|
|
Philips Digital Picture frames are the coolest and most functional gadget I have seen in a while.
If you explore my website, you’ll realize that I don’t do many “Product Reviews”. Other people do a good job at reviews, in general, and I usually don’t see the need. However, now and then, a product will jump out at me that I have to talk about. Philips digital picture frames are so cool. When I started looking into these frames a couple of years ago, they were just too expensive for me to consider. Recently, I decided that I would look again, because I thought it would be a neat gift for my aging mom, who lives a good distance away from me and doesn’t get to see her grandchildren often.. I thought if I could send her a memory card with the pictures on it, she could just plug it in to the digital picture frame and enjoy the photos. I could then send a new memory card periodically, so she always had new pictures to look at. It is working just like that. When she got her digital picture frame from me for mother’s day, she was very excited. I have since bought one for my father-in-law also.
So let me tell you about the Philips digital frame and why that is the one you should buy. There are many manufacturers of these frames now. Some even play MP3s. I don’t want my picture frame to play music. I wanted it to do one thing. Show me the pictures on the memory card and be very simple to operate. Philips digital frames met both those requirements. Why Philips? Because their screen resolution is about twice the competition. For example, the model I have in front of me is 7FF2FPA. There are many different sizes and models. This one is basically a 4 X 6 photo size. It looks awesome! The reason it looks so good is screen resolution. The resolution on this one is 720 x 480. If you look at some others, say the Coby DP- 758 , you will see that it is 480 X 240. It doesn’t take math major to understand that the resolution is about half. This is the same concept as “high definition” TV. The more information, in this case “pixels”, the better the picture looks.
Philips brand digital picture frames are the best I’ve seen and Amazon.com has probably the best info and selection. I do like Amazon.com because you can go there and get so much information on any particular item you may be interested in. Also, read the reviews on the Philips digital frames and you’ll find that most people are very happy with them.
With Father’s Day coming soon, it would make a great gift for a father! One reason we wanted to get this for my father-in-law, is that he takes a lot of digital photos, but doesn’t really know how to use the computer. Often, the photos just stay on the memory card, and no one gets to enjoy them. With this picture frame, he can just pop the memory card out of the camera, and put it in the frame. That’s it. The slideshow starts immediately! I love it!
Do you have a Philips digital picture frame? How do you like it? Have you used other brands? Leave a comment here and tell us all about it!
I am sure you know someone who would want this for a gift. Maybe even for you!
UPDATE – May 9 – My last 2 digits are 37, and I just got the direct deposit today, May 9.
Everyone has been asking “when will I get my stimulus check?” Below is a table that the IRS put out recently, telling us when we can receive the Direct Deposit or check. The Tax Stimulus Dates are now announced.
Breaking news April 25
Stimulus payments starting early
Treasury Department says it will deposit the first 800,000 payments four days earlier than expected in effort to boost economy. I cannot find a change to the schedule published on the IRS site though.
Below are the schedules for the stimulus payments related to tax returns processed by April 15, 2008.
If you want the whole stimulus explained in simple terms, read my post here called, “Tax Rebate Stimulus Details Explained“.
Read the Bible for some real peace.
1 John 5:4
for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. New International Version (NIV)
Stimulus Payment Schedule for Tax Returns
Received and Processed by April 15
| Direct Deposit Payments |
| If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: |
Your economic stimulus payment deposit should be sent to your bank account by: |
| 00 – 20 |
May 2 |
|
21 – 75
|
May 9
|
|
76 – 99
|
May 16
|
|
Paper Check
|
| If the last two digits of your Social Security number are: |
Your check should be in the mail by: |
|
00 – 09
|
May 16
|
|
10 – 18
|
May 23
|
|
19 – 25
|
May 30
|
|
26 – 38
|
June 6
|
|
39 – 51
|
June 13
|
|
52 – 63
|
June 20
|
|
64 – 75
|
June 27
|
|
76 – 87
|
July 4
|
|
88 – 99
|
July 11
|
Here is a link the the Tax Stimulus dates and info from the IRS site.
The question is, what are you going to do with this money? The Government is betting that you will just go out and spend it. Will you? To stimulate the economy, this money needs to be spent right away on goods and services.
I do realize that some who get the money, will have to use it to pay for food and shelter. I don’t want to seem uncaring in that regard. Food and shelter have to come first in any family budget. ( Thanks to a couple of comment’s below, to remind me of this.) I have ate my share of beans and cornbread. Actually , I grew to like it as it was a routine food down on the farm.
I will be putting this money toward a loan I took out to help pay for one of my son’s college tuition. That is not going to help the Government achieve their goals. Sorry Uncle Sam.  You can use this money to start that Roth IRA. See my post on 16 Roth IRA Facts and see all the reasons why you have to get that going.
Do you know who is your beneficiary on your Roth IRA? I hope so, and I hope you understand who it should be. Some of the most important benefits of a Roth IRA over a standard IRA are the tax benefits to your heirs. If you have not named a beneficiary for your Roth IRA, then the proceeds will likely go into your estate. This will then be paid out of your estate in accordance with the will and the laws in your state. It will likely be settled and paid to the heirs quickly. So that will be the end of the tax free earnings for your heirs.
On the other hand, most people do have a beneficiary named for their Roth IRA, and it is usually their spouse. This is much better than letting it go into your estate. This way, the IRA is allowed to be commingled with your spouse’s own Roth IRA and the mandatory disbursement rules would be based on the spouses life expectancy. There is much more you can learn at the IRS site concerning disbursements for beneficiaries.
Name your IRA beneficiary now and keep a copy of the accepted "signed" form in your house with your will or somewhere with all your important papers. You must be able to prove you have named the beneficiary and in some cases the Roth IRA account managers have lost the form or forgot to transfer it, etc. Trust me, keep a copy to back this up.
You can also name a secondary beneficiary, so in case the primary has died before you, it would go the them. The secondary is usually your children, but you must name them. Actually , depending on how much you have in your Roth IRA , you may wish to apportion some to your children as a co-beneficiary. This will allow them to extend the tax-free earnings based on their age and life expectancy, and will reduce the total amount in your spouses estate. This can be very important as you approach a total estate of 2 million dollars. Everyone can pass 2 million dollars to their heirs , estate tax free, but every dollar over that amount is currently taxed at 45%. OUCH!
Imagine if you had $2.5 million. $2 million would not be taxed, but your heirs would lose $225,000 dollars of the other $500,000. That would not happen if you plan properly. Take the time to learn this stuff.
Bottom line is the beneficiary form is like a will for your Roth IRA. Be sure you have one.
This web site offers general information for managing personal finances and does not recommend specific financial actions. For financial advice tailored to your situation, please contact an expert such as a CPA or a personal financial advisor.
You can also subscribe to my posts by email, so you won’t miss a thing.
I usually write about taxes and retirement and such, but the joy of paying taxes only comes if you have a good income. I see so many young people today who are "uncertain" why they are going to college. Here is a list of just a few good reasons to go to college. Some people may also just need some reassurance that college is the right thing to do.
1. All extra education you get after high school, improves the chances that you’ll earn good pay in your life. As it happens, most college graduates earn a significantly higher amount of money than those who don’t go to college. If you are not certain what career to pursue, just jump in to one and keep reading and thinking about what you want to do.
2. Education beyond high school gives you a lot of other benefits. There is so much maturity that occurs when in college. You may also meet lifelong friends and maybe even your spouse in college. You will also have many more "new" opportunities to explore that you would not have if you did not attend. I am very proud of my degree from VA Tech. I also have a lifelong kinship with those who have graduated from VA Tech.
3. Having a college degree will make it much more likely that you will always have a job. There are some studies that that say by 2028 there will be 19 million more jobs than there are educated people to take them.
4. Education after high school is more important for this generation than any before. Technological advances have caused many jobs to require a college diploma. Most businesses want to hire someone with a proven history of solving problems. You learn how to solve problems in college.
I hope if you needed encouragement , you got some.
College is not the key to happiness, by any means. College is a key, though. It is likely a way to equip yourself for some success. It gives you a good start. Learning must be a lifelong thing, though.
I have continued to learn and am learning right now about monetizing websites. See my other websites if you are interested in buying an airplane or want to read news about healthy skin.
You can also subscribe to my posts by email, so you won’t miss a thing.
There are many things to think about when planning to retire. You need money to retire, not age. That is one thing, but there are a few that aren’t totally concerned with money. Here is a list of 5 things you need to consider before you decide to retire, and if you should retire early.
1. Health Status
Being diagnosed with a chronic health problem or a debilitating illness should greatly influence your decision as to when to retire. If you are in excellent health, you may decide to retire in order to travel or pursue other interests before any health problems occur. On the other hand, if you have a chronic disease you may want to retire just to "enjoy" some of your remaining time. It can go both ways, a very individual decision.
2. Family Responsibilities
Sometimes the decision to retire will be based on the needs of your family members, for example, grandchildren or aging parents in need of care. Statistically speaking, it is much more likely that women will time their retirement according to family needs. Personally, I want to be able to pay off my kids college bills, before I retire. This will influence the "when" for me.
3. Spouse Retirement Date
When both people are working, the timing can be important concerning retirement dates. If you plan to travel the world with your spouse, it becomes important that your spouse retires when you do. This will usually impact the "when" for retirement. You have to ask yourself, will you be happy at home for a few years waiting for your spouse to retire? Or will this become a friction point in your relationship?. This is very important to consider.
4. Contact with Others
Having contact with others, be it family, friends, or co-workers can be an important consideration when you are deciding when you can retire. You may have many friends at work, that you will not see nearly as often. Are you ok with that? Have you developed friendships outside of work? If not, maybe you need to make that a priority now. Women, in particular, who have worked outside of the home, frequently report missing their work-related friends once they retire. Men probably just don’t "report it", but also likely miss the relationships that they had. As I talked about in It Takes Money to Retire Not Age, it may be important for your retirement years to develop a new hobby and a new group of friends as well.
5. Financial Resources
We have to admit the obvious here. It takes money to retire. Your financial status and security will significantly impact your enjoyment of those retirement years. First, those with more money will likely have more opportunities. Second, being financially "able" makes it likely that you will have a comfortable and safe place to live. Finally, quality healthcare will always cost more and be more accessible when you can afford it. As the Bible says, money is not the root of all evil. The Bible says, the Love of money, is the root of all evil. Money won’t make you happy in retirement, but the lack of it may make you unhappy.
You may notice I did not say anything about investing in a Roth IRA. Okay, now I did. Shameless, I know, but the Roth IRA is so important.
You can also subscribe to my posts by email, so you won’t miss a thing. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment here for all to see. Add to this post and make it really good. I am sure we could make this really "25 things to consider before retirement."
|
About Mack
Sometimes counting your change is a great money maker. A play on words - how YOU change is what counts. Helping you make wise financial decisions and helping you keep more of the money you make is what this site is about.
more about me »
|
