I got a bunch of great column ideas to work on, but I also discovered that the information many of you are looking for is already on MSN Money. So here are some reader requests that have already been answered, and where you can find the information:

Dawn Soger: How do I improve my credit rating after a rotten marriage, and horrible divorce? I’m struggling to get back on my feet!

Liz: Start with “7 fast fixes for your credit score.” Anyone contemplating divorce should read “Don’t let your ex trash your credit,” because debt obligations can haunt you long after your marriage is over.

Kerry Erickson: Retirement strategies for 30-something workers who might have a portion of their Social Security benefits — or none at all — by the time they retire. My generation of workers are in dire need of advice on how to live after retirement especially since 401K matches a rarity these days.

Liz: I happen to think Social Security can survive, which will be a topic for a future column, but it’s still important to get a good early start on savings. Some columns to read include “Money in your 30s: Don’t get derailed by debt,” “Your magic number for retirement,” “Yes, you will live to be 80,” and “401(k) fixes for every age.

Jennifer Beach: What can people who have already been devastated by this recession (job loss, foreclosure, living in Mom’s basement) do to get back on their feet?

Liz: The key to starting financial recovery is creating a spending plan that actually works, and I recommend “The 50/30/20 budgeting strategy.” Once you’ve got your finances under control, you can work on repairing your credit. “Bounce back fast after bankruptcy” gives ideas for recovering from any credit disaster.

Bob Cagle: Why should I be concerned with my credit rating if I don’t plan on ever borrowing money again?

Liz: An excellent question, since credit scores affect even those who don’t want to borrow. Read more in “7 nasty credit myths that won’t die.”

Peter Nurman: When is it safe to close an account (revolving or otherwise) when there is inactivity in that account.

Liz: Closing accounts won’t help your credit scores, but that doesn’t mean you should never close an account. Read more in “Held hostage by your credit scores.”

Jennifer Bowman: What to do with too many houses. The BF and I would like to get married but that gives us 2 houses with little equity.

Liz: You might want to read one of my older pieces, “Do you have what it takes to be a landlord?” You might also want to read “Should you walk away from your home?”

Erica Gaede How to get out of debt. The fastest way. Where to put $$$ first savings retirement or debt?

Liz: Read “A debt payoff plan that works” and then “Your money priorities, first to last.”

Stephanie Teague: Improving your credit score. I want to get a mortgage soon, but feel like I need to improve my score to get a better rate. I don’t have negative marks against me, I just have student loans and 2 major credit cards that I’m in good standing with. I have one car loan that I have never been late on. However, my credit score is poor. What should I do?

Liz: If you don’t have any negative marks against you and you have active credit accounts, your scores shouldn’t be poor. I’d pull your credit reports from www.annualcreditreport.com and scour them for accounts that aren’t yours (indicating identity theft or mistaken identity) or negative marks older than 7 years. If you find those, dispute them. To get your scores into prime mortgage-borrowing territory, read “Raise your credit score to 740.”

Jaci Eby Berni: Immediate steps to take to protect yourself from identity theft and how to recover quickly if it happens to you anyway.

Liz: MSN’s “5-minute guide to protecting your identity” is a good start. Also read “The Hysteria over identity theft” to see what you really should be worried about, as well as what needs to change in “Identity theft: 5 ways to fight back.” The Identity Theft Resource Center is a great resource for victims

Diana Richmond Stewart: I agree with everything that has posted above plus I would like to see Retirement strategies for the almost 60 yr olds.

Liz: You’re in luck. Start with “8 money moves you must make at 50” and “What to do if you’re 55 and haven’t saved a dime.”

Jaci Eby Berni: Tips on how to lower my bills accross the board.

Liz: Start with the Smart Spending blog, which has original posts and links to the best stuff on the Web.

DeShondra Michelle: Having a budget and sticking to it while you are still completing your undergrad [degree]. The budget topics on MSN are more for college grads then students still working on their degrees.

Liz: I mentioned it above, but the 50/30/20 strategy can work for almost any income. It’s a good place to start.

Lisa Rastetter: Most of my $ I make goes to health insurance through small company I work for. I’m healthy but wants to know if I should search on my own?

Liz: Sometimes you can save money with an individual policy, particularly if you’re younger and healthier than your coworkers or willing to cope with a high deductible. MSN’s “5-minute guide to health insurance” can get you started. Another bit of good news is that individual policies can no longer be rescinded, or taken away, if you get sick. In the past, that was one of the major drawbacks to choosing an individual over an employer-provided policy

Antoinette Jarrett: I’d love an article called, “Money and the Married Woman.” It would be great info, especially for those in a community property state.

Liz: That’s an excellent idea. In the meantime, you might want to read “Get real: Marriage is a business” and “The myth of the marriage penalty.

Lisa Rastetter: My son will be 18 in a year & wants to start building good credit now. Is this possible?

Liz: Start with “Your teen’s credit is your problem.” Other reads include “9 ways to build a killer credit score from scratch” and “Should you cosign for your kid’s credit card?”

Mark Verbyla: What to do with a windfall of cash, such as oil lease money?

Liz: Read “What to do with a $10,000 windfall.

Jessalyn Cotter: College Financial Aid. The first of four about to enter in Fall 2011. How to get aid and still keep the most of retirement money and investments.

Liz: MSN has a whole decision center on this topic, called Managing College Costs. I’d also recommend checking out FinAid.org.

Jeff Pearce: How to increase your credit score. Is it just a “stay mistake free and wait” game??

Liz: Time helps, but you can take steps to speed things along. “7 fast fixes for your credit score” will help.

Liana Algarín: Is it better to pay off consumer debt aggressively and not put any money into retirement savings, or is it better to save for retirement while allowing debt to build interest?

Liz: Putting debt repayment ahead of retirement savings can actually cost you far more in lost retirement income than you’d save in interest. For more, read “Your money priorities, first to last.”

Brian Young: How to Refinance With No Equity in Your Home

Liz: You may find some answers in “Want to refinance but can’t? 3 tips.”

Kate McGee: Retirement strategies for those in their mid-late 20′s who are DINKs (Double Income No Kids) and plan to stay that way. (If it helps, he’s employed full time with a pension and a small 401(k) and will be forced to retire at 55, and I’m part-time with no benefits)

Liz: MSN’s “Money in your 20s” Decision Center may provide some answers. The good news is that without kids you’ll have more money to put aside for other goals, including retirement.

Mike E Cisneros Jr: Retirement and college savings

Liz: Check out MSN’s Retirement and College Savings Decision Center

Don Blakeley: Continued info on mortgages. What’s good and what’s bad.

Liz: MSN’s Getting the Right Home Loan Decision Center is a good place to start.

Wendy Michael: My husband was offered his dream job, so we left a house that we love in a poor selling market. It looks like we’re going to be landlords for the time being, and I’m trying to read up on all the issues involved (we’re using a property management company, but they don’t do our taxes for us!), and it would be nice to have a roadmap.

Liz: Reading “Do you have what it takes to be a landlord?” should help, but also check out the resources for landlords at Nolo.com.

Daushae Paxton: How to pay off debts while in college.

Liz: You’ll find helpful resources in MSN’s Managing Debt Decision Center.

Debbie Bottrell: Bravo How to correctly clean up my credit reports.

Liz: Again, “7 fast fixes for your credit score” is the place to start.

Debbie Bottrell: Also how to purchase a home with poor credit

Liz: These days it’s pretty much impossible to get a home loan with credit scores below 580 (or 620 in many cases). See the links above for improving your scores. Once they’re above 620 or so, MSN’s Home Buying Guide may help.

Nancy Thornton: Budgeting – not just how to budget but successful budgeters and their stories and HOW they actually do it – I love reading budgeting stories of people who were on the verge and how they started their budget journey!

Liz: I agree! You may have already seen these stories, but if not, read “Living on $18,000 a year–by choice” and “Retired by 50: What it takes” along with this follow-up.

Amy Welter: Any suggestions on student loans? My interest rates are through the roof because when I started college my parents made to much money and I didn’t qualify for any grants or even financial aid. Now I can’t pay them because I make $10,000 less than 2 years ago and now have a kid. The interest is accruing very very fast and its ruining my credit.

Liz: I’m going to send you straight to FinAid.org’s excellent page explaining your options if you’re having trouble paying student loan debt. You have a lot more options with federal loans than private loans. For more about the dangers of student loans, read “4 fixes for the student loan trap.”

Karyn Hill: I’m slowly working my way back from losing all of my savings and racking up credit card debt because I was laid off. I have a job now and I know the only thing I can do is keep plugging away and wait. I think what I want most is some reassurance that it does pay off in the end. Any chance of hearing some stories from people who were where I am a year or two ago? It’ll make me feel better when I stay home instead of going to a movie, or pass up contributing to my 401K in favor of paying a little extra on my credit cards.

Liz: “Huge debts, paid off fast” may give you some of what you’re looking for, but check out the link above about financial priorities. Saving for retirement needs to be at the top. Good luck!

Answer: Unless your son filed for bankruptcy the day after his wedding, the scenario you describe is pretty much impossible.

Our credit reports don’t get merged or combined when we marry. And it’s highly unlikely that any of the debts his wife incurred before marriage would be added to his credit reports unless he agreed to be added as a joint account holder or an authorized user.

As a practical matter, of course, he’ll want to help his new wife address these debts, since they’ll affect the couple’s life together.

But he’s not legally responsible for them. Because she incurred these bills before the wedding, they’re her separate responsibility in every state — community-property states included.

An appointment with a marriage counselor might be in order if she actively concealed these debts from him. But they needn’t contact divorce attorneys to fix this problem.

They should probably make two more appointments, however: one with a legitimate credit counselor affiliated with the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (www.nfcc.org) and another with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. The counselor and the attorney together will provide a complete picture of her options.

By the way, just as there’s no such thing as a combined credit report, there’s also no such thing as a “long-term” credit score. Each score is a snapshot of your credit situation and changes as the underlying information in your credit reports changes — which is basically all the time.

Answer: If you live in a community property state and don’t have a prenuptial agreement, debts incurred during marriage are typically considered owed by both parties (even if there’s only one name on the credit card). Community property states include California, Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

In other states, debts incurred by one spouse are usually that spouse’s responsibility alone, unless the money was used to buy family necessities such as food or shelter. If you divorce, she probably would be responsible for these separate debts. If she dies, creditors could go after her separate property and may be able to go after her half of any jointly held property.

The rules vary enough by state that you’d be smart to consult an attorney about your potential liability.

Wherever you live, though, this debt is affecting your union and your future together. The money she’s paying in interest isn’t available for other purposes, such as saving for retirement or your children’s educations, plus it’s clearly causing tension between you. If you want your marriage to succeed, you should invest in sessions with a marriage counselor and a fee-only financial planner.

Written by husband and wife team Gary and Melisa Neuman, the book has some wise words and gentle wisdom about how to help your relationship survive life’s setbacks. Among them:

Fight the problem, not each other. Tensions over money can cause people to lash out and blame each other. It’s understandable, but horribly counter-productive. To weather bad times, you need to come together as a team and work out solutions.

Let go of the past. Any therapist will tell you a relationship can’t improve if you keep throwing past mistakes in each other’s faces. But in this case, the past refers to your past financial life, whatever that looked like. Maybe you’ll never again make the kind of money you used to make, or live in as fancy a house as the one you lost to foreclosure. Life may have better things in store for you, such as a less-stressful job that allows you to spend more time with your family, or a smaller home that’s simpler to take care of. In any case, you can’t go back, and hanging on to the past will just make you miserable.

Commit to communicating. If talking about money leads to fighting, you’re likely to start avoiding the topic just to keep the peace. But silence leads to misunderstandings and isolation from each other. To keep the intimacy in your relationship, you need to talk about money, and continue talking. Some ground rules:

• Set aside 30 minutes to talk each week. Schedule a time when you’re not tired or distracted.
• Share your earliest memories about money and how money was handled in your household growing up. These revelations can help couples better understand how their partners view money.
• Acknowledge you’re not always right. Couples need to compromise and acknowledge each other’s needs and wants.
• Work together to define your top financial goals and draw up a budget to help you get there.
• Track and review your spending weekly to make sure you’re on track.

I recently opened checking and savings accounts in my name only and had my paycheck deposited there instead of our joint account.

What steps should I take before a divorce decree to be sure I retain a great credit score?

Answer: To protect their credit, divorcing couples should make sure to close all joint credit accounts and transfer any balances to the partner who will be responsible for paying the obligation.

The same is true for mortgages and other loans that are in both names. Whenever possible, these debts should be refinanced in the responsible party’s name only.

All this should be done before the divorce is final. Otherwise, your ex can trash your credit — deliberately or not.

If your name is still on the mortgage, car loans or credit cards, your scores could plummet if she misses a payment. You would have little recourse because your creditors aren’t bound by your divorce agreement, even if it plainly requires her to stay up to date on these obligations.

Closing accounts and opening new ones can inflict temporary dings on your credit, but these pale in comparison to the damage done by a single skipped payment. If you want to keep that amicable vibe and your excellent scores, separate your credit accounts now.

The survey of 1,200 adults age 40-79 shows that women tend to feel the sting of these crises more acutely than men:

• 65% of women were significantly more likely to have experienced one of these life-changing events vs. 49% of men.
• 66% who experienced long-term job loss said it had a very significant impact on their finances vs. 49% of men.
• 46% said death of a spouse had a major impact on their finances vs. 17% of men.
• 54% of women vs. 32% of men said their emotional health suffered from job loss.

Overall, more than half (57%) of the 1,200 adults surveyed said they had already experienced a major life crisis such as a job loss (18 percent), divorce (29 percent), death of a spouse or life partner (10 percent), a serious illness or long-term disability (24 percent), or the illness or disability of a child (7 percent), AARP Financial Inc. and Boston Research Group found.

Other findings:

• Of those who experienced long-term job loss, 6 in 10 said that it had a very significant impact on their finances, and 47% of respondents who experienced a serious illness or long-term disability echoed the same sentiment.
• More than half of those surveyed (54%), said that it was hard to keep their emotions in check during a major life event, and 42% said that it was at least somewhat difficult to stay focused.
• More than half (51%) of those who had experienced job loss said they were at least somewhat unprepared to deal with the financial consequences, as were 44% who experienced the very serious illness or disability of a child; 42% who experienced the very serious illness or disability of a spouse; 35% who had experienced divorce; and 27% who had lost a spouse or life partner.

Getting help from AARP:

AARP’s online resource www.aarpfinancial.com/lifecrisis — offers steps to consider before, during and after experiencing a crisis.

Also, check out my columns for advice and tips on planning:

• Where to turn when you’re desperate

• Surviving life’s big money blows

• Don’t take your passwords to your grave

• You’re dead: Where’s your 401(k)?

• Why women face a retirement crisis

Answer: You act.

Emotional work is all fine and good, but it’s pretty useless if you’re not using your insights to change the way you behave.

And, as you intimated, you’re behaving like a child. Children can believe in fairy tales and last-minute rescues, but grown-ups take charge of their own lives.

This won’t be fun. If you truly can’t repay this debt, you may end up filing bankruptcy or negotiating settlements with your creditors. You may have to move and live a more basic lifestyle.

But every day you delay, you’re adding to the pile of debt you owe. And you already have two things–good health and loving kids–that many rich people would trade their fortunes to achieve. Keep that in mind in the coming difficult days.

I feel frozen and unable to reconcile myself to the inevitable, disrupting their lives and their image of me. What now?

Answer: You act.

Emotional work is all fine and good, but it’s pretty useless if you’re not using your insights to change the way you behave.

And, as you intimated, you’re behaving like a child. Children can believe in fairy tales and last-minute rescues, but grown-ups take charge of their own lives.

This won’t be fun. If you truly can’t repay this debt, you may end up filing bankruptcy or negotiating settlements with your creditors. You may have to move and live a more basic lifestyle.

But every day you delay, you’re adding to the pile of debt you owe. And you already have two things–good health and loving kids–that many rich people would trade their fortunes to achieve. Keep that in mind in the coming difficult days.

Answer: It depends.

If your husband’s ex filed her bankruptcy case before Oct. 17, 2006, when the new bankruptcy reform law took place, then her debt to him could legally be erased, said Leon Bayer, a Los Angeles bankruptcy attorney.

The new law, by contrast, says that a debt created by a divorce agreement isn’t dischargeable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, although it may be erased in a Chapter 13 repayment plan.

If the debt was incorrectly discharged, your husband would be able to pursue his former spouse for the $12,500, Bayer said. In addition, he could sue her for the $9,000 he paid to the lender if the divorce court required the ex-wife to hold him harmless from that debt, as your letter seems to indicate.

By the way, there is a chance that the lender shouldn’t have been able to dun your husband for the $9,000 debt. Several states, including California, have “anti-deficiency” laws that prevent mortgage lenders from trying to collect such debts if the loan in question was a “purchase money mortgage”–in other words, if the loan was used to buy the property. If the loan was subsequently refinanced, though, anti-deficiency laws typically don’t apply.

If you still think your husband might have a case, Bayer recommends contacting a local attorney for help.