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Showing posts with label disadvantages. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disadvantages. Show all posts

Monday, May 30, 2011

How Outsourcing Benefits Business and the Economy But Not Necessarily Individuals

Outsourcing does cause job losses, and can contribute to lower consumer spending but it can make corporations wealthier. Over the long run, wealthy corporations are advantageous to the economy especially if that wealth is used to grow businesses and increase employment.

For people who lose jobs it's difficult to rationalize the personal implications of being part of a greater economic formula that theoretically benefits the population at large. For businesses, outsourcing often has many benefits that assist in meeting corporate goals, shareholder expectations and economic objectives.

To not outsource would be riskier than outsourcing and the benefits of outsourcing outweigh any disadvantages if accounted for properly. In the long term outsourcing provides corporate, community and economic cures that would be a missed opportunity had outsourcing never taken place. Below are a few of the benefits enjoyed by companies that successfully outsource.

• Lower employment related costs
• Increased revenue
• More investment capital
• Creation and/or maintenance of more specialized jobs
• Improved competitiveness
• Outsourcing reduces the need for office space in pricier real estate markets lowering overhead costs.


The negative impacts of not outsourcing

Companies outsource to exist in a competitive world with the hope of getting an edge. If they didn't outsource they could potentially face lower profit margins, decreased equity capitalization, reduced advertising, marketing and research budgets in the short term alone. In the long term a chronic decrease in profit, equity, leveraging and operating budgets could lead to decreased market share, higher financing interest rates, even more decreases in profit and budgets and then possible downsizing, take over or bankruptcy.

Social consequences of outsourcing do not outweigh the benefits

While outsourcing may not be considered ethical or valuable to a community of workers the benefits outweigh the costs at both the corporate and macro-economic levels. The corporate advantages are outlined above and the economic benefits include the following:

• Potential for higher Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Increased financial leveraging both domestically and internationally
• Improved chances of economy improving innovations across various industries
• Possible increased market share and/or reduce market share loss
• Greater global market positioning in terms of GDP can lead to
• Sustained and/or improved confidence in national currency

It is evident outsourcing not only advances corporate goals but also national goals. While it is true that not everyone benefits from downsizing the advantages to a nation outweigh the costs. Laid off workers who retrain have a greater chance of improving their financial situations and in the long run a more specialized and skilled workforce can emerge in part from the effects of outsourcing. This more skilled and specialized workforce can be advantageous both at the community level, corporate level and national level in terms of know how, income potential and standard of living.

Outsourcing is more likely to be a cure for corporate ailments than a problem. The advantages can be seen across more than corporate balance sheets and income statements, but also in society, national economic performance in addition to corporate bottom lines. There a few negative short term impacts on local communities of workers, but in the long run, the advantages do outweigh the costs, and future generations may be thankful that outsourcing has taken place.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Disadvantages of a reverse mortgage

Disadvantages of reverse mortgages exist in addition to the advantages, however the disadvantages aren't always consistently applicable to all mortgagees. Since reverse mortgages are crafty yet worldly-wise financial instruments that may or may not be the best retirement income opportunity for you, a good understanding of them is useful when weighing your financial choices.

Depending on the conditions within the housing market and your personal circumstances a reverse mortgage also has potential disadvantages that may not exist at the time of origination. Specifically, if the income provided by a reverse mortgage is essential, and for some reason you have to leave your home, that income may vanish as a requirement of reverse mortgages is for them to be paid after leaving the home.

Another disadvantage of reverse mortgage is valuation and interest rate risk. Although the two tend to have an inverse relationship,  if the housing market is experiencing slow sales, low construction levels, and high foreclosures the prospect of price appreciation dims and a larger reverse payout reduced. Even if the reverse mortgage is refinanced at a higher amount in the future, most of the costs of the original reverse mortgage are duplicated in the refinance.

The costs of reverse mortgages are also a disadvantage as origination of the loan run into multiple thousands of dollars. According to the Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (RMLA), the costs of a reverse mortgage include a two percent origination fee for the first $200,000 and one percent thereafter, an additional two percent mortgage insurance fee, closing costs, appraisal fee and loan servicing fees. So for example, a $190,000 reverse mortgage would cost as much as $8,000-$10,000 to originate.

Qualification for reverse mortgages isn't always a shoe in either. Typically a high ratio of equity to debt should be present to qualify for and acquire the most loan from the property and even then the income may not be as advantageous as other financial strategies such as downsizing the home and reinvesting the surplus capital for another type of income stream that isn't from a reverse mortgage loan.

Reverse mortgage terms may not be flexible either. If you haven't paid your property tax, mortgage insurance or don't meet home maintenance requirements the mortgage may be called in. This could pose a significant problem for tenured reverse mortgages with lifetime income streams. In light of this, being fully aware of the terms of the mortgage prior to origination is a good idea.

Lastly, if you are planning on having a large estate for a charitable foundation or any other number of reasons, reverse mortgages might be a disadvantage to you due to their net worth depreciating effect. Serious health problems can also be a disadvantage in reverse mortgages.  For example, if your health requires relocation into a location other than your home, the terms of the mortgage can require the home to be liquidated and reverse mortgage income to expire. If this scenario hasn't been accounted for in advance it could  pose a significant disadvantage to the financial practicality of a reverse mortgage.

Sources:

1. http://bit.ly/dqrKFD (Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association)
2. http://bit.ly/YcRvH  (Federal Trade Commission)
3. http://bit.ly/owKrR  (Department of Housing and Urban Development)
4. http://aarp.us/bJ8Q3K(American Association of Retired Persons)
5. http://bit.ly/d75ktu (Washington State Department of Financial Institutions)