U.S. home foreclosure filings in May increased from April and were a whopping 48 percent higher than a year earlier, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said Friday.

Home foreclosure filings in May totaled 261,255, up 7 percent from April, RealtyTrac, an online market of foreclosed properties, said in its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. The figure is a total of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

In April, home foreclosure filings had risen 4 percent from March.

RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, California, said the national foreclosure rate in May was one foreclosure filing for every 483 U.S. households.

“The nationwide rate of increase for default notices and foreclosure auction notices slowed in May, with default notices up just 1 percent from the previous month and auction notices down 3 percent from the previous month,” Saccacio said in a CNBC interview.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the country, with one foreclosure filing for every 118 households, followed by California and Arizona.

Default rates and foreclosures have jumped over the past year as the housing market deteriorated.

Nevada had 9,009 foreclosure filings in May, up nearly 24 percent from the previous month and a 72 percent increase from May 2007.

California foreclosure activity in May increased 11 percent from the previous month, helping the state continue to register the nation’s second-highest state foreclosure rate.

Arizona ranked third highest in the nation, with one foreclosure filing for every 201 households in May.

It had 12,959 filings, up nearly 12 percent from April and almost 119 percent higher than a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

If as a young adult you find yourself still living with your parents, here are a few simple steps you can take to become independent and have a bright financial future:

• Pay off debts that are keeping you from being independent.
• Invest as heavily as you can for your retirement while your costs of living are low.
• Don’t touch your retirement cash until you’re ready to retire.

If you follow this advice, it will be most certain that you will become self-reliant and will have plenty to retire on at age 60.

However, the sad fact is most Americans nearing retirement (around age 61) are facing a pretty gruesome retirement fate.

That’s why it’s important that you kick your retirement plan into high gear. If you’re young, living at home, and have many years ahead of you, be steadfast with your savings and take advantage of the powers of 401(k)s, IRAs, and compounding interest.

If you’re well into your working years — or even if you’re in your early 60s — the most important thing you can do is develop a game plan. Don’t lament the late start or plan to just work for the rest of your life. Figure out what you have, what you need, and how to get there.

The best time to start estate planning is while you have legal capacity to do so.

If you wait until you are seriously ill, or suffering from other disabilities, it could affect your legal capacity, and your plan will be effectively challenged by those who assert that you lacked legal capacity, or were subjected to fraud, coercion or undue influence. All of these are requisites for the invalidation of a will or estate plan.

What is the purpose of estate planning?

The purpose of estate planning is to avoid dying intestate.

Dying intestate means dying without a will or a trust. It exposes your property to hazards, making it difficult for your heirs to claim. These hazards come in the guise of probate, creditors, con-artists, lawsuits, judgments, lawyers, and death taxes and can damage much or most of the value of your estate.

Without a will or a trust, the inheritance laws of your state will determine how your property will pass to your heirs. If you have no heirs that fit the state’s formula, the assets will be taken by the state.

Often times the state’s formula and rules for moving assets to your heirs will not be what you would have chosen if you had done some planning.

Therefore, there is no better time to start an estate plan than now.