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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Channelise your inner Shakti in these 5 divine red sarees approved by Bollywood actresses
(Image Credits: Pinterest) A vibrant red saree is often considered the epitome of elegance, beauty, and divinity in Indian culture. One of the most ideal hues for women, it reflects attractiveness as well as creates an appealing value of beauty in the realm of Shakti. In order to channelise your inner Shakti or feminine energy, carry a drape of red that enhances the overall power of your personality, making you look ethereal, pious, and divine. Seeking inspiration from our Bollywood actresses, let's take a look at 5 timeless red sarees draped by these fashion mavens. Deepika Padukone Showing up in a classic red Banarasi, Deepika left us swooning for more and looked no less than a historic painting. She draped an elegant red Banarasi with heavy gold threadwork that added the right amount of royal charm. Featuring intricately carved-out zari motifs, she further teamed it with a matching half-sleeved high neckline blouse in the same shade. The traditional yet striking avatar is a perfect pick for all the newlyweds out there. Katrina Kaif Dripping with sensational royalty from every angle, Katrina Kaif charmed us all at the wedding of Anant and Radhika Ambani. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Mortgage Rates Are Falling—Lock Yours in Today NerdWallet Learn More Undo Walking in front of the cameras in a red Sabyasachi saree with a delicate buti motif and an intricate scalloped border, the hemline featured gold floral embroidery that looked one of a kind. Keeping it sophisticated and traditional, she completed the look with a solid red, full-sleeved, high, round-neckline blouse, giving us a refreshing departure from the usual sweetheart and plunging necklines. (Image Credits: Pinterest) Shehnaaz Gill Janhvi Kapoor: 7 times Bollywood actresses aced the Punjabi suit trend Tara Sutaria Transporting us back to the Vedic ages, Tara Sutaria ditched the sleeve blouse show and gazed at the camera in a bright red Banarasi saree with intricate print detailing on the pallu and main bodice. Looking every bit gorgeous in this red Banarasi with silver floral motif detailing, she teamed it with a strapless blouse featuring a plunging neckline and brought in historic drama with a contemporary blend. Newlywed Ankita Lokhande drops a video of her 'Griha Pravesh' with hubby Vicky Jain: 'New beginning's with and family' Kajol Treating us with an oh-so-gorgeous red avatar, she decked out six yards of grace and looked absolutely bewitching. Kajol draped a plain dark red saree in sheer-net texture featuring a scalloped and sequinned hemline, with a sleeveless blouse with scoop neckline detailing. Proving that nothing can come between her love for red sarees, she completed the look with a pair of silver earrings and red bangles. Kajol just redefined weekend glamour in this structured vintage satin weave (Image Credits: Pinterest) Janhvi Kapoor Painting the town red with her ravishing red saree, she channelled her inner Shakti by complementing it with a contrasting green full-sleeved blouse. Her saree featured detailed dori and antique dabka work with delicate motifs and sequin embellishments that looked lovely with a badla lace border. Adding an extra sophistication with her green blouse made from Jeni silk. She wore this luxurious combination that cost around Rs 1.62 lakh and was picked from the selection of Torani. One step to a healthier you—join Times Health+ Yoga and feel the change
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Buying a new car? Why you might want to abide by the 20% rule
Buying an automobile is one of the biggest purchases many Americans will make in their lives. New car prices have hit record highs, creeping up to an average price of nearly $50,000 in 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book. If you're buying a new car in 2025, choosing the right financing strategy can have a huge impact on your ownership experience and monthly payments. What is the "20% rule," and how can you use it to your advantage when purchasing the car, truck or SUV of your dreams? Thousands of drivers will finance new cars in 2025. The way you structure your financing plan affects how much equity you have in your new vehicle as well as your monthly, annual and total payments including interest. A minimum down payment of 20% can make financing deals less expensive in the long run. The down payment "reduces the principal loan amount and the interest you're likely to pay" according to Chase Bank. Suppose you're financing a new 2025 Toyota RAV4. If you secure a 60-month (five-year) financing loan with an interest rate of 4.99%, your monthly payments could be as low as $440 a month with 20% down (before taxes, fees and interest). A 20% down payment on the 2025 RAV4 ($29,2590 before taxes and fees) works out to $5,850. This leaves a principal amount of 80% of the SUV's MSRP ($23,400 plus taxes, fees and interest). Your monthly payment is your principal loan amount divided by your loan term (60 months in the example above) plus the fluctuating monthly cost of interest on the principal (4.99% annually in the example above). Drivers can save thousands in interest payments by putting at least 20% of a car's total cost as a down payment because of the cost of interest over you want to save even more money on your car loan and are able to manage your monthly payments after a 20% down payment, there are methods to pay the full cost of your car's financing before the end of your loan term. That said, there could be costs associated with paying off your car loan early, and it could hurt your credit score. If you pay your monthly loan amount and make additional payments on the principal, you can pay off your vehicle before the end of your loan term. That ensures you will reduce the amount of total interest you pay through financing, but it can have unintended consequences depending on your lender. Ultimately, the best way to ensure you save money on interest when financing a vehicle is to make the largest down payment possible and gain more equity in your car. The "20% rule" is a strategy to reduce the total cost of financing a vehicle, but you can tailor your financing agreement to your individual financial needs and goals. The average auto loan payment was $675 as of Q1 2025, according to the consumer credit reporting company Experian. NerdWallet says the average annual percentage interest rate for new cars is 6.70% for people with a credit score of 661 to 780. Interest rates increase significantly for drivers with lower credit scores (13.22% for a 501 to 600 score). Between rising new car prices and high interest rates, financing a new car is more expensive than ever. Before purchasing a new car, truck or SUV, drivers should: Assess the new vehicle's true cost, including taxes, fees and interest. Calculate the precise monthly auto loan payment and see if it fits within your budget. Consider how a high-percentage down payment could reduce your total financing expenditure. Brand-new cars may be fun to own and drive, but they are seldom needed; used cars car provide sufficient value for more affordable prices. Thanks to depreciation, American drivers can find great deals on used car models that cost thousands less than new. So if you're in the market for a new car in 2025, be sure to triple-check your numbers before making any financial commitment. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is the 20% rule for car buying, why do drivers follow it?
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New cryptocurrency makes waves as potential replacement for Bitcoin: 'A positive sign'
Bitcoin's energy-hungry mining process has long faced criticism for its staggering environmental impact. Now, a relatively new cryptocurrency platform called Bitcoin.ℏ is promising cleaner, more sustainable option for crypto-savvy investors. A recent CoinGape report calls Bitcoin.ℏ a "green, quantum-resistant replacement for Bitcoin" that aims to solve cryptocurrency's sustainability challenges. One of bitcoin's biggest concerns is the environmentally taxing mining process. As Investopedia explains, bitcoin mining is how cryptocurrency transactions get added to the blockchain ledger — and how new bitcoin currency is circulated. To put it simply, miners race to solve cryptographic puzzles using specialized computers. The first to succeed adds a block of transactions to the blockchain — and earns newly minted bitcoin as a reward. But this "mining" is notorious for requiring massive amounts of energy, often powered by highly polluting dirty fuels. In fact, NerdWallet reports that bitcoin miners, as a group, burn through more electricity than some entire countries. Mining also releases 65 megatonnes of carbon pollution per year, per CoinGape. It's the cost of doing business in bitcoin's world — and it's a big one. To help avoid this massive energy use, Bitcoin.ℏ runs on Hedera Hashgraph, a decentralized ledger platform with an energy-efficient consensus algorithm requiring no mining. This means each transaction uses less energy, making Bitcoin.ℏ — which actually is not directly connected to the original bitcoin — a more sustainable choice in the blockchain world. CoinGape reported Bitcoin.ℏ only consumes approximately 0.000003 kilowatt-hours of energy, compared to bitcoin's 703 kilowatt-hours — leading it to say it's "winning the battle for the future of crypto sustainability." Bitcoin.ℏ also has a faster transaction speed, able to reach 10,000 transactions per second. Bitcoin currently hovers at about 7 transactions per second, per Beyond efficiency and speed, Bitcoin.ℏ reportedly prioritizes security and quantum resistance through its architecture. On Reddit, users discussing Bitcoin.ℏ expressed a mixture of optimism and skepticism, with some waving it away as a "meme coin" and others saying they hope it pans out. "Would the world be better if everything used less electricity? Yes. Hedera uses the least electricity per transaction, 800 transactions can be done using the same amount of electricity Visa uses doing only one, lonely transaction," one user wrote. Do you think EVs are good for off-roading? They're better than gas cars They're as good as gas cars They're worse than gas cars I'm not sure Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Said another: "Only invest what you can afford to lose. To me, it looks like someone is genuinely trying, and that's a positive sign." While Bitcoin.ℏ shows promise for cleaning up the cryptocurrency space, it still faces the challenge of carving out a place alongside bitcoin's established and trusted model, which is lauded for its security and user incentives. Ethereum, which recently completed "The Merge" by transitioning to proof-of-stake verification to reduce its energy consumption by more than 99%, is facing similar challenges to maintain upward mobility. That's even despite starting with a much bigger user base than Bitcoin.ℏ or Hedera more broadly — though after a dip from late 2024 to early 2025, Ethereum's primary currency, ether, is up about 12% over the last month. In the meantime, some bitcoin companies are working to make their own operations more sustainable despite bitcoin likely never transitioning from the more energy-intensive proof-of-work model, acutely aware of how much energy their data centers consume. Major bitcoin mining company Mara Holding, for instance, recently acquired a wind farm in Texas to help power a portion of its cryptocurrency operations. This reflects a broader shift in the industry toward sustainability, whether through greener currency or cleaning up existing infrastructure. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ex-NerdWallet CFO: Tips for playing the IPO long game
This story was originally published on CFO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO Dive newsletter. Back in 2021, Lauren StClair helped to bring consumer finance platform NerdWallet public within months of taking the CFO seat. Speaking at a conference last week, the Silicon Valley finance veteran acknowledged she doesn't recommend that blistering pace. She'll now have a chance to apply her experience and skills in a whole new industry: pizza. Earlier this year, StClair left NerdWallet to become CFO of Slice, a New York City-based venture-capital backed firm that gives independent pizzeria owners access to services and tech such as online ordering, websites and point of sale systems, enabling them to compete with bigger chain players. StClair — who has also held senior roles at e-commerce marketplace eBay and StubHub — said her goal is to create 'optionality' for Slice that could lead to a possible IPO in the next few years. During a keynote talk at the CFO Leadership Conference in Boston last week, she asserted a number of ways that finance chiefs must effectively play the long-game and lay the groundwork to ready their organizations for any outcome, whether that be going public or a sale. 'If you're ready for an IPO I would argue that you're ready for a strategic sale,' she said, adding that the best thing finance leaders can do is give their company alternative exits. That proactive preparation can take a number of forms. For example, she said it is the CFO's responsibility to prepare the CEO to answer uncomfortable and even 'weird' questions that they may get during the IPO process, so they are ready for tough questions from banks. Additionally, it's never too early to begin meeting with investors and explain your organization's story, she said. 'Meet with investors when you don't need the money,' StClair told Dan Bigman, editor of the Chief Executive Group and former editor at The New York Times, during the keynote. Meeting early with bankers allows you to cultivate relationships that not only could lead to later funding, but could also foster better and more honest communications. 'They don't always tell you the hard truth,' she said. At Slice, StClair is not raising funds right now, she said. But she told her CEO that it's still important to be out in the market at least once a quarter proactively talking to people about the company's story. 'You can get real time and immediate feedback building those relationships and staying in touch with investors so when it is time to raise funds people know who you are,' she said. The company's last funding round was a Series D in March 2021 when it raised $40 million. The company's largest investors include Notable Capital (former GGV), KKR, Primary Ventures, Cross Creek and 01 Advisors, she said in an emailed response to questions. Based on her experience at public companies and in investor relations, she has also learned the importance of communicating early with investors — and of avoiding surprises. Even if you can't communicate everything that's happening at your organization, she said CFOs can provide details that can help prepare investors for bigger news. 'If you start leaving some of those breadcrumbs, people might say, 'oh you mentioned this a few times before, that makes sense,'' rather than feeling blindsided, she said. One surprise that was a wake-up call for StClair herself was learning that not everyone wants to work for a company that is public. One day after the NerdWallet IPO, two employees resigned and she realized that employee education about what being public means is important. More broadly, she said it's important to remember that an IPO is an important milestone, but one that carries ongoing additional responsibilities that are important to understand and prepare for. 'I liken an IPO, to a certain extent, to a wedding,' StClair said. 'Everybody's so excited about the wedding but then you sometimes forget that you have the marriage for the rest of your life that you have to actually deal with.'
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
What pensioners need to know about income tax
Retirement is often seen as a time to relax and enjoy the rewards of a lifetime of hard work – but that doesn't mean that the dreaded taxes disappear. For pensioners, understanding how income tax applies in retirement is essential to managing finances and avoiding surprises. Whether you're drawing a state pension, private pension, or other forms of retirement income, knowing what's taxable can help you plan more confidently. We got in touch with some experts who have broken down some key things every pensioner needs to know about income tax, so it's one less thing to worry about in your golden years. What is income tax? 'Income tax is a tax paid on most types of income, from your salary at work, profits from a business to interest you make on investments,' explains Liz Ritchie, head of tax at Forvis Mazars. 'It applies to earnings from employment, self-employment, pensions, savings and investments. The amount you pay depends on how much you earn, with different income bands taxed at different rates.' Who has to pay income tax? 'Currently, anyone who has an income of more than £12,570 for the 2025/26 tax year will pay income tax on the amount they earn above the standard personal allowance,' says Amy Knight, personal finance and small business expert at NerdWallet UK. 'The rate at which you pay tax depends on how much you earn. 'The basic rate is 20%, charged on income up to £50,270 per year. Income tax is charged at 40% on earnings between £50,271 to £125,140 (known as the higher rate). If you earn more than £125,140, you'll pay the additional rate of income tax on those earnings, which is currently 45%.' If you run your own business or have a side hustle that makes less than £1,000, you do not need to report this or pay tax on that little bit of extra money you make. 'However, as soon as you cross the £1,000 mark, HMRC needs to know about this extra income, which will be factored into your tax calculations,' highlights Knight. 'You report self-employed income by filing a self-assessment tax return. The same applies if you start earning rental income from property you own.' What types of income are taxable for pensioners? Tax on income you receive from a pension is calculated in the same way as earnings from employment. 'Pensioners pay income tax once their income exceeds the £12,750 limit each year,' confirms Knight. 'This includes money from their state pension, any private and workplace pensions, rental income if they have a second property, and interest earned on savings and investments above the personal savings allowance. 'People who choose to run their own business after reaching state pension age will be taxed at the usual rates.' Some state benefits are also taxable, meaning pensioners may end up paying back some of the financial support they receive from the government, Knight adds. 'For example, bereavement allowance is taxable, so an older person who claims this benefit could see some or all of it wiped out if their income is above the tax-free allowance,' says Knight. What common tax reliefs or allowances do pensioners often overlook? 'Certain tax reliefs and allowances are often overlooked, such as the ability to take 25% of a private pension free of income tax [usually when you reach the age 55],' says Julia Rosenbloom, tax partner at law firm, Shakespeare Martineau. You can also still receive income tax relief on your pension contributions when you are retired up until age 75, says Ritchie. 'This is up to the amount you earn or the annual allowance of £60,000,' says Ritchie. 'If you are a higher or additional rate tax payer, you can also claim additional tax relief through self assessment and there are millions often left uncollected.' Plus, if you have unused pension annual allowance for the previous three tax years, this can be carried forward to allow for additional contributions and tax relief, adds Ritchie. 'However, if you have accessed your pension and started taking an income flexibly the rules can be different,' explains Ritchie. 'This usually triggers the Money Purchase Annual Allowance (MPAA) which sees the amount you can contribute to your pension and still receive income tax relief limited to £10,000.' Another allowance that is often overlooked is dividend allowance. '£500 of income from dividends can be taken income tax-free in 2024/25,' says Ritchie. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
