Entries Tagged as 'Finance Tips'
by David LaGesse
This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
Shopping for a digital camera once seemed simple: get the most pixels for the money. But megapixel mania is over. Consumer models appear to be topping out at about 12 megapixels, which is plenty for making large prints or for cropping in closely for smaller ones.
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Most of us, meanwhile, already own at least one digital camera that takes pretty good pictures. So camera makers find themselves scrambling for new reasons to sell us cameras. The result is a flood of new features like built-in projectors, HD video, and “auto scene selection.” A saturated market is forcing camera makers to find ever smaller niches where they might sell a new model, says Steve Hoffenberg, a market analyst with Lyra Research. “All the choices make the process of shopping for a digital camera very difficult.”
Getting started. A few ground rules can help. If there is a choice, pay for a longer zoom lens rather than more megapixels, says Julie Adair King, author of Digital Photography for Dummies. People often want more pixels because they can crop a photo to delete unwanted material around a subject, such as a small kid on a big soccer field. “A longer optical zoom lets you fill the frame with the subject in the first place,” she says. But ignore “digital zoom,” in which camera software simply crops the photo. That’s better done later on a PC.
Also, find a model that has hardware that fights blurring caused by camera shake, often called optical image stabilization or antishake control. Some cameras try to do the same thing with software in what’s called “digital image stabilization,” but it doesn’t work as well.
Finally, don’t worry much about camera quality or reliability. Having been around for more than a decade, digital photography is a pretty mature technology. “Virtually all the cameras out there from major brands do a good job,” Hoffenberg says.
Define the shooter. How will the camera be used? Photographers might be shooting quick, informal snapshots or carefully composed portraits with custom-crafted lighting. While cameras now cover a wide spectrum, they still group in four broad categories:
Ultra compact models are mostly about quick snapshots anywhere, anytime. They easily slip into a pocket and don’t have a lot of controls for fiddling.
Compact cameras usually come with a bigger zoom lens and a few more features, such as automatic and “intelligent” scene selection that chooses the right settings based on what the camera sees. Or some shoot HD-quality video. They’ll still fit in a jacket pocket, small purse, or even a loose hip pocket.
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Tags: Finance Tips
This articles from finance.yahoo
Katie Adams
Friday, October 30, 200This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
In a dour housing market, wouldn’t it be nice to know that your remodeling project would pay off when you went to sell the property? Remodeling Magazine evaluated the top remodeling projects, how the cost-to-value has changed since the housing market implosion, and which projects are still worth the investment. Using the magazine’s “Cost Vs. Value Report for 2008-2009,” let’s look at some of the best projects you can undertake and recoup the majority of your cost.
Upscale Projects
- Siding Replacement (fiber-cement or foam-backed vinyl). With the economic slump, home buyers aren’t being dazzled by bells and whistles as much as they are improvements that will ensure lower repair and utility bills. Although replacing current siding with fiber-cement has lost value from 2007, it still nets an astonishing 87% ROI. If you prefer a foam-backed vinyl product replacement instead, you can still look to recoup 80% of your cost.
- Window Replacement (vinyl or wood). Windows are not only an aesthetic feature. For most homeowners, they represent one of the easiest ways to lower home heating and cooling bills. By replacing your current windows with more efficient vinyl or wood ones, you can save on your utility bills, attract future home buyers and net a nearly 80% (vinyl) or 77% (wood) return on your investment.
- Bathroom Remodel. Depending on the size and amenities of your desired bathroom, you could expect to pay over $50,000 to tear out walls, repair joists and wall studs, change structural elements and make major layout changes, such as switching a toilet and shower. However big the price tag, you can still expect to recoup nearly 71% of the cost (which would be $36,400 if you have a $50K bill) when you go to sell. This project increased its value since 2007, while its sister project – adding a complete bathroom – fell in value.
- Major Kitchen Remodel. Kitchens are typically the most frequently used room in a home, so it makes sense that investing money here is going to pay off when it comes time to sell. While a major kitchen renovation is usually the most time-consuming and expensive home improvement job (averaging more than $110,000), it’s also one of the most profitable. Regardless of the size of your financial layout, you can expect to get a nearly 71% ROI.
- Deck Addition (composite product). With families cutting their entertainment budgets, they’re spending more time at home, so it makes sense that adding a deck (composite, not wood) is a good investment. You can plan on recouping 63% of your total job cost to boost your home’s value by nearly $24,000 if you paid the average job cost of $37,000.
Mid-Range Projects
While all of the mid-range projects dropped in value versus cost since 2007, there are still numerous projects that will net you a significant ROI. Here are a few of the best bets for your money:
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Tags: Finance Tips
6 Simple Steps to $1 Million
This articles from finance.yahoo.com
This article is part of a series related to being Financially Fit
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Let’s face it; we all don’t make millions of dollars a year, and the odds are that most of us won’t receive a large windfall inheritance either. However, that doesn’t mean that we can’t build sizeable wealth – it’ll just take some time. If you’re young, time is on your side and retiring a millionaire is achievable. Read on for some tips on how to increase your savings and work toward this goal.
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Stop Senseless Spending
Unfortunately, people have a habit of spending their hard-earned cash on goods and services that they don’t need. Even relatively small expenses, such as indulging in a gourmet coffee from a premium coffee shop every morning, can really add up – and decrease the amount of money you can save. Larger expenses on luxury items also prevent many people from putting money into savings each month.
That said, it’s important to realize that it’s usually not just one item or one habit that must be cut out in order to accumulate sizable wealth (although it may be). Usually, in order to become wealthy one must adopt a disciplined lifestyle and budget. This means that people who are looking to build their nest eggs need to make sacrifices somewhere – this may mean eating out less frequently, using public transportation to get to work and/or cutting back on extra, unnecessary expenses.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t go out and have fun, but you should try to do things in moderation - and set a budget if you hope to save money. Fortunately, particularly if you start saving young, saving up a sizeable nest egg only requires a few minor (and relatively painless) adjustments to your spending habits.
Fund Retirement Plans ASAP
When individuals earn money, their first responsibility is to pay current expenses such as the rent or mortgage expenses, food and other necessities. Once these expenses have been covered, the next step should be to fund a retirement plan or some other tax-advantaged vehicle.
Unfortunately, retirement planning is an afterthought for many young people. Here’s why it shouldn’t be: funding a IRA early on in life means you can contribute less money overall and actually end up with significantly more in the end than someone who put in much more money but started later.
How much difference will funding a vehicle such as a Roth IRA early on in life make?
If you’re 23 years old and deposit $3,000 per year (that’s only $250 each month!) in a Roth IRA earning and 8% average annual return, you will have saved $985,749 by the time you are 65 years old due to the power of compounding. If you make a few extra contributions, it’s clear that a $1 million goal is well within reach. Also keep in mind that this is mostly interest – your $3,000 contributions only add up to $126,000.
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Tags: Finance Tips