Using your credit card in foreign countries
June 29, 2011 By
Could credit cards go the way of the dodo? Many of the industrialized nations around the globe are moving away from traditional credit cards with magnetic strips in favor of embedded microprocessor chips, because they may cut down on fraud. The chip-and-PIN method is the newest smartcard technology, where a microchip is embedded in the credit or debit card. When the customer pays for goods, the card is placed into a “PIN pad” terminal or modified swipe-card reader, which reads and authenticates the chip. The customer then enters a 4-digit PIN that must match what is on the smartcard.
If you’ll be traveling abroad but do not own a smartcard, you may need to depend on ATM machines. Carrying extra credit cards and cash is also recommended. And if you want to use a chip-embedded debit card, you can obtain one for free, but exchange rates are not stellar. Last but not least, notify your bank about your travel plans as some credit companies will freeze your card for charges deemed suspicious or out of the norm.
The chip-and-PIN technology is becoming the standard in Asia, Latin America, and Canada. While the U.S. lags behind, some banks including Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and U.S. Bank are starting to offer the cards to their customers on small scales.
The best and worst home renovations
June 27, 2011 By
If you’re planning on renovating your home, consider these best and worst projects based on the amount of money recouped in the event of a sale. According to Barbara Corcoran, real estate contributor on Today, the most worthwhile renovations provide the biggest bang for your buck.
- A new front door is a wise investment. At an average price of $1100 – $1200, the homeowner will recoup about 102% of the dollars spent. Most important, the front door speaks volumes to prospective buyers that the inside is just as good as the first impression.
- The garage door also plays a part in the overall first impression. At about $1299, you can recoup about 87% of that investment.
- An outdoor deck, 10 feet by 30 feet, can cost about $10 K, but you’d make back about 70% of that in a sale. The deck is a visual extension of the house, and without it, something definitely seems amiss in the backyard.
The three worst renovations have to do with converting a bedroom into something else entirely or building an add-on.
- The home office remodel is not recommended because it’s expensive to put in and equip. For a $28K investment, you might get $13K back, but you’ve also lost a bedroom, and homebuyers count the literal over the possible number of bedrooms available.
- A sun room is hardly used and shows poorly. A typical sun room costs $75K to install, and that doesn’t include the extra heating and cooling expenses.
- Adding a bathroom is costly (about $40K), and homebuyers simply aren’t willing to pay the premium for it. Corcoran suggests the “nip/tuck” method to spruce up current bathrooms.
Having said this, if you’ve planned on building that special sun room and love the house you’re in, feel free to customize. Just be aware that the actual cost for installing it or other unique features will not likely be made up in a future sale.
Modern contemporary design house
June 26, 2011 By
The Brainchild Oceanfront House provides a sports hall which is equipped with high tech equipment. If you get bored exercising at home, then you too can enjoy the beach sports like surfing you can do only by passing through a path that connects the house to the beach.
The biggest boomtowns of 2020
June 24, 2011 By
According to demographic projections, the total U.S. population will increase by 8.9 percent from 2010 to 2020, and some cities will experience booms. Utilizing figures from the 2010 census and other economic information, data analysis firm ProximityOne estimates that the top ten cities for growth over the next decade are Raleigh-Cary, N.C.; Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, Wash; Austin-Round Rock, Texas; Provo-Orem, Utah; Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Georgia; Logan, Utah-Idaho; Grand Junction, Colorado; McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas; Idaho Falls, Idaho; and Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C. and S.C.
It’s projected that these boomtowns will see between 26.4 to 35.7 percent growth in population due to low unemployment (relative to the national average) and affordable housing.
Of 366 metro areas, 43 may see population loss. The top ten losers include Flint, Mich; Jackson, Mich; Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla; Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Pa; Kokomo, Ind; Pine Bluff, Ark; Steubenville-Wierton, W. Va-Ohio; Mansfield, Ohio; Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich; and Danville, Ill. Most of these cities are located in the former Rust Belt, where industries like steel making, vehicle manufacturing, and other heavy manufacturing once thrived.
Music Review: Sarah McLaughlin – Laws Of Illusion
June 22, 2011 By
It has been seven years since Sarah McLachlan’s last full-length non-seasonal studio album Afterglow. Listening to much of Laws Of Illusion it’s like she never went away. The opening track “Awakenings” seems to kick off an aggressive, more rock-oriented approach, but the album quickly settles into the kind of ethereal folk-edged pop music Sarah McLachlan fans know and love. She is an artist with a truly distinctive sound and approach. Instead of any radical changes in direction, she simply returns to remind us who Sarah is and that she has not gone away.
Sarah McLachlan’s gorgeous, controlled vocals with that distinctive melancholy catch continue to enchant even casual listeners of her music. Simple, exposed songs like “Forgiveness” and “Rivers of Love” showcase the beauty of her voice as it moves across the song like a languidly flowing stream. “Bring On the Wonder” alters the approach by adding new age style echo. The effect is quite beautiful if fleeting at under two minutes.
The first single from Laws Of Illusion is “Loving You Is Easy”, makes me wonder if Sarah listened to Supertramp as a kid, has an upbeat, almost breezy feel, that is quite refreshing. “Out of Tune” applies Sarah McLachlan’s sound to the sense of love providing an oasis from the stresses of the rest of the world. “Heartbreak” makes light of being chased down by sadness. Ultimately Sarah McLachlan tells heartbreak to “find some other fool.” The melancholy seems not too far away, but for the few moments of these songs the smile behind the voice is entrancing.
If you are already a Sarah McLachlan, you really can’t go wrong picking up (possibly downloading it from your favorite online retailer) Laws Of Illusion. It is a collection of songs filled with clever lyrics and bathed in the beauty of her voice. At times however, the whole collection moves and meanders so languidly it may cause the attention of the listener to wander as well. This is not unique to this album in Sarah McLachlan’s catalog. If you are a long-term fan, that aspect of her music will be familiar territory indeed. With Pierre Marchand, Sarah McLachlan’s producer and collaborator for over 20 years, at hand, Laws Of Illusion is another solid statement of her unique position as an artist who has both influenced strongly the entire genre of adult pop and remains distinctive in her own sound.
Mobile apps help shoppers save
June 22, 2011 By
Deferring gratification is no longer a personal matter as financial institutions are intentionally putting savings on the frontal lobes of their customers. Putnam Investments is helping its 401(k) plan participants save money for retirement with a new Apple iPhone app.
Consumers use their iPhone to scan bar codes and check prices. The app combines comparison prices with retirement account information, calculating how future retirement income can benefit. For example, if the customer is shopping for an HDTV priced at $1,738.64, the app will find the same product at $1,299.99. You would save $439 by purchasing the less expensive tv, and if you put that amount into your 401(k), you’d reap an additional $11.16 per month in retirement.
Todd Barnhart, director of retail deposits for PNC Bank, says that people need “a visible reminder” to save. PNC offers customers an online virtual wallet with a mobile banking app. When participants have a little extra cash, they can tap the pig icon and transfer money automatically from checking to savings.
The apps offered by Putnam and PNC attempt to make saving for the future (college, vacations, retirement) simple and habitual. And you can expect more mobile apps that encourage delayed gratification to hit the market soon.
That’s What THAY Say
June 22, 2011 By
Read the Hunch blog enough, and you’ll be able to pick out airplane aisle and window seaters while you wait to board. In just five minutes of small talk, you can make a good guess about whether a stranger uses a Mac or a PC. And here’s a fun one: Go to a catered business meeting and try to figure out who’s liberal, conservative, or middle of the road.
Hunch correlations are the result of millions of answers to Teach Hunch About You (THAY) questions. They’re based on hard numbers supplied by a diverse group of people all over the world. If they confirm a stereotype, don’t shoot the messenger or our infographical friends at Column Five Media. Point your finger (or cursor) at the thousands of Hunch users who teach us what THAYs say.
