Regulators on Friday shut down seven banks in Illinois, putting the number of U.S. bank failures this year at 57.

There were 140 bank failures in the U.S. last year, the highest annual tally since 1992 at the height of the savings and loan crisis. They cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008 and only three succumbed in 2007.

The number of bank failures likely will peak this year and will be slightly higher than in 2009, FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said recently.

As losses have mounted on loans made for commercial property and development, the growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, hitting a $20.9 billion deficit as of Dec. 31.

Due to increasing life expectancies, many are running into the problem of outlasting their savings. Use this calculator to help determine when your retirement savings account may be depleted given a specified monthly income target. You may currently be in receipt of a company pension or other fixed income such as Social Security to help supplement your retirement savings account.

This primer explains key elements of the Medicare program, which now provides health coverage to 47 million people -- including 39 million people age 65 and older and another 8 million younger adults with permanent disabilities. It looks at the characteristics of the Medicare population, what benefits are covered, how much people with Medicare pay for their benefits and the program’s overall costs and future financing challenges.

Kaiser Family Foundation Medicare Fact Sheet

The federal government plans to begin automatically enrolling new employees in the Thrift Savings Plan in August, the board governing the plan said Tuesday.

Once in place, new employees will begin contributing 3 percent of their paychecks to the TSP's government securities-backed G Fund. Their agencies will match that 3 percent, and contribute another 1 percent on top of that.

New employees can opt out of TSP within 90 days and receive a full refund without suffering an early withdrawal penalty.

Military service members will not be automatically enrolled.

TSP participants also will gain a Roth option, most likely in January 2012. That option will allow participants to make taxable contributions to a retirement account and then make tax-free withdrawals in retirement. Under the current system, participants make tax-free investments and then pay taxes when they withdraw money.

USAToday's 5 Steps To Get On The Right Retirement Path In 2010

Consider moving in with Mom and Dad.

Doing so allows you to stockpile cash for retirement and the major life events that are on your horizon, such as purchasing a home, planning a wedding and having kids.

Thirteen percent of families with grown children said an adult son or daughter moved home last year, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Regulators on Friday shuttered banks in Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Utah, boosting to 26 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year following the 140 brought down in 2009 by mounting loan defaults and the recession



401(k) retirement plans showed significant rebounds in 2009, recouping much of their losses from 2008, a new study by Fidelity Investments finds.

Average 401(k) account balances ended the year at $64,200, up 5.7% from the end of the third quarter and up 28% for the year, according to Fidelity, Boston. During the same year, Standard & Poor’s 500 index showed a total return of 26%, Fidelity notes.

Many 401k plans offer loans to "active" participants (if you've left the plan you're probably not eligible).  These retirement loans are easy to obtain and can make sense for employees who have a secure job. 

Generally, you're allowed to borrow up to 50% of the vested balance of your plan up to $50,000.  Contact your benefits office or HR representative for details on your plan.

Here's some common 401k loan questions courtesy of 401kHelpCenter.com:

How long do I have to pay off my loan if I quit my job?

Typically, if you quit working or change employers, it is not uncommon for plans to require full repayment of a loan within 60 days of termination of employment.

Will a 401k loan appear on my credit report?

Loans from your 401k are not reported to the credit-reporting agencies, but if you are applying for a mortgage, lenders will ask you if you have such loans and they will count the loan as debt.

If I default on my loan, will the default be reported to the credit-reporting agencies?

If you default on a 401k loan, the default will not be reported to the credit-reporting agencies and it will not negatively impact your credit rating.

If I can't afford to keep making the payments on my loan, can I stop them?

Once the loan has been made, your payments will be deducted from your pay each month and you generally can't stop this process.

If I default on my loan, how will I know the amount I must report as income on my federal tax return?

You will receive a 1099 from the plan which will show you the exact amount to report. This amount will also be reported to the IRS.

Money market mutual funds, CD's and Treasury yields are extremely low right now.  It's painful for everyone-especially retiree's and most financial pundits I've listened to recently don't anticipate the Fed hiking interest rates until later this year.  So a lot of investors will use bond funds in their IRA and 401k portfolio's to earn some extra yield. 

We found a great article from the Wall Street Journal folks to help us understand the important numbers for bond fund investors: 30-day or SEC yield, distribution rate, and total return.

The best way to get a handle on a bond funds income prospects, most industry experts agree, is to look at a standard gauge called the SEC yield. This measure approximates the total yield that would be received annually for all of the bonds in a funds portfolio for the past 30 days assuming that each bond is held until maturity, and that all dividends are reinvested. It also accounts for fees and expenses. The methodology is spelled out by the Securities and Exchange Commission, hence the name.

Other ways of calculating bond-fund income yields include distribution yield, which is how much income a fund produced in the most recent 30-day period, projected as an annualized figure and divided by a recent fund-share price.

If that sounds complicated, it is. Both of these methods also rely on historical data, which means that only when interest rates are particularly stable are they likely to be a useful guide to what the fund might earn next month.

Of course, income is only part of the return an investor earns from a bond fund. Total return reflects both income and the change in the funds share price.

WSJ.com Deciphering Fund Yields

The California State Teachers Retirement System, the second biggest U.S. public pension, will need to ask taxpayers for more money after investment losses left it underfunded by $42.6 billion.

The pension’s unfunded liability, the difference between assets and anticipated future costs, almost doubled from $22.5 billion in June 2008, according to a report Chief Executive Officer Jack Ehnes will deliver to the board Feb. 5. The fund will ask lawmakers next year for an increase of as much as 14 percent to what the state and school districts already pay toward employee retirement benefits, said the report, which was posted on the fund’s Web site today.

I am 68 with no earned income. Under the new law, can I convert a traditional IRA to a Roth and make contributions from investment income? If so, what are my limitations?

You don’t need to have earned income to be able to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth. But you do need to have earned income to make new IRA contributions.

If you don’t work but your spouse does, he or she can make IRA contributions on your behalf. If you and your spouse are both older than 50, you can each contribute up to $6,000 to an IRA in 2010 (although the total contributions cannot be more than your spouse’s earned income). You both can contribute to a Roth as long as the adjusted gross income on your joint return is less than $177,000 in 2010 (the maximum contribution starts to phase out if you earn more than $167,000).

Courtesy of Kiplingers.com