school systems. My own son is a classic example. He received no financial education in highschool. In college, he was a double science major. In order to get through in four years he didn't have time to take any finance, business, etc. type of classes. So, were it not for DH & I being bankers he wouldn't have nearly the financial understanding he does today. I've always heard that IQ represents only 20% of a person's potential. The remaining 80% is determination & ingenuity. /tricia

I don't mind a few bad words or a little nudity when it is integral to the story, as YogaLady said. However, I've turned off many a premium cable drama which seem to me to be overloaded with nudity and sexual content for no reason other than they can and I've given up on some movies that are so loaded with profanity that there almost isn't any other dialogue.