Ehab Bandar, Author at MintLife Blog

Will Your 401(k) Make or Break You?

April 13, 2010 / Ehab Bandar

On Jan. 1, 1980, 401(k) accounts became official. In the 30 years that followed, they’ve grown in popularity and usage, replacing defined-benefit pensions at many companies. But while 401(k)s can provide a comfortable retirement, they’re also far from perfect.

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Investing Advice

Don’t Put Your Employer’s Eggs In Your 401(k) Basket

April 9, 2010 / Ehab Bandar

Even if your employer pays the 401(k) match in company stock, holding it for the long haul is one of the biggest mistakes you can make with a retirement plan. The reason is pretty simple: Even if you don’t own a single share of your employer’s stock, your financial exposure to the company is already huge — you work there!

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Investing Advice

How a Roth IRA Could Make You Rich

April 7, 2010 / Ehab Bandar

For more than 10 years, a unique investment vehicle has given some people the chance to accumulate huge amounts of wealth. But until January of this year, many others didn’t have access to what may prove to be the most important investing tool you’ll ever find. That tool is the Roth IRA, and although the name suggests that the Roth is primarily a method to invest for your retirement, it is flexible enough to serve a number of other purposes as well.

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Investing Advice

Changed Jobs? Don’t Leave Money Behind

April 5, 2010 / Ehab Bandar

Do you still have a balance in your old employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan? You might not think of that as leaving money behind and maybe you figure you can just leave it there and deal with it after you retire. Of course, you’ll pay for the privilege — in more ways than one.

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Investing Advice

Investing Lessons From The Lost Decade

April 1, 2010 / Ehab Bandar

Most investors are painfully aware that the past 10 years have been pretty dismal for the average Joe and Jane. The “Lost Decade” is aptly named, seeing as the S&P 500 wound up basically flat over that time, even as it endured several roller-coaster rides. And while there’s no changing the amount of wealth that was destroyed by some fund families in the opening decade of the new millennium, there are a few important lessons investors can take away from these events.

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Financial IQ

Silence the Sales Pitches

February 20, 2009 / Ehab Bandar

If popularity were measured by telemarketing calls and bulk-rate marketing pitches, I’d be the Julia Roberts of junk mail.

One month, I counted 92 telemarketing calls, 17 preapproved credit card offers, and a full recycling bin’s worth of fliers for satellite TV service, foreclosure avoidance help, and consolidation deals.

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Financial IQ

Retail Tricks That Make You Overspend

February 6, 2009 / Ehab Bandar

Feelings and finances are as inextricable as the smell of popcorn and the craving for a salty snack. Over the years, we’ve interviewed psychologists, economists, CEOs, and investment analysts about the mood-money connection. Here are a few tricks the brain plays on our basic math skills, and a few examples of how marketers pull our heartstrings to loosen our purse strings. As the old saying goes, buyer beware.

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Housing Finances

Spruce Up Your Home to Sell

January 29, 2009 / Ehab Bandar

Anyone forced to move out of a home faces a challenge: How do you get the best price for your humble abode, especially when buyers can be pickier than a diva in a shoe store?

To make your home seem more attractive than all the rest, consider, well, making it seem more attractive than all the rest.

Think of it as one of those home-and-garden television shows — just without the chummy banter among thin, well-dressed designers.

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Housing Finances

When’s the Right Time to Sell?

January 23, 2009 / Ehab Bandar

For years, making a killing in real estate was easy. All you had to do was to hold on to your home. People doubled, tripled, and quadrupled their money just by living in hot areas of the country.

We all know what happened next. A few lucky people cashed out at just the right time. As for the rest — we’re still dealing with the aftermath of their stories. And many people are wondering: Did I miss the right time to sell.

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Housing Finances

Why You May Not Need to Refinance

January 16, 2009 / Ehab Bandar

Foreclosures, flagging home sales, mortgage-meltdown headlines — and bears, oh my!

The events of recent years have brought the risks of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) into the public eye. If you’re a homeowner with an ARM, the question of whether you should try to refinance your mortgage can keep you up at night.

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Ehab Bandar

Links

Will Your 401(k) Make or Break You?

Don’t Put Your Employer’s Eggs In Your 401(k) Basket

How a Roth IRA Could Make You Rich

Changed Jobs? Don’t Leave Money Behind

Investing Lessons From The Lost Decade

Silence the Sales Pitches

Retail Tricks That Make You Overspend

Spruce Up Your Home to Sell

When’s the Right Time to Sell?

Why You May Not Need to Refinance

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