The week's best financial advice

Here are three of the week's top pieces of financial advice, gathered from around the web:

Retirement planning for homemakers

"Stay-at-home spouses may be the financial industry's most underserved segment," said Dan Kadlec at Time. But homemakers can — and should — save for retirement. Only 21 percent of homemakers say life insurance is part of their retirement plan, according to a study by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. If the family earner dies, the life insurance policy should be big enough to pay off any debt, cover tuition for children, and provide enough income for basic living expenses. Homemakers who file a joint tax return with their spouse can also open a spousal IRA in their own name. This can be funded by a spouse's earnings, as long as total annual contributions don't exceed the taxable income reported on the joint return or a maximum contribution of $5,500 apiece — or, past age 50, $6,500 — whichever is smaller.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Help for low-income homebuyers

Fannie Mae is revamping its mortgage program for low- to moderate-income households, said Lisa Prevost at The New York Times. Under the HomeReady program, set to relaunch in December, lenders can qualify borrowers based on income generated by nonborrowers living in the household and on income from non-occupant co-borrowers, such as parents. The move is meant "to better accommodate today's financial and familial realities." More people are sharing homes and finances with extended families, including about 19 percent of African-American households and 24 percent of Hispanic households. The program, formerly known as MyCommunityMortgage, will also no longer require borrowers to be first-time homebuyers. By expanding eligibility, Fannie Mae hopes to also help homeowners who lost home equity when property values plummeted in the housing crash.

Why everyone needs a will

"If you think estate planning is for only the elderly or wealthy, think again," said Peter J. Creedon at Yahoo. Everyone owns something. And without the proper documents, state law will determine what happens to your property if you die. List your beneficiaries where you can; retirement accounts usually require this anyway. Set up a TOD (Transfer on Death) designation for your bank and investment accounts. For emergencies, a Health Care Proxy form will allow someone to make health-care decisions for you if you cannot, and a Durable Power of Attorney form will allow someone to take over your personal affairs.