Investment: Time Value of Money Essay

Investment is the use of money for a future financial gain. Investments may come in the form of shares of stock, life insurance, government bonds, or putting up a savings account. Every investment decision has its underlying risks and uncertainties. Various factors can affect investment decisions and outcomes such as annuities and time value of money. Money has a time value. A dollar now is worth more than a dollar to be received at any later date. Many economic decisions involve investing money now in the hope of receiving more money later on. Various economic factors affect the time value of money such as risk, inflation, opportunity cost, and others. According to Robert C. Higgins (1999), â€Å"time value of money exists for at least three reasons†. Robert C. Higgins (1999) stated that â€Å"inflation reduces the purchasing power of future dollars relative to current ones, uncertainties surrounding the receipt of dollar increases as the date of receipt draw away, and because of the presence of opportunity cost†. In economics, inflation is a decline in the value of money in relation to the goods and services it can buy. Inflation can affect time value of money and investment decisions. Due to inflation, borrowers usually benefit while lenders suffer, because mortgage, personal, business, and government loans are paid with money that loses purchasing power over time (Encarta, 2004). It is important to understand however, that borrowers only benefit when the inflation is unexpected, when inflation is expected by creditors, the interest rate they charges rises to compensate for the unexpected decline in the purchasing power of the principal loan (Encarta, 1999). Risk or financial risk is defined as the possibility of loss in an investment. Investment decisions involve some type of risk because of the time value of money. Lenders should take into consideration various factors before extending credit such as the borrower’s ability to pay or collaterals. Interest rates on loans can also be based on the degree of risk involved. The higher the risk involved the higher interest rate. On the other hand, lower interest is imposed on low-risk loans. As mentioned above, investment decisions has its underlying risk and uncertainties, therefore before making investment decisions it is important to understand the risks and uncertainties involved. Opportunity cost is defined as the expected income on the next best alternative or the income foregone if an investor chooses one action over another (Higgins, 1999). A dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future since money today can be invested for it to double in the future. Opportunity cost depends on what action is to be considered. Before making decisions, an investor must first look for and obtain an understanding of all the available alternative courses of action. After determining the various alternatives, the differential effects of each alternative should be considered to avoid potential problems in the future. Interest is the payment made for the use of another person’s money and is regarded as a payment made for capital (Encarta, 2004). Interest can be affected by economic factors such as inflation. When interest is computed based on the principal amount, it is called simple interest. However, when interest is computed not only on the principal amount but also on the cumulative total of past interest payments, the process of interest computation is now called compounding. Compounding is the process of determining the future value of a present sum (Higgins, 1999). The interest rate used on compounding is called the compound interest rate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Discounting, on the other hand is the exact opposite of compounding. Discounting is the process of finding the present value of a future sum (Higgins, 1999). The interest rate used in discounting is called the discount rate. The amount of money to be received in a future date is usually a combination of the original investment and the interest on that investment. Discounts are rewards or considerations given on the purchase of negotiable instruments such as bills of exchange and promissory notes in advance of their maturity date. When these negotiable instruments are said to be discounted, discounts are regarded as advance collection of interest on the loans. An annuity is a type of investment that can provide a steady stream of income over along period of time (Understanding annuities, 2006). Annuity is an annual allowance, payment, or income derived from funds especially designated for the purpose (Encarta, 2004). At times, it is required to compute for the present value of a series of equal amounts to be received at the end of a series of years. Annuity earnings grow tax-deferred and are usually purchased by investors who are primarily concerned with limiting their taxes (Understanding annuities, 2006). The rule of 72 is a method of estimating an investment’s doubling time or halving time (Rule of 72, 2006). The Rule of 72 estimates the number of years it takes for an investment’s value to double at a specific interest rate or rate of return and the result can be obtained by dividing the expected growth rate into 72 to determine the number of years it will take to double. By taking into consideration the rule of 72, investors can assess the length of time in which their investment can double and to determine if their investments are feasible. Investing involves the decision of committing resources such as money for a period of time. Evaluating investment decisions involve the determination and assessment of the possible inherent risks and uncertainties. An effective investing decision requires a consideration of the time value of money. References Encarta Reference Library 2004. Microsoft Corporation Higgins, R. (1999). Analysis for financial management. Evaluating investment opportunities (pp 231-266). Washington. Irwin McGraw Hill. Rule of 72 (2006). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved December 3, 2006 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruleof72 Understanding annuities (2006). Retrieved December 3, 2006 from: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/consumer/cb078.html   

Disabilites: Curses or Blessings?

Imagine living an entire, dreadful life where every item in every single glare was black and white. Or every sprint a person takes leaves the individual breathless. Or picture an innocent, young child who cannot talk or utilize other major abilities like most of the other kids can. These are just few of the many possible scenarios anyone in the U. S. , or even the rest of the world, can have. These scenarios so to speak are disabilities. According to (http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/disabilities) a disability is a physical or mental handicap, especially one that prevents a person from living a full, normal life.Disabilities are indeed categorized as being either physical or mental handicaps, and can range from color blindness and asthma to forms of learning disabilities. Also, disabilities can occur at any stage of an individual’s life. The person can be born with the disability, or can retrieve at later age of their life. Whether the age is 16 or 80, a person can obt ain a disability at the most unexpected time of their life. For example, autism is a type of mental disability that a person is generally born with. In fact, autism affects 1 in every 110 kids and is currently the #1 growing disease in America (http://www. utismspeaks. org/what-autism/faq). Additionally, autism affects more people than cancer, HIV, and diabetes combined (http://www. autismspeaks. org/what-autism/faq). However, many people can attain a type of disability throughout their life like arthritis, which is a chronic, as well as, inflammatory disease that affects a human’s bones/discs, and can lead to multiple symptoms (http://www. buzzle. com/articles/arthritis/. Yet, despite the endless negative effects of physical, mental, and even developmental disabilities on Americans, these curses have actually been blessings in disguise throughout American history.Many Americans, like presidents or inventors, have positively impacted our country and even left legacies within history. Yet, almost all of these legends had a type of disability. So, perhaps more people have disabilities than most Americans presumed. Maybe disabilities affect so many Americans that these â€Å"special† people within society aren’t so special or different after all. These people may even be something that defies the dictionary’s definition of a disability, normal. There are three categories of disabilities, yet the physical category has the most disabilities, as well as, the most varying.Any issues relating to sight, hearing, chronic functions, or mobility are forms of physical disabilities. For instance, blindness, which is loss of vision/color due to mutations in a gene that produces a protein required by the retina (http://www. buzzle. com/articles/disabilities/), is the most common physical disability relating to the human’s sense of sight. Nevertheless, famous Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman, who rescued hundreds of slaves from t orture in South and lead to freedom in the North, developed blindness due to a severe head injury from a cruel slave owner (http://www. isabled-world. com/artman/publish/famous-blind. shtml). But that didn’t stop Tubman from giving liberty to all of her fellow slaves. Another inspiring, American woman that developed blindness, and even hearing impairment, at a rather younger age is Helen Keller. Though Helen Keller had to live her entire life with 2 of the 5 major human senses not functioning, she would still graduate college and morph into a world-famous speaker and author. Keller is remembered as being an advocate or supporter of people with disabilities (http://www. disabled-world. com/artman/publish/famous-blind. shtml).Speaking of people with hearing impairments, another brilliant American with that particular disability is the famous inventor Thomas Edison. Regardless of the deafness he attributed from scarlet fever during childhood, as well as, the other disabilities h e obtained like asperser syndrome and dyslexia, Edison still managed to greatly aid America with the simple invention of a light bulb and the phonograph (http://www. disabled-world. com/artman/publish/famous-deaf. shtml). If being blind or deaf was bad enough, just imagine being able to walk one day and then the next day unable to control the many muscles of the human body.Mobility disabilities like arthritis, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, and even stroke are just some of many examples of disabilities that a human can acquire at any moment of their precious life. Even with paralysis, another mobility disability that a medical condition where a person loses all the control over his/her muscles, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) still managed to serve at the 32nd President of the U. S. for a record-holding 4 terms. Being paralyzed from the waist down, FDR executed multiple treatments like UV lights, massages, and mineral baths.He con sulted a number of other physicians and therapists in a vain effort to revitalize his muscles, but no success came. (http://www. disabled-world. com/artman/publish/famous-polio. shtml). However, FDR was successful in â€Å"walking† in front of Congress, as well as, the entire world in producing one of his most famous speeches. The last form of a physical disability a human can encounter is chronic illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, or even Club Feet like what the famous founder of the Radical Republicans Thaddeus Stevens got hold of.Stevens suffered many hardships in his childhood including club feet, a birth defect in which the foot is twisted in and down, and without treatment, afflicts a person to walk on their ankles. (http://www. disabled-world. com/artman/publish/famous-clubfoot. shtml). Another popular disease, that successful presidents like John F. Kennedy, Woodrow, and Teddy Roosevelt suffered from, was asthma, which is a chronic co ndition involving the respiratory system in which the airway occasionally constricts, becomes inflamed (http://www. isabled-world. com/artman/publish/asthma-famous. shtml). Yet, this didn’t prevent any of these admirable men from completing the challenging duty of serving as the President of the United States. The other 2 categories of disabilities are mental and developmental disabilities. These classes of disabilities do not contain as many, or varying diseases as the physical category, but possesses unique effects and information for scientists to use in discovering a remedy in the challenging world of medicine.Mental disabilities like Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety disorder, memory loss, phobias, and hell even schizophrenia offer more mysterious and unexplainable effects to a human than most physical diseases do like possessing memory loss, or obsessive behavior, or even specific fears to things like snakes or heights. Though most Americans most likely know those dis eases, what these Americans probably don’t know is that one of the greatest presidents in American history, Abraham Lincoln, suffered from a mood/bipolar disorder, which is a condition where the prevailing emotional mood is distorted or inappropriate. Depression/unipolar depression and ipolar disorder are two major types of mood disorder. According to many historians, the Emancipation Proclamation creator suffered from depression. (http://www. disabled-world. com/artman/publish/mooddisorders-famous. shtml) But, this did not stop Lincoln from aiding to free slaves in the South and even playing a major role in uniting the Union and the Confederacy during and after the Civil War. If possessing multiple abnormalities in the perception or expression of reality like a Schizophrenic or containing constant anxiety that stresses a person to an overwhelming rate like a person with an anxiety disorder (http://www. uzzle. com/articles/) was not mind-bottling enough, people should observe the developmental disabilities. Most developmental disabilities are complex learning disabilities like ADD/ADHD, down syndrome, or autism that almost all of these victims are born with due to unfortunate genetics. For instance, asperser syndrome, which has symptoms like being reluctance to listen or difficulty understanding social situations, etc, is another learning disability that is caused mainly by genetics.Therefore, many legendary American presidents or congressmen like Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson were diagnosed with Asperser’s. Even famous American inventors like Alex Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, Henry Ford, who created Ford cars, and Thomas Edison had Asperser syndrome. Additionally, Thomas Edison, as well as, Woodrow Wilson possessed dyslexia, which is a specific learning disability that manifests primarily as a difficulty with written language, particularly with reading and spelling (http://www. isabled-world. com/artman/publish/article_2130. shtml#ixzz1jOL7TeXN ). Many Americans, at some point in their life, can dream of being the president of the United States. Or many American can imagine inventing an item almost as useful as a time machine, or even impact America so immensely that their name will forever be echoed in history. But, almost all of American didn’t dream of accomplishing these great deeds in a wheelchair, or with vision and/or hearing impairments, or even with a severe learning disability.Yet, many historical Americans ranging from Abraham Lincoln and FDR to Thomas Edison and Helen Keller maybe dreamed or didn’t dream of making such impacts on our country. Nevertheless, these legends achieved all these tasks with disabilities under their belt. Perhaps disabled Americans won’t achieve such monumental tasks, or have their name repeated in the history books. Perhaps disabled Americans will never live what some people consider â€Å"a normal life†. But, maybe there are more Americans with physical, mental, and developmental disabilities than most people presume.Maybe since there were so many disabled Americans that accomplished so much throughout history, as well as, in our country today that disabled people could be considered. Or perhaps most disabled Americans won’t live an ordinary life. These Americans could live an extraordinary life. Works Cited â€Å"Disabilities | Define Disabilities at Dictionary. com. † Dictionary. com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary. com. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions | Autism Speaks. † Autism Speaks |. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Arthritis | Buzzle. com. † Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 4 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"List of Disabilities and Disability Facts | Buzzle. com. † Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous Blind and Vision Impaired Persons. † Dis abled World. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous Well Known People with Hearing Impairments and Deafness. † Disabled World. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous People Who Had and Have Polio. † Disabled World. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous People with Club Feet or Foot. † Disabled World. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous People with Asthma. † Disabled World. Web. 14 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Famous People with Mood Disorders. † Disabled World. Web. 14 Jan.

Hardware used in my created system Essay

The hardware my system will use is a keyboard and mouse for input and it will use a monitor and a printer for output. The actual computer tower itself is obviously required hardware, and includes a hard drive, RAM for process storage, the CPU to run all the processes in the computer and there are other things too. The wage slip is my output product (as well as the leaflet), as it is what I want to get out of my system. The input is the data in the spreadsheet, and the spreadsheet is obviously the store of this data. The process itself is getting the input to the output, and the way we do that is by using mail merge. Mail merge automatically moves the data from where we input it into our wage slip which will be printed, which is our output. Each part of my system needs hardware. The input which is the data requires a keyboard. Storage requires a hard drive, obviously. The process requires a CPU and RAM to function and the output (wage slip) requires a printer & monitor. My system can be described as a number of subsystems. The wage slip is a system in itself, having the spreadsheet as input data and storage, the actual mail merge being the process then the wage slip being your output. But deeper down, the spreadsheet alone is a system, with data entered in as input, the cells storing the data. Then the processes are the formulas manipulating the data, finally giving us wage figures as our outputs from the spreadsheet sub-system. The problem with the hardware I am using is that with a keyboard and mouse, lots of errors can be made, even with validation rules. Someone may type a 7 in hours instead of 8 and then that employee would get underpaid. A better system would be to use a card scanner, fingerprint scanner or barcode scanner with recognition of each employee’s card/fingerprint. A person could scan in when they enter the work place and then rescan back out and then the data of how many hours they had worked could automatically enter into the spreadsheet, therefore making error almost impossible. The problem with this is that there is a larger initial cost for the technology needed over a mouse and keyboard input. There are also completely different systems like using pen and paper†¦ The upside of this is that it’s extremely cheap as no expensive hardware or software is needed. There are many downsides to this system though. First of all, it is very slow, as each wage slip must be written out individually and all calculations have to be done by hand and then written down. Furthermore, lots of errors can be made using pen and paper because the calculations aren’t as consistent as using some kind of computer. Hand writing may be misread on the calculations and then it could make catastrophic mistakes when copying out the calculation results onto the wage slip. Writing each wage slip out would take so much time that it probably wouldn’t even be feasible in this day and age. Automated wage slips overcome this problem Commercial systems are normally very accurate but they’re made for very large scale operations, and so cost a lot of money. Also, our system uses very basic hardware that any computer will have, and can be adapted to the user’s needs.

U.S history Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

U.S history Response Paper - Essay Example Historically speaking, Britain had vast areas of America under its control in the 1760s. These areas served extensively to increase the wealth of the island and helped it regain some of the assets which it had lost during the wars with other European powers at the time. However, Britain overplayed its hand when it wished to have exclusive trading rights with the colonies and though that whatever was good for the empire was good for the colonies (Wikipedia, 2006). Much like a line of thought today that suggests that whatever is good for the rich is good for America. Up to the mid 1760s, many people in America considered King George to be a father figure for the colonists but the British parliament continued to enact laws which were nothing less than economic sanctions. The Sugar Act and the Currency Act are just two examples of this behavior and such acts not only made the colonists more wary of the government, they also encourage actions against the writ of the government (Marston, 2002). Common sense dictates that if a law is being ignored by everyone in sight, it should not remain a law because such conditions only lead to the lessening of the value of the law. The British government tried to enforce the law and failed, thereafter many of the laws were repealed but the damage had been done by then. The cause of the patriots had been set in motion by the British themselves since the patriots did nothing more than to react to whatever situation was presented to them. On the other hand, the Loyalists were willing to come to terms with the British government since the British offered a lot of things besides taxation. Many of the colonies were still young and depended on the strength of the empire to help them stabilize and tame the land (Gorn et. al., 2004). Of course the third option of remaining neutral was also available during the initial stages of

Male, Masculine, Virility Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Male, Masculine, Virility - Assignment Example and bodily health are the distinguishing characters in the personality of a perfect man and are often highlighted in men related to military or sports. The sense of independence and sacrifice makes him the focal point of pride and attention. Considering from a physical point of view, the perfect soldier has a well built frame, perfect height, a muscular figure and above all the perfect attitude. Who does not notice a soldier? He is the one fighting for the sovereignty of his country and wherever he is mentioned, shown or written about no one can deny the vitality of their purpose. The country’s defenses are vested upon its military. Usually countries engage each other in cold wars which are more political than physical but sometimes things get ugly and that is when military comes into action. This valor, bravery and prestige are the identification of a virile man. No imaginary depiction of superheroes can compete with a real life existing soldier ready to sacrifice his life in the name of his people. The self- respect, honor and pride associated with this notion are a source of benefit for the entire nation. This not only gives the nation a sense of confidence and security but also something to get inspired from. As far as physical disabilities are concerned, society attributes such men to be weak and vulnerable, while for them this approach is a source of constant self-pity and dependence. It destroys the remainder of their talents and points of encouragement; all this in the name of natural disabilities. â€Å"Paralytic disability constitutes emasculation of a more direct and total nature. For the male, the weakening and atrophy of the body threaten all the cultural values o masculinity: strength, activeness, speed, virility, stamina, and fortitude.†(Murphy 94) For men their bodies are the focal point of identification and attribution. In military special attention is given to physical health of soldiers along with stamina building. So they form an

Edit the google part and make the conclusion more longer Essay

Edit the google part and make the conclusion more longer - Essay Example Some may argue that they used unorthodox methods in order to get to their status. This is because by innovating new ways of management, they succeeded in doing the unthinkable. Google "asked 45 year olds for their GPAs" (Lashinsky, 2008); Apple tied its proprietary software with its proprietary hardware (Kahney, 2008), and SEMCO eliminated time clocks for employees (Semler, 1989). In this essay, we will study the different methods these companies run, and how it has made them successful. We will also suggest how these same systems can become an eventual detriment. We will give a review of each from articles and will make connections between them. In the article How Apple Got Everything Right by Doing Everything Wrong, a unique and old-fashioned strategy is utilized. This strategy is the main reason Apple is one of the most dominant and successful start-up companies in the market. Steve Jobs is the spokesperson for Apple and is featured as the â€Å"evil genius.† Furthermore, Steve Jobs is not just a public face, but instead, he is the brains behind a vast majority of Apple’s innovative ideas and operations of the company. Apple has expressed great entrepreneurial merits by envisioning the gaps in the market. These gaps represent the difference between what the market needs and Apple’s current product offerings. The company intends to do this without attempting to copy from the existing companies. This includes creating new categories that have become must-have products. Apple has been operating in a highly challenging market where it is constantly exposed to intense competition and close imitation. For this reason, Apple formulated a strict security of the development of their products. Often the team members of Apple were unaware of the outcome of the product design. The product design of Apple is rapidly changing, which creates product obsolescence and interdependence between hardware, software, and internet applications— these are some

Children's Communicable Diseases Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Children's Communicable Diseases - Assignment Example Most parents dread vaccinating their children because they believe that the vaccines used are not safe for their children. They strongly believe that the vaccines used cause autism as well as other neurological disorders, thus exposing their children to health risk in the future. In order to reconcile parents rights to make health decisions for their children with the states responsibility to protect its citizens, the state and federal governments should enact a law that compels parents to vaccinate all their children. The state is charged with the responsibility of making sure that all its citizens are safe. As such, federal government should make childhood vaccination a mandatory process for all children (Bradley, Bradley & Burls, 2012). The safety of children and all other citizens overrides parent’s right to make health decisions for their children, particularly when it is in the wrong way. Besides, states and federal government should promote public awareness through massive and robust public education about vaccines and the importance of vaccination. This can help dispel misguided belief that vaccines skeptics propagate through media and other social platforms. Public health professionals also argue that childhood vaccination is a life-and-death issue that needs to be made