Category: Gifts

How to spoil your mum on her birthday if you have the cash!

Mums also known as mothers are there generally to help support you and aid you to grow, and therefore they deserve some time and consideration when it comes to buying their birthday presents and allowing her to enjoy her special day. We have come up with 5 top ways to spoil you mum on each and every birthday:

1. Make her breakfast in bed this is obviously one very traditional way of helping her put her feet up from the moment she wakes up. Birthday breakfast ideas include: waffles, pancakes, cereal, toast, orange juice, tea/coffee and some granola and yoghurt. If your mum or a mother you know ate all that she may not be able to get up for the rest of the day, so just mix and match food and beverages that youll know shell enjoy and be able to consume!

2. Give your mum a number of special birthday gifts throughout the day this will show her that you have really thought about her. Smaller special gift ideas include personalised wine, personalised labelled champagne, a custom mug (you could present her tea/coffee in this mug with her breakfast!) and larger gifts include luxury gift sets and how about a bottle of magnum champagne; that would really get her!

3. Spend time with your mother take her out for the day; if the weathers nice consider going to a theme park, to the beach or to a country park, where you can stroll around, have a picnic perhaps and even have a ride on a boat if theres water available.

4. Go out for lunch – these tips are all about spending the dollar on your mum to spoil her, so taking her out to lunch is almost compulsory (and if youve already had a divine picnic, then wed suggest taking her out for a lovely meal at a Michelin star restaurant in your local area or even treat her to her favourite type of food Mexican, Italian, Thai, Lebanese, Moroccan the list is as endless as the number of countries in the world!

5. How about booking a weekend trip for you, your mum and the family? It can be a short UK trip or a holiday abroad, there are always deals out there it is just a case of looking for them.

Hopefully these few tips have given you some ideas of things you can do with your mum, whatever happens just make your mum or a mother you know feel loved and wanted and were sure shell enjoy her day.

Diwali Gift Ideas Traditional Indian Clothes

The most celebrated festival of India, one of the things that Diwali is closely associated with is exchanging gifts or offering gifts to friends and family. Diwali is the time for friends and family to get together and enjoy this festival with boundless fun. Apart from decorating the house, lighting diyas and bursting firecrackers, exchanging fabulous Diwali gifts with friends and family further adds to the celebration.
Traditionally, its almost a sort of custom to give an assortment of various kinds of sweets, dry fruits, silver items, etc as Diwali gifts. Besides these Diwali Gifts, Indian Clothes are also a popular choice for Diwali Gifts. Everybody loves getting new clothes, hence theres no chance of going wrong with traditional Indian Clothes as Diwali Gifts. During Diwali, latest styles and designs of Indian Clothes throng the market which means an immense variety is available to choose from. Further, almost every store comes up with fabulous discounts and other offers which end up saving a lot too. Latest Designer Sarees, Designer Salwar Kameez, Designer Kurti, Designer Lehenga Choli, etc can be given as Diwali Gifts to women while Diwali Gifts to men would include Kurta Pyjama, Sherwani, Churidar Kurta, Indo-Western Suit, etc. Giving new clothes as Diwali Gifts is a splendid idea but measurement, proper size and fit should be highly noted when shopping for Diwali Clothes for others. When gifting Readymade Indian Clothes to others for Diwali, its essential to get outfits in the right size so as to avoid embarrassment. Alternatively, when one is not sure about the right sizes then custom made or unstitched Indian Clothes could also be given as Diwali Gifts which the recipients can get it stitched according to their preferences. Many stores house a large collection of unstitched Salwar Kameez, Lehenga Choli, Kurta Pyjama, Sherwani, etc as well which make for quite convenient Diwali Gifts!

What’s the best way to give money now

Giving gifts to family and charity while you’re alive can be a boon to them – and your estate.

Estate planning isn’t just about how you want your assets distributed after you die. It’s about deciding how much you want to give away while you’re still alive. If you plan carefully – so you don’t outlive your assets – giving allows you to reduce your taxable estate and provide advance help to your beneficiaries.

There are two easy ways to give gifts without incurring the gift tax:

You may pay an unlimited amount in medical or educational expenses for another person, if you give the money directly to the institutions where the expenses were incurred. You may give up to $13,000 a year in cash or assets to as many people as you like.

Anytime you give more than $13,000 annually to any one person you must file a gift-tax return and the excess amount will be applied toward your lifetime gift-tax exclusion of $1 million.

If at any point your gifts exceed that exclusion, you will have to pay gift tax on the excess amount. There is some good news in that regard. The top tax rate on gifts is gradually declining and will fall to 35 percent by 2010.

Keep in mind, too, that gifts you give within three years of your death that exceed the lifetime gift-tax exclusion will reduce the amount of money you may leave to your heirs free of federal estate taxes, according to certified public accountant P. Jeffrey Christakos of First Union Securities in Westfield, N.J. For example, if you give away $100,000 more than your lifetime exclusion within three years of your death, your estate-tax exemption will be reduced by $100,000.

If you want to invest in a 529 college savings plan for a beneficiary, contributions are treated as gifts. You may put in as much as $65,000 in one year ($130,000 with your spouse), but that contribution will be treated as if it were being made in $13,000 installments over five years.

That means you can’t give any more money to that beneficiary tax-free during that five-year period. Should you die before the five years are up, part of the money you gave will be included in your taxable estate, specifically the $65,000 minus $13,000 for each year you were alive.

The tax consequence of making large gifts can get complicated. So if you have a large estate, consult with your financial or tax planner to see how much giving you can do without triggering a big tax bill. Charitable donations are another way to reduce your estate. By investing in charitable gift funds and community foundations, those donations can stretch beyond your death.

Charitable gift funds, which are offered by Fidelity, Vanguard and others, permit you to make a tax-deductible donation, grow your investment tax-free, and then direct a contribution – in your name – to nonprofits of your choosing whenever you like.

Community foundations are regionally based charities that take donations of as little as $5,000 in cash, stock or property. The foundations invest that money, pool the gains, and allocate grants, usually to local nonprofits. In most cases, you may either have the foundation give money to organizations you choose or ask the foundation to locate a worthy recipient for a cause you like.

You also can set up what’s known as a charitable lead trust, from which a charity receives the income and your heirs the principal; or a charitable remainder trust, in which your heirs get the income and the charity gets the principal.

Luxury Corporate Gifts

If you have ever received a gift from a friend or an acquaintance that came as a surprise, it often sticks in your mind more than the gifts you receive at Christmas and Birthdays and other expected gift occasions. In my experience, as a supplier of luxury corporate gifts, the companies who are prepared to budget for clients and employee gifts tend to have fewer problems than most in maintaining their client and staff base. The reason being is simple, they know how to nurture relationships and reward performance.

For those reading this who are thinking about buying corporate gifts for the first time and are not quite sure what occasions and gifts would be suitable as well as finding out more about the importance of gifts to clients and employees then here is a little starter to help you on your way.

Perhaps the most important reason for companies to give their clients gifts as thanks for their custom is to distinguish themselves from competing firms. With competition between companies fierce in many industries, standing out from the competition is essential for survival as many business will be willing to undercut each other to get that all important first contract.

Also having your logo embroidered or embossed on garments such as wallets, scarves, or gloves is a fantastic branding opportunity for your company and adds a touch of luxury to your corporate gift.

As a rule of thumb, the season for client and employee gifts tends to be Christmas time but there are lots of other opportunities to gift. For example if a member of your staff has just had a period of outstanding sales or performance you may want to reward them immediately as a gesture of you appreciation.

In terms of what to give as corporate gifts, unisex items such as cashmere scarves and gloves are fantastic as they add a little luxury to these fail-safe corporate gift items. Food hampers are always received well, as are sporting event days however the last gift tends to be biased towards men and will cost you a lot more.

So there we have a brief look at the why, when and what of corporate gifts.

Surprising the Baby with the Top Ten Baby Gifts

If you are thinking that the choosing the baby gift is very easy, then you are absolutely wrong. There is a vast range of gifts which can be presented to the baby during any occasion. There are different gifts for different age of children. There are gifts ranging from toys to mind sharpening oriented gifts that are liked by most of the children. Gifts can be anything depending upon the age of the children. If you are planning to gift something to a new born baby, then there are different gifts such as baby toys, baby clothes, other little cradle oriented things which look descent and good.

Baby Gifts for the children should be chosen according to the age of the child. Some suitable gifts for the children would add enthusiasm in the children. There are gifts such as toys, baby products, baby clothes and other baby goods which can be given during any occasion. Some of the best babies gifts are mentioned below choose the best gift for the baby.

Dolls:

For the kids, dolls are their best friends. They talk to the dolls, they feed them and they learn the basic etiquettes as they teach the doll. Similarly there are latest gadgets and gizmos for children such as toy cars and other electronic goods which are children friendly and let the children get involved in the modern technology. There are various other gifts that can be taught to the children with along with presenting with new gifts every occasion.

Electronic Toys:

Most of the children these days are very much into technology oriented things. There are many toys that amuse children to the core. There are electronic trains, electronic helicopters and various other toys which are not even child friendly but also help children understand technology and get friendly with the latest developing things around the world.

Girl Gifts:

There are different things which can be gifted to a girl child. There are different gifts such as the kitchen oriented things, cooking oriented gifts, fashion oriented things, grooming things which can be gifted to the girl child which would help the girl child in many ways. The best baby gifts these days are the Barbie doll gifts which come with different themes such as cooking, fashion or make over of the doll and various other themes included in the dolls. There are also different video games that can be gifted such as Barbie makeover game, Barbie cooking and other themes which are liked by most of the girl children.

Boy Gifts:

For the boys, there are many gifts such as the technology oriented gifts amaze the boy child to the core. Gifts such as cars and other things are some of the gifts which are mostly purchased as Baby Gifts.