Solution for Classic Pen Free Essays

Case Study: Classic Pen Company 1- Cost of production of the pens according to ABC method: INDIRECT FINGE BENEFICT INDIRECT LABOR TOTAL indirect Labor Indirect Labor Computer System Other Overhead Total overhead Quantity Overhear Rate 8,000 20,000 28,000 Production Runs Setup Time Administration Run Machines 14,000 11,200 2,800 8,000 2,000 14,000 22,000 11,200 4,800 14,000 150 526 4 10,000 146. 67 21. 29 1,200. We will write a custom essay sample on Solution for Classic Pen or any similar topic only for you Order Now 00 1. 40 Total 28,000 10,000 14,000 52,000 Overhead distribution among the cost Pool Amount of overhead 22,000. 00 11,200. 00 4,800. 00 14,000. 00 2,000. 00 100,000 Quantity 150 526 4 10,000 Rate Amount of overhead 8,000 100,000 0. 08 Quantity 100,000 Blue Production Runs Setup Time Administration Run Machines Total Overhead by pen Quantity of pen Overhead by unit of pen Black 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 38 1. 16 Blue 7,333. 33 4,258. 56 1,200. 00 7,000. 00 19,791. 89 50,000 0. 40 Black 7,333. 33 1,064. 64 1,200. 00 5,600. 00 15,197. 97 40,000 0. 38 Red 5,573. 33 4,854. 75 1,200. 00 1,260. 00 12,888. 09 9,000 1. 43 Purple 1,760. 00 1,022. 05 1,200. 00 140. 00 4,122. 05 1,000 4. 12 Blue 4,000. 00 50,000 . 08 Black 3,200. 00 40,000 0. 08 Red 720. 00 9,000 0. 08 Purple 80. 00 1,000 0. 08 Direct Fringe Benefit distribution among pen Direct Fringe Benefit Quantity of pen Direct Fringe Benefit by pen Cost of Production Material Cost Direct Labor Direct Fringe Benefit Overhead Cost Cost of Produc tion 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 40 1. 18 Red 0. 52 0. 20 0. 08 1. 43 2. 23 Purple 0. 55 0. 20 0. 08 4. 12 4. 95 2- Actions that will be taken by Classic Pen Company As shown by the table below, the traditional cost shows the company is realizing benefit for all its pens. Blue Material Cost Direct Labor Overhead Cost Cost of Production Quantity of pen Cost of Production according to the Traditionnal Actual Unit Selling Price Profit/Loss $ Black 25,000 20,000 10,000 8,000 30,000 24,000 65,000. 00 52,000. 00 50,000 40,000 1. 30 1. 30 1. 50 1. 50 0. 20 $ 0. 20 $ Red Purple 4,680 550 1,800 200 5,400 600 11,880. 00 1,350. 00 9,000 1,000 1. 32 1. 35 1. 55 1. 65 0. 23 $ 0. 30 But with ABC Method we have realized that the unit selling price of the Red pen and Purple pen respectively $1. 5 and $1. 65 are less than the cost of production, therefore we expect that the Classic Pen Company will increase the unit selling price of these two pens. Blue Material Cost Direct Labor Direct Fringe Benefit Overhead Cost Cost of Production according to ABC Actual Unit Selling Price Profit/Loss $ 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 40 1. 18 1. 50 0. 32 $ Black 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 38 1. 16 1. 50 0. 34 $ Red 0. 52 0. 20 0. 08 1. 43 2. 23 1. 55 (0. 68) $ Purple 0. 55 0. 20 0. 08 4. 12 4. 95 1. 65 (3. 30) How to cite Solution for Classic Pen, Essay examples Solution for Classic Pen Free Essays Case Study: Classic Pen Company 1- Cost of production of the pens according to ABC method: INDIRECT FINGE BENEFICT INDIRECT LABOR TOTAL indirect Labor Indirect Labor Computer System Other Overhead Total overhead Quantity Overhear Rate 8,000 20,000 28,000 Production Runs Setup Time Administration Run Machines 14,000 11,200 2,800 8,000 2,000 14,000 22,000 11,200 4,800 14,000 150 526 4 10,000 146. 67 21. 29 1,200. We will write a custom essay sample on Solution for Classic Pen or any similar topic only for you Order Now 00 1. 40 Total 28,000 10,000 14,000 52,000 Overhead distribution among the cost Pool Amount of overhead 22,000. 00 11,200. 00 4,800. 00 14,000. 00 2,000. 00 100,000 Quantity 150 526 4 10,000 Rate Amount of overhead 8,000 100,000 0. 08 Quantity 100,000 Blue Production Runs Setup Time Administration Run Machines Total Overhead by pen Quantity of pen Overhead by unit of pen Black 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 38 1. 16 Blue 7,333. 33 4,258. 56 1,200. 00 7,000. 00 19,791. 89 50,000 0. 40 Black 7,333. 33 1,064. 64 1,200. 00 5,600. 00 15,197. 97 40,000 0. 38 Red 5,573. 33 4,854. 75 1,200. 00 1,260. 00 12,888. 09 9,000 1. 43 Purple 1,760. 00 1,022. 05 1,200. 00 140. 00 4,122. 05 1,000 4. 12 Blue 4,000. 00 50,000 . 08 Black 3,200. 00 40,000 0. 08 Red 720. 00 9,000 0. 08 Purple 80. 00 1,000 0. 08 Direct Fringe Benefit distribution among pen Direct Fringe Benefit Quantity of pen Direct Fringe Benefit by pen Cost of Production Material Cost Direct Labor Direct Fringe Benefit Overhead Cost Cost of Produc tion 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 40 1. 18 Red 0. 52 0. 20 0. 08 1. 43 2. 23 Purple 0. 55 0. 20 0. 08 4. 12 4. 95 2- Actions that will be taken by Classic Pen Company As shown by the table below, the traditional cost shows the company is realizing benefit for all its pens. Blue Material Cost Direct Labor Overhead Cost Cost of Production Quantity of pen Cost of Production according to the Traditionnal Actual Unit Selling Price Profit/Loss $ Black 25,000 20,000 10,000 8,000 30,000 24,000 65,000. 00 52,000. 00 50,000 40,000 1. 30 1. 30 1. 50 1. 50 0. 20 $ 0. 20 $ Red Purple 4,680 550 1,800 200 5,400 600 11,880. 00 1,350. 00 9,000 1,000 1. 32 1. 35 1. 55 1. 65 0. 23 $ 0. 30 But with ABC Method we have realized that the unit selling price of the Red pen and Purple pen respectively $1. 5 and $1. 65 are less than the cost of production, therefore we expect that the Classic Pen Company will increase the unit selling price of these two pens. Blue Material Cost Direct Labor Direct Fringe Benefit Overhead Cost Cost of Production according to ABC Actual Unit Selling Price Profit/Loss $ 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 40 1. 18 1. 50 0. 32 $ Black 0. 50 0. 20 0. 08 0. 38 1. 16 1. 50 0. 34 $ Red 0. 52 0. 20 0. 08 1. 43 2. 23 1. 55 (0. 68) $ Purple 0. 55 0. 20 0. 08 4. 12 4. 95 1. 65 (3. 30) How to cite Solution for Classic Pen, Papers

Effective Management In Health Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: How Patient Experience Can Be Used For Enhancing Patient Safety And Satisfaction Level. Answer: Literature review According to Mehta (2015), quality of the services offered in the Healthcare setting determines the satisfaction level of the patients. Satisfaction level of the patients determines the chances of success and growth of the healthcare setting. Healthcare organizations are facing issues due to the change in the expectations of the patients, introduction of the advanced technology and aging population. Healthcare organizations are focusing on enhancing the quality of the services offered to the service users. Quality and safety have become a prominent part of the life of every individual. It is difficult to define the term quality in relation to the healthcare sector. Quality standards cannot be set in the healthcare sector as the services are intangible. This aspect has affected the measurement process of the quality of the healthcare service provided to the patient. Safety concerns are increasing among the healthcare settings as it has been identified that there has been a rise in the number of cases of infection due to the lack of proper safety or cleanliness in the premises of the hospitals (Berkowitz, 2016). Patient satisfaction level is the indicator of the quality of the services which are being offered by the healthcare organization. Priority of the healthcare organization is on ensuring the good health of the patients by providing safe and quality healthcare services to them. Healthcare organizations can enhance the satisfaction level of the patients by identifying the factors affecting the quality of health. Performance of the hospital can be measured on the basis of the experience of the patients. Quality of the health care services and satisfaction level of patients are positively related with each other. Hospitals are using various strategies and techniques for the analysis of the safety, quality and satisfaction level of the patients. Lack of proper staffing in the healthcare organization affects the satisfaction level of the patients (Al-Abri Al-Balushi, 2014). According to Raivio, et. al. (2014), there are various factors which are creating an impact on the satisfaction level of the patients. These factors include bad experience gained by the patient at the front desk, long waiting time, lack of proper equipment, lack of practices of managing diversity, lack of proper communication between doctors and patients, low-quality services, lack of safety, lack of cleanliness and unattractive practices. Service quality directly creates an impact on the health and well-being of the individual. Front desk staff of the healthcare organization should deal with the patients and their families in an effective manner. Bad experience at the front desk affects the satisfaction level of the patients. Experience gained by the individual determines the preference of the patients. Frustration among the patients increases when they face issues in navigating the hospital, they have to wait for getting treated and lack of proper communication. All these factors increase the dissatisfaction level among the patients by giving them a bad experience. Chances of success and growth of the hospital are dependent on the satisfaction level and experience gained by the patient. Satisfaction level of the patients determines the quality of the services which are provided by the healthcare organization to its customers (Xesfingi Vozikis, 2016). The environment of the healthcare organization is another important element which contributes towards the satisfaction level of the patient. Satisfaction level of the patients and safety is the main goal of every healthcare organization for which it is operating. Four criteria can be considered for analyzing the satisfaction level, safety, and experience ga ined by the patient. It includes quality, efficiency, equity and acceptability (Mosadeghrad, 2014). The expectation of every patient differs which affects the experience gained by them. Cost of the service along with its quality is important. Continuous improvement in the quality of the services and safety within reasonable price is an important aspect which must be considered by every healthcare organization for providing a quality experience to the patients. Satisfaction is needed as it generates loyalty among the patients which forms a base for the success and growth of the business (Naidu, 2016). A situation of dissatisfaction among the patients arises when the services offered by the healthcare professionals is below the expectation level of the patient. Different factors need to be considered by the healthcare professionals for providing satisfied services to the patients and these factors include quality of the service, cost of the service, availability of medicines, availability of doctors, comfort level, infrastructure of the hospital, behaviour of the healthcare professio nals towards the patients and emotional support (Farzianpour, et. al., 2015). In the words of Werder (2015), the technology used in the healthcare organization creates an impact on the satisfaction level, safety, and experience of the patients. This experience has been divided into four categories and the first category is the quality of the service, communication, and safety, the second category is technology and tools used, the third category is technology as an enabler and fourth category is electronic health record and access to the records. Technology provides various benefits to the healthcare organization by meeting the expectations of the patients. Patient satisfaction level is a tool for the attainment of the goals of the hospital which can be achieved with the fulfillment of expectations of the patients. For the purpose of satisfying the patients, Healthcare setting needs to focus on the quality of the services offered. There are different ways available which can be used by the Healthcare organization for enhancing safety and satisfaction level of the patients for providing them a quality experience. These ways include providing personalised attention and accountability, transparency, enhancing the quality of the services offered, setting up call centres for collecting feedbacks related to issues faced by patients, spending time on the patient education, enhancing the atmosphere of the hospital, focusing on cleanliness of the hospital, implementation of policies and practices for eliminating discriminatory practices and managing diversity (Kennedy, et. al., 2014). Recommendations A major concern of the Healthcare organizations is decreasing satisfaction and lack of proper security measures which are creating an impact on the experience of the patients. These healthcare organizations are focusing on identification of the measures or strategies which will help in providing a quality experience to the patients. These strategies which are recommended to healthcare organizations for enhancing the experience of the patients are discussed as follows: Personalised attention and accountability: healthcare professionals working in the healthcare organizations should pay personal attention to the patients for meeting their expectations and needs. It will help in enhancing the quality of health of the service user. Healthcare professional must take responsibility towards the patients and must listen to the patient with patience. The healthy relationship needs to be established with the patients for making the comfortable. Communication should be made clear for making the patients understand the aspects discussed and patient centered care approach need to be adopted for providing better services. Healthcare professionals should be available in the rotation for ensuring the health of the patients (LaVela Gallan, 2014). Transparency: transparency needs to be maintained in the healthcare setting for gaining the trust of the patients. Hospitals need to ensure that fair practices are being followed within the organization. Healthcare professional must ensure that patients are aware of every aspect related to their health and which is a part of its treatment. Every patient must be considered equal and equal treatment should be provided. Enhancing the quality of the services offered: the focus of the healthcare organization should be on enhancing the quality of the services offered. It is the most important aspect which affects the health of the individual. For enhancing the quality of the services offered, focus on the healthcare professionals should be on providing attention to the needs of the patients and encouraging equal treatment to every patient for ensuring that every patient is satisfied with the quality of the healthcare services provided by the organization (Ali Ahmed, 2010). Setting up call centers for collecting feedbacks related to issues faced by patients: for listening to the issues or complaints of the patients, a separate department needs to be established where patients can lodge their complaints. These complaints and issues must be given importance and focus should be on eliminating the aspects affecting the quality of the services and delivery of the services on time. Feedback forms should be provided to the patients for collecting immediate feedbacks from the patients. Spending time on the patient education: healthcare professionals need to avoid being in a rush while providing healthcare services to the patients. Patients are sometimes unsure and confused and it is the responsibility of the healthcare profession to clear the doubts of the service user. Healthcare professional must educate the patient and provide a summary of the discussion for ensuring that proper understanding is developed (Farley, et. al., 2014). Focusing on the cleanliness of the hospital: It has been analyzed that patients develop infections due to the lack of cleanliness in the hospital. Quality of the hospital is an indicator with the help of cleanliness of the premises of the hospital. These cases of infection developing at the premises of hospital can be eliminated with the help of proper cleanliness. Enhancing the atmosphere of the hospital: a hospital is a place where patients feel relaxed and away from noises. Hospitals should maintain a less noisy, harsh free and clean environment for the patients. This can be done with the help of use of effective equipment at the atmosphere of the hospital (Billingsley, 2015). Implementation of policies and practices for eliminating discriminatory practices: discriminatory practices can affect the quality of health of the patients. Hospitals need to implement effective policies and practices which will help in eliminating discriminatory practices. Every patient must be provided equal attention for enhancing the experience of the patient. A check needs to be kept by themanagement for ensuring that staff of the hospital is complying with policies and practices formulated for eliminating discriminatory practices. These policies and practices will ensure the safety of the patients (stman, et. al., 2015). Managing diversity: patients of the hospital are from different cultures, background, age, gender, caste, and race. These aspects must be considered by the hospital so as to ensure that quality healthcare services are being offered to the patients. The language barrier may affect the quality of the healthcare services. For the purpose of communicating with the patients from a different culture, technology can be used and training can be provided to the staff of the healthcare setting for communicating with the patients in an effective manner. Use of innovative technologies: advanced technologies can be used for providing better healthcare services to the patients. Hospitals must focus on providing results of the tests timely so as to ensure that proper treatment is provided to the patient on time. Technology can be used for storing the details of the patients. This will enhance the quality of the health of individual which will contribute towards the enhanced health of the patient and quality experience. Equipment needs to be installed near the patient so that it can call the health care professional during emergency situations (Gau, et. al., 2013). Conclusion Thus, it can be concluded from the above discussion, that there are various factors present in the healthcare setting which is affecting the health of the patients. Due to these factors, quality of health of the patients and satisfaction level of the patients is decreasing. It results in providing a bad experience to the patients. The focus of the healthcare setting should be on enhancing the quality of the services offered to the patients which will enhance the experience gained by them. A healthcare organization can adopt different strategies which will help in providing quality healthcare services to the patients and enhancing their experience. These strategies are discussed in this report which will contribute towards the enhanced experience of the patients. References Al-Abri, R. Al-Balushi, A., 2014, Patient Satisfaction Survey as a Tool Towards Quality Improvement,Oman Medical Journal. 2014;29(1):3-7. Ali, S. S. Ahmed, F., 2010, Measuring Indian Patients' Satisfaction: A Case Of Private Hospitals, School of Economics and Management. Berkowitz, B., 2016, The Patient Experience and Patient Satisfaction: Measurement of a Complex Dynamic, The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. Billingsley, R. A., 2015, Improving the Patient Experience by Implementing Patient-Centered Care in a Community Hospital, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Projects, 70. Farley, M., Enguidanos, E. R., Coletti, C. M., Honigman, L., Mazzeo, A., Pinson, T. B., Reed, K. Wiler, J. L., 2014, Patient Satisfaction Surveys and Quality of Care: An Information Paper, Annals of Emergency Medicine, Volume 64, no. 4. Farzianpour, F., Byravan, R. and Amirian, S., 2015, Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction and Factors Affecting It: A Review of the Literature, Health, 7, 1460-1465. Gau, Y. M., Buettner, P., Usher, K. Stewart, L., 2013, Burden experienced by community health volunteers in Taiwan: a survey,BMC Public Health, 13, p.491. Kennedy, D. M., Fasolino, J. P. Gullen, D. J., 2014, Improving the patient experience through provider communication skills building, Patient Experience Journal, Vol. 1: Issue 1, Article 10. LaVela, S. L. Gallan, A. S., 2014, Evaluation and measurement of patient experience, Patient Experience Journal, Vol. 1: Issue 1, Article 5. Mehta, S. J., 2015, Patient Satisfaction Reporting and Its Implications for Patient Care, AMA Journal of Ethics, Vol. 7, pp. 616-621. Mosadeghrad, A. M., 2014, Factors influencing healthcare service quality,International Journal of Health Policy and Management. Naidu, A., 2016, Factors affecting patient satisfaction and healthcare quality, Research Gate. stman, M., Ung, E. Falk, K., 2015, Health-care encounters create both discontinuity and continuity in daily life when living with chronic heart failure - A grounded theory study,International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 10. Raivio, R., Jskelinen, J., Holmberg-Marttila, D. Mattila, K. J., 2014, Decreasing trends in patient satisfaction, accessibility and continuity of care in Finnish primary health care a 14-year follow-up questionnaire study,BMC Family Practice. Werder, M., 2015, Health information technology: A key ingredient of the patient experience, Patient Experience Journal, Vol. 2: Issue 1, Article 19. Xesfingi, S. Vozikis, A., 2016, Patient satisfaction with the healthcare system: Assessing the impact of socio-economic and healthcare provision factors,BMC Health Services Research.

Rules for You Put All of Your Company’s Products free essay sample

Once you put all of your company’s products into their respective categories, you then consider these rules: 1. Stars:  invest your marketing dollars in these since they could become dominant market leaders 2. Cash Cows:  milk these to provide the cash to invest in your stars and a few question marks 3. Question Marks:  invest in the most promising of these as well — but only a few 4. Dogs:  cut the leash and let these go to the highest bidder for some much needed cash To illustrate, imagine that you’re Coca-Cola. Your portfolio might look something like this: Question Mark:  your energy drink brand (Full Throttle) ? Star:  your bottled water (Dasani) ? Cash Cow:  your namesake soft drink (Coca-Cola) ? Dog:  your sweetened juice drink (Hi-C) As Coca-Cola’s CMO, you would use income from Coke to invest primarily in Dasani and Full Throttle, while looking to sell off Hi-C to some private equity fund with too much cash on its hands. We will write a custom essay sample on Rules for You Put All of Your Company’s Products or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But before you rush off and start reallocating your dinero, consider these caveats†¦ Caveat #1: Markets change with the economy and other conditions — sometimes very quickly. What if consumers make a massive shift from bottled water to tap water, as many municipal governments are doing? Dasani is doomed. Or what if  Tiki Bar TV  uses Hi-C as a drink mixer, making it a hip and trendy drink amongst geeks overnight? Your dog is now a star†¦ Caveat #2: One company’s dog is another company’s cash cow (or better). Some investors have struck gold by buying another company’s dogs. In 2003, Nike bought troubled Converse for only $305 million (less than what the movie â€Å"Iron Man† earned in two months). Tips: Invest for sales growth and market share. Use cash from Cash Cows to support required investments. Star examples: Apple = iPhone Coca-Cola = Vitamin Water Cash Cows Low Growth, High Market Share [pic] †¢ Foundation of the company and Stars of yesterday †¢ Generate more cash than required †¢ Extract profits by investing as little cash as possible †¢ located in an industry that is mature and not growing or declining Tips: Maintain the strong market position and defend your market share. Take advantage of sales volume and leverage the size of operations. Support other businesses. Cash Cow examples: Apple = iPods Coca-Cola = Coca-Cola Classic Dogs Low Growth, Low Market Share [pic] †¢ Cash traps †¢ Do not have potential to bring in much cash †¢ Number of dogs in country should be minimalized †¢ Business is situated at a declining stage Tips: Optimize your current operations. Get rid of all non value added activities and features. Reposition your offering to generate positive cash flow or sell this business. Dog examples: Apple = Since good company should not have any dogs Coca-Cola = New Coke

Mozart Review essays

Mozart Review essays Listening Analysis: Mozarts Mass in C Minor Mozarts Mass in C Minor, also known as The Great Mass, is a large multi-movement piece of sacred music. I picked this piece because I particularly enjoyed the part commonly known as Et incarnates and I wanted to focus on this solo. The Great Mass was written for both vocals and orchestra, and contains vocal soloists. The entire Mass orchestration consists of a flute, two oboes, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, three trombones, a string section, and an organ. The choir consists of four sections, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and four soloists; two sopranos, one tenor and one bass. The particular section I am focusing on, Et incarnates, is a solo section for a mezzo-soprano. The orchestration consists of violins, violas, two horns, and an oboe. Et incarnates has a ternary form including an intro and a coda. Et incarnates has an Andante moderato tempo, which means it was at a walking to medium pace. It sounds very joyous, and the words of praise that are sung ref lect this upbeat tempo. It has a 4/4 meter, and that remains fairly steady through all sections. The melody is conjunctive, so the notes are all closer together, almost in a step-like motion. The harmony of Et incarnates is consonant, so the pitches blend well with one another, as well as with the melody. The intro to Et incarnates is orchestration only. It begins with the violins and violas for the first two measures. Then the horns pick up with the same tune that the violins and violas were playing. It is upbeat and has almost a skip-along feel to it. The first and third section begins with a mezzo-soprano soloist singing to the same skip-along feel that is in the intro. The violins are in the background and after the soloist is done singing, the violins mimic what she sang. The violins and violas create a b...

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment Essay

Personal experience with mental illness and treatment - Essay Example As a young baby, he seldom played with any of us, and preferred to play with his toys. None of us thought anything of it. When he turned 3, and still didn’t utter a single word, our parents became concerned and consulted a few doctors and psychotherapists. Initially my brother was misdiagnosed with Down’s syndrome. A chromosomal disorder, in which individuals range from mild to profoundly mentally disabled. His speech therapy started when he was 3 years old with minimum results and no results whatsoever in trying to get him to socialize with other children. Our parents thought the doctors were not doing their job properly and kept changing schools and doctors, speech therapists and other professionals. People who came in contact with my brother did not realize he had some sort of disability till they tried to interact with him. After which they tried to socialize but getting no response from my brother, left him alone. We continued to treat him according to what the doctor initially diagnosed as Down’s syndrome, not understanding why he wouldn’t talk and why he wouldn’t socialize. It is characteristic of a Down’s syndrome child to be friendly, and have some form of speech, where as my brother had very limited, 2-3 word sentence speech and hardly any friends. He was most friendly with his nanny and both me and my elder sister, and managed to communicate with us. Mostly the speech therapy sessions were very discouraging and had no results to show. My brother refused to interact with the therapist and every kind of therapy he tried, ended in vain. On a conference on autism and its types, I went through the symptoms of ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and realized my brother did not have Down’s syndrome, but Autism. This explained all his primary behaviors, which were all characteristic of ASD, such as not having developed

SEE ATTACHMENT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

SEE ATTACHMENT - Essay Example The new healthcare policy opens up shared responsibility between the state and the individual, and thus, those who prefers not to avail insurance offered by the state, may exercise essential responsibility to avail healthcare pre-need policy from the open market of insurance companies (Healthcare.gov, 2012). I am willing to pay an insurance coverage that is only commensurate to my income (Healthcare.gov, 2012). Hence, it’s but proper that we are given options to choose which insurance scheme is more favorable to us as subscribers (Healthcare.gov, 2012). Section 1002 cited the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and Section 1501 (b) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (as amended) (Healthcare.gov, 2012). Applicable payments for workers are also cited in Section 1003 (Healthcare.gov, 2012). The subscribers options are however limited depending on the implementation of new healthcare policy in various states and on the age bracket of the subscribers (Healthcare.gov, 2012). For instance, the new law clearly stipulated that those who are aging below 26 years old are still covered under parent’s insurance policy and those who are beyond 65 could already avail of free preventive healthcare services and discount for medicinal prescriptions (Healthcare.gov, 2012). Those are employed will also be able to avail healthcare policies that will be provided by the company (Healthcare.gov, 2012). Providing healthcare policies for workers is an opportunity for company to avail healthcare tax credits (Healthcare.gov,

Investing in property shares

Investing in property shares http://ezinearticles.com/?Pros-and-Cons-of-Indirect-Investingid=1506834: Investing indirectly means purchasing shares of companies that hold large portfolios of securities on behalf of their share holders. Indirect investing is a great opportunity for those who are willing to start investing with a small amount, having no previous knowledge or experience of stock markets ups and downs. You can decide if indirect investing is the right choice for you after examining the following features. The advantages associated with investing in property shares is that investors gain from greater liquidity since property company shares are publicly traded and the time taken to buy and sell these shares is far shorter than the time taken to buy and sell real property. Investors can create diversified property portfolios of property company shares at relatively low costs and in most cases, buying into diversified property portfolios in acquiring those shares. Transaction costs are lower than direct purchase. Finally since the price of publicly traded shares are known at any given time, there are no uncertainties as to the value of them. This is a contrast to direct investment with the buying and selling of real property, whereby it can take a matter of days to establish the values. Possibly the biggest advantage of indirect investment is the expertise and high standard management that comes along with investing in indirect property investment vehicles, as far as someone who knows little about property investment is concerned. Property investment companies have experts specializing in investment analysis and portfolio management and these companies will always stand a better chance for positive yields as compared to a common man who barely knows about financial markets. Furthermore another advantage with indirect investment vehicles is the opportunity for the investor to capitalise on discounts and premiums, especially in the case of close-ended funds. The net asset value of investment companys share keep going up and down based on companys performance and these shares are not always traded on net asset value. If sold at a price lower then net asset value, these are said to be sold at discount and if the price is higher then net asset value, they are selling at premium. This provides an opportunity to earn, even when the Net Asset Value has not changed. Neverthless there are disadvantages to investing in property shares. Firstly, the prices of property shares move up and down with the stock market, as such they are more voliatilie. Between 1970 and 1992 the annualised standard deviation of UK property shares was 27 per cent compared to 11 per cent for direct property as measured by the Jones Lang Wooton Index (Barkham and Gelthbner, 1995). It should be noted that when the impact of gearing was removed form property share prices and when the JLW series desmoothed, the standard deviations were much clooser in magnitude. Since according to finance theory, risk-adjusted returns should equalise, property companies should offer higher average performance to compensate investors with this volatility. Secondly another disadvantage is that since property companies are taxed on their profits , their is no full tax transparency . As such tax-exempt investors such as pension funds are unable to claim back corporation tax. A notable disadvantage of investing in indirect property vehicles is that although mutual funds are managed by qualified professionals and experts, no expert can guarantee a profit on every investment made. There are many uncontrollable variables involved and then there is always a chance of unpredictable happening, normally referred to as the great unknown. Mutual funds can be divided into different categories on basis of risk, for example hybrid fund being less risky while specialized stock funds falling in the high risk high return category. Another disadvantage is the charges involved in buying into property shares, trusts and funds. Investment companies do not provide the high quality portfolio management services for free. This can off putting to the would be investor because they also have to pay additional charges associated with dealing through a broker as most property investment companies do not offer direct purchase plans. Also, most of these companies run excessive marketing and sales campaign because of competition. Some part of this expense is also charged from investors, known as sales load. In addition, another disadvantage is the lack of control that the investor has in guiding their investments. This can be off putting to a investor who wants control and they have to alternatively rely fully on the companys management decisions regarding investment. Another shortcoming is that investing in property shares, trusts and funds are not guaranteed by any government body or authorities nor do they provide any specific protection. The shareholder has little influence over the acquistion and disposal decisions made by the company, nor overfinancing decisons (the amount of borrowing -gearing or leverage and the issuing of new shares which dilute the value of existing shares). Since share prices should reflect judgements about the quality of management, the equity markets provides some form of discipline. The shareholder may also find it difficult to obtain full information on the property assets and development schemes of the company, particularly where there exist complex own ership structures with joint ventures and off balance shet holdings. The advantages of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are alike to that of property shares in terms of lot size, liquidity, public trading and price information, with the added advantage of tax transparency. As many researchers have pointed out, there has been an explosive growth of the REIT market. For example the market capitalisation of the industry has gone from $1.88 billion in 1972 to $44.31 billion in 1994 for the total index with a substaintial amount of that growth in the equity index (without healthcare). Also the breakdown between two types of REITs in the index was as follows: 205 equity REITs with a reported value if $62.06 billion (70.4 per cent of total assest value); 32 mortgage REITs with a reported value of $21.78 billion (24.7 per cent); and 23 hybrid REITs with a reported value of $4.34 billion (4.9 per cent). This boom in the market was a direct result of the 1986 Tax Reform Act that allowed greater management flexibility and established a less restrictive tax environment as such more tax transparency, creating the conditions for growth in the REIT market. However, in common with property company shares, REITs exhibit higher volatility than the direct market. The advantages of investing in Property Unit Trusts and Managed Funds is that they offer relatively low unit costs , allowing investors to acquire an interest in a diversified property portfolio without excessive commitment of capital. However there are potential disadvantages in terms of lack of management control and illiquidity. In theory, there is some liquidity in that units may be redeemed on a monthly basis. In practice, in a poor market or when a when a high proportion of units are attempting to sell, the manager may defer redemption. Furthermore, the spread (gap between unit purchase and redemption prices) tends to increase when there is selling pressure, harming performance. Finally, since selling pressure tends to occur in falling markets, sales take place in poor conditions and are, in effect, forced rather than open market sales. These disadvantages temper the benefits in terms of lot size and diversification. The disadvantages of conventional debt instruments such as mortgages, mortgage debentures and bonds is that the lender as a investor cannot benefit from any growth in rents and capital values: there is downside, but no upside risk. The risk-adjusted return will, therefore, change with conditions in the property market. Innovative forms of debt funding have similar characteristic. Deep discount bonds are sol below par (that is, at less than their face and redemption value) so that the investor obtains capital growth on redemption. A number of hybrid debt-equity instruments have been developed which enable the investor to participate in market performance. Since convertible mortgages are loans secured on a property (or, possibly, a portfolio of properties). The lender has an option to convert some or all of the loan into a direct or indirect equity interest in the property. Thus, the lender can benefit from greater than anticipated growth in the property market. The borrower can benefi t from lower interest rates or from the lender permitting a higher loan to value ratio, thus reducing the borrowers own equity input. Furthermore there are tax and accounting advantages in participating mortgage structures for both the borrower and the lender, whereby the lender receives a premium related to the sale price (or agreed valuation) at redemption. However, a legal problem the fact that the lenders call option acts as a clog the equity of redemption, preventing a borrower from clearing debt and thus owning the asset unencumbered has, at the time of writing, not been decisively resolved and has been the subject of Law Commission deliberations in the UK. The principal advantages of property derivatives relate to their low unit costs , the ability to gear up investment and the ability to gain exposure to the property market without incurring high levels of specific risk (for example, a PIC enabled an investor to track the IPD portfolio then valued at some  £40bn) for just  £250,000. However, there are a number of drawbacks. These include questions about the information content of commercial property indices, lags in the publication of the indices and the fact that the investor is buying into average performance and cannot hope to outperform the market. he key condition for successful development of property derivatives is the establishment of an active secondary market. This requires sufficient market capitalisation, investors prepared to trade actively in the market (as opposed to buying the initial offering and holding it to redemption) and, critically, differences in opinion as to future trajectories of the underlying assets o r index. There must be buyers and sellers. Once established, it is possible that price movements in the derivative market will, as in other capital markets, have implications for pricing in the underlying direct property market. The introduction of UK REITs means small investors are now able to invest indirectly in a truly diversified property portfolio, buying low cost and easily tradable units, instead of having to purchase, say, entire properties. A major advantage of UK REITs is their tax-efficient nature. Investors avoid the double taxation that any investor in property company shares faces, as tax wont be payable on rental or capital gains earned within a REIT (as the REIT organisation is exempt from corporation tax on qualifying property income and gains). Investors will only be liable for the tax due on income received as dividends. Because UK REITs pay out such a large portion (90%) of their profits in dividends, theyre also particularly attractive to small income-seeking investors. Without the challenges associated with the current double taxation regime, UK REITs may differ from existing quoted property companies in that their prime focus may be less about capital growth than maximising shareholder dividends. They are able to meet the needs of the property investment market and the small investor in that they offer regular and potentially high-yielding returns. Also access to property investment for small investors is for minimal outlay as such there is less exposure to their investments. It offers portfolio diversification for investors and as such more leverage against risk. Buying into REITs offers a more attractive form of diversification than by buying into a wider range of bonds or equities simply because they have a higher correlation with diversification than equities and bonds have (reita.org, All about REITs) Liquidity easy to buy/sell Lower transaction costs compared to buying property directly (stamp duty on direct property is up to 4%, whereas buying shares in a UK REIT will only be subject to stamp duty of 0.5%)Access to property investment in a variety of sectors and geographical locations Strong corporate governance. The major concern about investing in REITs as a means of gaining exposure to the commercial property market is their correlation to equities. Because REITs are stock market listed companies, the performance of their shares is inevitably affected by the performance of the market. In the short-term, ie over periods of less than 18 months, the performance of REITs shares is likely to be more closely correlated to that of other shares than it is to that of commercial property. Having said that, commercial property, whether direct or indirect, should be considered for long-term investment rather than short-term speculation. Like any investment, the value of a REIT can go down as well as up and past performance isnt necessarily an indicator of future performance. If you are looking for advice on where to invest, Reita would always recommend seeking independent financial advice from an investment professional.