jatekrthu.info

CURRENT ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Overall, U.S. homeowners are optimistic about the next twelve months. 60% of homeowners take the state of the economy into consideration before making renovation plans, and 61% feel confident the economy is improving. Additionally, 55% of our respondents think home values will increase as well over the next year. While President Trump can be a controversial topic, only 28% report taking the presidential administration into consideration before making home improvement plans.FUTURE HOME RENOVATION SPENDING
Homeowners look to be encouraged by today’s stronger housing market, and are making investments in their homes. 55% of homeowners plan to conduct at least one renovation over the next twelve months, up from the 38% who have previously performed improvements. 41% of respondents are initiating a home improvement project to improve their quality of living, while 17% are looking to increase the value of their home, but don’t have current plans to sell, and 16% want a “new look”.Homeowners are also tackling bigger, more expensive projects this year-15% are planning to remodel their kitchen this year, 13% plan to update a bathroom, and 9% are looking to revamp the bedroom. 42% plan to spend between $3,000 and $10,000 on their upcoming renovation, up 6% from last year. A bit of good news for contractors: 61% plan to hire a professional for their upcoming project, compared to 59% who hired a professional for their past project. 49% of respondents plan to pay with cash or savings, 17% will put it on a credit card, 14% will use financing, 10% plan to use a home equity loan, and 8% are counting on their tax return to finance their project.MILLENNIALS VS. BABY BOOMERS: WHO IS SPENDING ON HOME IMPROVEMENT?
Baby Boomers and millennials have at least one thing in common when it comes to conducting home projects: 61% of both baby boomers and millennials plan to perform at least one improvement over the next twelve months. That may be where the similarities end, however. The majority of millennials (35%) plan to spend between $1,000-$2,999, while 31% of baby boomers will be spending between $5,000-$9,999. Baby boomers will primarily be paying with cash (67%), financing (13%), or taking out a home equity loan (7%). Millennials will also be paying with cash (42%), but 19% plan to use one or more credit card.Millennials are focused on renovating their kitchen (14%), bathroom (10%), and living room (9%), while 23% of baby boomers will be updating their bathroom, kitchen (19%), or replacing windows (9%). The majority of both age groups will be hiring a professional to do the work, but 39% of millennials plan to conduct the renovation themself, compared to 27% of baby boomers. Millennial respondents get a sense of satisfaction from performing the work themselves (40%), while baby boomers are more focused on keeping the project cost effective (59%). Baby boomer DIY-ers are also very specific about where they purchase their materials, with 85% shopping at building supply stores such as Home Depot, Lowe’s or Menards, hardware stores like Ace Hardware or True Value (8%) or Walmart (8%). Millennials also shop at supply stores (64%), Walmart (14%), and hardware stores (7%), but they frequent warehouse clubs like Costco or Sam’s Club (7%) and high-end specialty stores like Kohler (4%) as well.WOMEN TAKING CHARGE OF HOME PROJECTS
While home improvement has stereotypically been thought of as a male-dominated industry, women are picking up power tools and narrowing the margins. Of our respondents, 55% of women are planning to conduct a home improvement project over the next twelve months, compared to 57% of men. The majority of men (33%) intend to spend between $5,000 and $9,999, while 29% of women are looking to spend $1,000-$2,999. Cash is king for women funding their project; 54% of women are using cash, whereas men will be using cash (40%) or financing (21%). The genders are focused on improving different areas of the house as well; men will be remodeling the bathroom, while women plan to update the kitchen.The majority of both sexes-63% of women and 58% of men-intend to hire a professional for their upcoming project. 56% of women feel they do not have the skills or equipment necessary for their planned project, while men value the expertise that comes with hiring a professional (47%). Another dissimilarity between the genders is how they find professionals to hire. Women prefer to ask a friend for a referral (40%), look on a review website such as Yelp.com (18%), or ask a contractor for a referral (17%). Men also ask friends for referrals (30%), but would rather use a search engine like Google.com (24%), or look on Yellowpages.com (21%).The motivated women who plan to DIY prefer it because it gives them a sense of personal satisfaction (41%), whereas DIY men like that it’s more cost effective (53%). The majority of both men (74%) and women (75%) plan to purchase materials at a building supply store like Menards, Home Depot or Lowe’s, but that’s where the congruity ends. 10% of men intend to shop at Sears or IKEA (6%), while women will head to warehouse clubs like Costco (8%) or Walmart (8%).THE YEAR AHEAD
The current housing market inventory is very competitive, so it is logical that many homeowners are choosing to invest in remodeling their current home, rather than get into a bidding war. Additionally, with the economy and housing market more stable, homeowners now have more income-and equity-so they’re making renovations to create their dream homes. Our study found that the majority of homeowners are focusing on discretionary projects such as kitchens and bathrooms, which may have been put off after the housing crisis. Judging from our report, it looks like 2018 will be a profitable year for homeowners, contractors, and material suppliers alike.

There is a defined moment when many of us start to consider getting life insurance to protect family members and loved ones. It could be after a child birth or a catchy insurance commercial that tweaks your interest. When this moment strikes, the first thing most people do is get a quick online quote to understand their ballpark rates. A more detailed assessment follows afterwards. Some elements of this assessment are intuitive (age, health condition, smoking status, occupation, etc.). There are, however, some other surprising assessment criteria that underwriters also consider. Such as…
Driving History: Yes, your driving history matters, not only for your auto insurance premiums but also your life insurance rates. If you had a DUI accident in the recent past, you will likely experience significant higher quoted rates than somebody who has a clean driving history. Remember that smaller offenses fall off your driving record after three years (for insurance purposes).
Be Happy: Having a history of depression can hijack your life insurance premiums, almost doubling them. Happy people experience less health issues and stress, and thus represent lower risk for insurance companies.
Policy Date: The policy’s starting date can be sometimes adjusted (also called backdating), meaning that in some cases you can benefit from lower premiums (based on your younger age; if you turned 50 this week but backdate your policy to last month, for example). Obviously you will need to pay all the premiums starting from the backdated time point, but you can benefit from a lower rate going forward.
Dangerous jobs (e.g. stuntmen, bomb squad member) can mean higher risk for your life and thus lead to higher insurance premiums. Do you think that your job is dangerous?
Payment frequency: Paying for a life insurance policy on an annual basis saves insurers administrative costs, and they reward you with lower premiums than if you’d paid for your insurance monthly. In this case, though, you’d need to plan carefully because a big annual charge can create a significant hole in your household budget if you forget about the annual premium.
Travelling (to dangerous destinations): Some destinations are more dangerous than others and some are very dangerous (war zones, areas with known history of kidnapping, etc.) Consult an insurance broker or your agent to understand how your future plans can impact your insurance coverage. Your policy can be declined or you might be able to get a life insurance policy, but it would explicitly exclude the time you are abroad. In some cases, a simplified issue no medical life insurance policy is a solution since it does not ask travel questions. It is important to know, though, that a simplified issue policy is more expensive than a standard one and its coverage is typically limited to $50,000 – $300,000. You can test this out by getting an anonymous simplified issue no medical life insurance quote via one of numerous insurance online platforms.
Sports (extreme): Being involved in extreme and/or dangerous sports, especially professionally, can impact your life insurance premiums (for example: sky diving, cliff diving, scuba diving). Similarly to getting insurance while travelling to dangerous locations, you need to understand which cases are not covered by your life insurance policy.
Private pilot licenses: This one usually falls into a category of dangerous hobbies – licenced pilots (only private) might experience higher insurance rates. When calculating insurance premiums, an insurer will consider both the pilot’s age and experience. This information will probably not asked during the initial quoting process, but will be required during the detailed assessment later.
Your citizenship: If you are not a Canadian citizen or resident, you will not be able to apply for a Canadian life insurance policy.
Your income: Insurance companies can decline your life insurance policy if your household income falls below a particular threshold, typically $30,000. The reasoning behind this is so insurance does not stretch your budget beyond its capabilities. Note that you should still speak with a broker to create a detailed future plan for insurance protection, and brokers that are also financial planners can help you triage your upcoming financial expenses to best manage your needs. It’s a good idea to check with your insurance broker, if your income might be an issue, before submitting your application. Remember, that once you have been declined for a life insurance application, it may impact your next applications since some insurers include in their surveys, “have you ever been declined for a life insurance application?” Similarly to a pilot license, this question might be not be included in initial quote questions, but will be asked later by your insurer.
As you can see, many aspects outside of your health impact your life insurance quote and policy. You should remember that underwriting rules (application assessment) are different across insurers and thus, it is advisable to work with an insurance broker who deals with numerous life insurance companies and can share his/her expertise with you as you navigate through this complex process.

Fall is arriving, one of the biggest signs is when the Canadian geese start to warm up their wings. You can see them flying around in circles and squawking. They are such a beautiful animal, but that’s for another article.As we transition from our summer wardrobe into fall, we start thinking about the new clothes and accessories such as jewelry required to be seen as fashionable.To help you stay current with fall and winter 2008/09 fashions, this season’s top trends are highlighted below. The most stylish people though are usually not a slave to the latest fashion trend but rather wear what they love. While it’s great to have a few trendy pieces, the best fashions stand the test of time.Actually for last season and this coming season many of the new “trends” are either somewhat of a continuation of previous season’s themes or are retro inspired. These retro trends make it perfect for shopping your closet.Go in deep to the back of the closet you still have something from seventies and/or 80s in there, unless of course you weren’t born yet, in this case raid your mother’s closet. Some of you (or your mom) may even have pieces that work beautifully for the 50s glam pin up look.This season basically every era is back and you’ll look right on trend wearing any retro decade piece – just be cautious not to over do it. One or two retro pieces, whether in apparel or artisan jewelry, paired with a more contemporary element works really well. Designers commonly use this technique as a way to make retro fashions look contemporary or trendy. They add a new twist to the retro style either in design, fabric or accessories.Dig out and recycle/reuse those beautiful retro pieces from the back of the closet and mix them up with fresh elements, you’ll be looking perfectly stylish.There are several trend themes listed below which apply to both apparel and artisan jewelry. Remember that your accessories especially artisan jewelry can really put the finishing details on the outfit. Don’t forget though to look at what you already have and add new pieces only where you need them, this will save you money and time shopping and is eco responsible.Here are a few of the Fall/Winter 2008/09 trends:Overarching Two overarching trends are:i. A mix of day for night. This does not mean wearing a ball gown to the office but rather mixing a wardrobe element which one would traditionally wear as evening wear with daywear. For example wearing a sequin tank say under a blazer for a little daytime sparkle.ii. Trends that run through both apparel and accessories Most of the trends are affecting all elements of the outfit which provide greater flexibility. You can choose how far to go with the trend by the elements and number of them you select. For example if you want to be a little more subtle you can just add a piece of artisan jewelry that reflects the trend rather than a whole outfit of the trend.Color TrendsApparel and artisan jewelry in purple, pink, deep red, green and blue are hot, as are metallic pieces (discussed in the Metallic trend theme below)I. Isn’t It RomanticTraditionally fall fashions conjure up ideas of woolly sweaters, this season there is a nice counter balance to bundling up. Fall romance with flowing fabrics and romantic accessories, a la Victorian style.Specific artisan jewelry pieces to achieve this romantic look would definitely include chandelier earrings.II. Mumbai MystiqueAsian fashion and East Indian fashion specifically, is becoming more and more popular. Designer Alexander McQueen’s fall runway show was a perfect example of this. No surprise he spent 6 months in India – makes sense the inspiration for the collection came from India.Mumbai Mystique applies to both apparel and accessories. Again using Alexander McQueen as an example, the fabric colours and finishes reflect an East India styles as do the beautiful chandelier earrings, bangles and necklaces.III. Bangle BazaarThere seems to be no end to bangle desire – hint this is a good investment to take you into spring/summer 2009. During NYC Fashion Week at the beginning of September there were plenty of big chunky bangles on the runway for Spring/Summer 09.IV. MetallicsGold, Brass, Silver and Pewter oh my! Metallic influences in clothing and in accessories. From leggings in metallic colors to brass medallion necklaces, metallics are a big element of fall/winter fashion trends.V. LeatherWhether you’re going for the rocker chic look or a more polished classic image, leather is hot this fall.Leather is showing up in clothing and accessories – from bomber and motorcycle style jackets to leather mini dresses to bags, scarves, gloves and necklaces.VI. Fringe and FeathersFringe dresses like flapper dresses from the 20s, fringes on boots and bags. Feather accents on apparel and accessories are also prevalent.VII. ArchitecturalApparel shapes are reflecting an architectural influence – interesting draping and cuts in the clothing. In this theme too artisan jewelry with architectural design are popular choices for completing a fall look.VIII. Decade Retro20s through to the 80s with a focus on 50s Pin Up , 70s Hippie and 80s Preppy, this is a big trend for this season. This is the trend where you can recycle and reuse pieces which have been hidden in the back you the closet for decades! Fashion is cyclical therefore if you save your pieces you can always find another season to wear them again.IX. Leg WearTights and knee socks rule again. Cable knit, solids, funky patterns, wet and metallic look to Gossip Girl argyle.X. ShoesShoes are an indispensable part of this season’s fashion trends. If you love shoes you couldn’t be happier with this trend.Here are a few shoe trends:o Ankle Boots Kick It – Lace Up Booties – especially Oxford Style, Booties with Cut Outs, Extra Fabric and Foldso Boots – Fringe, Riding Bootso Chunky Platform heels – new 70s anyone?XI. Long Term TrendsWhile above are the latest fall/winter 2008/09 trends, there are two trends that are real long-term trends, rather than fads. These two trends are ethnic fashion and social conscious buying such as fair trade jewelry and fashion. This is where society is heading.Our cities are becoming more and more multicultural and society is loving it! We’re loving the food and the fashion.In terms of social conscious buying everything from green fashion to fair trade jewelry and apparel are becoming more important. People are asking more questions and care about how and where our dollars are spent.When shopping for fall and winter 2008/09 apparel and accessories first check your closet and then add to your existing items with a few new pieces. This will not only give you a current look but one that reflects your own personality, no point in looking just like everyone else.