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admin — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:55:08 +0000

Beyond The Basics- Finance And Accounting Outsourcing

admin — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:47:34 +0000

There are numerous tasks of a company that are being outsourced today, from a company’s main services offered to the market to a company’s human resources duties. However, there is one that has been around since the birth of the concept of outsourcing as it is one of the internal corporate tasks that need expert attention and this is none other than finance and accounting outsourcing. It would be permissible for the general public to assume that accounting is one of the major solutions being outsourced today.

Most people would only think about accounts receivable, accounts payable and general accounting upon hearing the words finance and accounting outsourcing but it seems that there is another degree to it that is on the rise, which is financial planning & analysis. This particular branch has been present for the past few years but it is outsourced less frequently as it has not yet penetrated the market compared to the more popular ones.

A recent study by Everest Research Institute suggests that financial planning & analysis has a significant movement in terms of finance and accounting outsourcing contracts. The market research firm reported that between the years 2005 to 2009, the sealed contract renewals included a financial planning & analysis scope. In addition to this, it was also mentioned that the key players in the contract signing are from the manufacturing and retail industries.

Global leaders in outsourcing offering this kind of service, such as Genpact (NYSE:G), Wipro (NYSE:WIT), Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY), and Accenture (NYSE:ACN), are now enhancing their Financial Planning & Analysis capabilities since they are seeing that there is still room for improvement and there is a great possibility that this specific degree of outsourcing will see a boom in the coming years. Vengroff, Williams & Associates, a global service provider for order to cash processes, predicts that finance and accounting outsourcing will gain higher value this 2011. Accenture (NYSE:ACN), which is one of the companies mentioned above, has added another set of services to offer the market, to be delivered through their facilities in Cebu, Philippines. These services are focused on non-voice solutions which consist of finance and accounting solutions, among others.

However, as great as the idea of outsourcing financial planning & analysis may sound, it seems that not all countries are capable of extending their services yet, since there is a certain level of expertise needed to perform such tasks. This particular branch of finance and accounting outsourcing requires a higher level of expertise and training, compared to that of the other offerings under the same category. Taking into account the Philippines, the country may be regarded as one of the top destinations for outsourcing, especially for contact center solutions, but still financial planning & analysis outsourcing is still at its infancy in the country.

In the coming months and years, we may expect that the popularity for this degree of finance and accounting outsourcing service will increase and that the countries that promote outsourcing will be fully capable of extending their services to companies around the globe.

Fidelity Net Benefits

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:52:39 +0000

As our client, The Retirement Group must be able to work with your company’s benefits administrator. A major administrator that we work with is Fidelity Netbenefits. The Retirement Group has no affiliation and neither are endorsed by Fidelity or Netbenefits. However, we have become specialists in navigating the Netbenefits website and can easily aid clients in accessing their benefits information.

Fidelity Netbenefits created an easy to use site to help members of Fidelity Investments view and manage their 401(k) savings plans. This site, http::/netbenefits.fidelity.com, enables its investors to direct all aspects of their 401(k) plan from the comfort of their own home.

Upon logging on to the site, you will be taken to the Home page where the balances and portfolio total of your retirement accounts are shown. If you have other Fidelity investment accounts they may be accessed here as well. Several functions exist on this Home page to help navigate through this site easier. Quick Links is used to retrieve important account information more directly and the Your Profile tab allows you to view your personal information, specify mailing preferences, and more. A Netbenefits tour is available if you want to learn more about how to manage your account and plan for retirement.

To get a better understanding of your investments, you can view the Your Portfolio section under the Savings & Retirement tab. Here you can look at your investments in each of your accounts in more detail. If you want help in making a more informed decision about your investments, third-party research is on hand under the Portfolio Research section of the site. Under Portfolio Analysis you can get a better picture of what you own. This section provides you with your overall asset allocation and can compare it against other investment plans to check its performance.

Netbenefits has made their site easy to follow so you can manage and take action of your investments as you like. Investors can instantly check their current rates of return, view performance summaries, and check online statements up to 24 months prior. Along with that, investors can make adjustments to their paycheck deductions and change future contributions without difficulty.

Planning resources provided in the Tools & Learning box under the Savings & Retirement tab benefit to investors. You can find links under this section that will help further prepare you for retirement and any other important goals you may have.

Other valuable resources that Netbenefits provides are articles and workshops relating to financial planning. A calculator is at hand to help you estimate your net pay, expenses, payments, etc. With the complexity of present-day 401(k) plans, all of these resources are central factors to consider.

Today, millions of people contribute to their 401(k) plan provided by their employer. As a defined-benefit retirement plan, employees set aside part of their income that is then invested to build savings for the future. However, 401(k) plan facts can differ greatly from company to company. This makes it vital for employees to evaluate their plan and its options to make sure it is customized to fit their individual needs.

Mortgage Leads – Allows You to Save Time and Money!

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:52:38 +0000

If you are looking for compiling and collecting more mortgage related information, then its time to opt for mortgage leads. It’s the single most effective method through which you can gather more information about customers that are looking for mortgage loan or mortgage refinancing like options to make their lifestyle better. Mortgage leads are a kind of systems that has been designed to acquire information about the real types, purposes and amounts of the mortgage loans. Along with that such system can keep track of customers contact information successfully.

Often mortgage leads can bring you more help while trying to acquire the required mortgage related services like mortgage lead generation and management system. It will also cover the areas like online mortgage leads and can bring you more help. Mortgage lead management system is a web-based system that can manage and distribute leads successfully.

Due to the announcement of mortgage lead management system; things are getting easier for the mortgage companies to while trying to save money and time. Before most of the lead generating agencies are doing such task manually. However, it’s the mortgage lead management system that is now allowing lead generating agencies to mechanize many tasks with the help of such effective web based system quickly. Now these agencies can match the leads and send them for their customers effectively and that will exactly consume less time for them.

This kind of system can automate most of the business process, which also includes normal phone calls and adding money for the customers account. Due to such reason most of the mortgage brokers and lenders are now preferring to opt for the mortgage leads management system in order to draw more convenience.

Mortgage leads generation is the system that allows people to get connected with the mortgage real estate leads and information that are also related to the ongoing deals and few other services that are having important details for mortgage loan leads. If you are having sound knowledge about the cost factor that is related to real estate market and you are having great expertise to handle the issues concerned to the clients, then it’s the mortgage leads management system that can bring you more good results.

A single mortgage lead management system can collect and distribute most of the information to your potential clients and at the same time it can keep track of their requirements. This is also a great way for businesses to generate list of potential customers that are really interested to know more about your unique services.

In this regard Livemortgageleads4u.com can bring you enough good results. Hiring services from such website will allow you to save more money and time for your business process effectively. At the same time you can look forward for an increased ROI. This website is offering live mortgage leads that guarantees cent percent contact ratio for your business.

Is 10 persent Enough?

admin — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:39:22 +0000

A cOmmOn rule of thumb when planning for retirement is to save 10% of your gross income during your working years. Since this rule of thumb has been around for a long time, it’s logical to question whether it’s still an appropriate guideline. Several trends suggest that it is probably on the low side:

fewer individuals are covered bY definedbenefit plans. The 10% guideline anticipated that a retiree would receive a defined-benefit pension as well as Social Security benefits. But a substantial portion of the work force is no longer covered by a defined-benefit pension.

the social securitY sYstem will face increasing pressure in the future. By 2037, due to the unprecedented number of baby boomers that will be retiring, benefits will need to be reduced by approximately 25% to equal revenues collected unless changes are made to the system (Source: Social Security Administration, 2009).

life expectancies are continuing to increase. Average retirement ages have been decreasing while life expectancies have been increasing. currently, at age 65, the average life expectancy is 82 years for a man and 85 years for a woman, compared to 78 years for a man and 81 years for a woman in 1950 (Source: Journal of Financial Planning, August 2008).

plans for retirement have changed. Another common retirement planning rule of thumb is that you’ll need 70% of preretirement income during retirement (Source: Money, January 2009). however, that guideline assumed a relatively inactive retirement lifestyle. Increasingly, retirees view retirement as a time to travel extensively or engage in expensive new hobbies. All these trends point to the fact that future retirees will be responsible for providing more of their income for a longer period of time. Thus, you should consider higher, not lower, savings rates. While 10% of income may sound like a lot of money, consider how many years you expect to work compared to how many years will be spent in retirement. Assume you start working at age 22, work until age 62, and then die at age 82. Thus, you work 40 years and are retired for 20 years – for every two years you work, you need to support yourself for one year in retirement. contrast the current situation with a typical scenario in 1950.

At that time, the average retiree worked 47 years before retiring for nine years. Thus, that person worked over five years to support one year of retirement.

For many people, then, the answer may be to extend their working years. In the above example, if you wait until age 70 instead of age 62 to retire, you will work for 48 years and be retired for 12 years. Thus,

you will work four years for every year of retirement.

These stark realities don’t mean that you can’t retire, just that you need to plan carefully. Thus, you should start saving as much as possible, as soon as possible, for your retirement.

The Golden Handshake

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:12:19 +0000

Increasingly, companies offer to buy out older workers with early retirement packages. When times are tight, they justify it by citing that younger workers are cheaper to employ. If you’re offered an early retirement window, here are some important factors to think about before accepting any buyout …

The income factor. Take a look and see if you might be able to take early distributions from your 401(k) starting at age 55 without a penalty. Under certain circumstances, you can. Now, if you have a pension plan, the income distributions will likely be age-weighted, so accepting an early retirement package may lower your pension income down the road.

The insurance factor. Most companies don’t package health insurance coverage along with that severance pay. (It would be nice if they did.) So after 18 months of COBRA, you will have to start paying premiums on a private health insurance policy. (You could also arrange coverage through your spouse’s policy.) As for life insurance, some employers will actually offer to sustain it for early retirees, but the coverage can be inadequate and the cost will likely be passed on to you.

The adjustment factor. A golden handshake can be really jarring to your life. If the writing is on the wall and you have no choice but to take it, don’t be surprised if it takes 6-9 months to settle down to a new lifestyle, a new community, or a new job. If you depend totally on your job for your satisfaction in life, or if you haven’t done much financial planning early in life, you might be surprised at how entrepreneurially you have to think (if you want to remain employed) or how fast your financial mindset has to change from accumulation to preservation. If you get a large bonus as part of the buyout, you have to consider the tax consequences and your options for tax deferral.

Attention to the basics. If you have even an inkling that you might be asked to take an early retirement in the coming months, review your finances NOW. You want to wipe out as many debts as you can, build up your emergency fund, and avoid extravagances.

If you have questions about what to do in this kind of situation, just e-mail me or give me a call and we can talk about it.

Things You Can Do with a 2nd Mortgage

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 14:12:18 +0000

A 2nd mortgage can be of a much larger benefit than just having extra money in your pocket. A 2nd mortgage is a loan on your home that is secondary to the first mortgage. With all of the advertisements for these types of loans, more people are considering them as a useful source of needed funds. If you are considering this loan, you may wonder if this is the right loan for you and if your needs can actually be met with this loan. There are an innumerable plethora of things that can be funded with a 2nd mortgage.

One thing that people often remedy with a 2nd mortgage is the issue of private mortgage insurance. Some lenders require a percentage down to avoid the payment of private mortgage insurance. One way to avoid paying the percentage down and the insurance is to take out a 2nd mortgage. This will also help you build equity in your home faster, although the interest rate will be higher than on the first mortgage.

A 2nd mortgage can also be used to fund a new business venture. Starting a new business often requires a large outlay of funds to get the business venture off the ground. Most lenders are very reluctant to provide business loans, especially if you have damaged credit or limited experience in the industry that you are attempting to enter. They are also very discriminating when it comes to the type of business that is requesting funds. Certain industries have a more difficult time in obtaining funding from traditional sources, such as the music industry. A 2nd mortgage will enable you to finance the business without having to deplete your savings, and the interest rate would be less than a typical business loan. A 2nd mortgage will also benefit funding for a business that may already be in operation but need additional capital to expand. Extra care and plenty of forethought should be taken with using a 2nd mortgage for this purpose, since not all businesses are successful and could leave you with additional debt with no extra income to cover it.

The cost of the traditional wedding is increasing every year. Many people are taking out a 2nd mortgage in order to pay for wedding costs. The price of the wedding gown, the cake, wedding gifts, the reception, and a litany of additional expenditures can be overwhelming to the couple with limited funds. The 2nd mortgage will allow people to meet those costs and plan the wedding of their dreams without having to overload credit cards and pay a higher percentage rate

The 2nd mortgage can be used for more than just adding another room onto your house, or having the roof replaced. With some planning and imagination, you can use this additional source of funds to improve any area of your life, create additional income sources, or to even begin a new life. Making the decision to take out a 2nd mortgage should not be made lightly. Use care when employing this type of loan; you could find yourself homeless if you default on this loan while you are trying to improve your life. Remember: the 2nd mortgage is tied to and secured by your home.

Debt Relief – How to Manage Your Finances and Eliminate Credit Card Debt

admin — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:45:15 +0000

Debt Relief basically intends purging you out from overpowering and ghastly debts. When we first acquire a credit card we unremittingly fail to uphold a proper financial planning. The condition is the same everywhere and our compulsive shopping spree never comes to an end.But the realization strikes us late when we finally end up spending more than we earn. Even recession has immensely played its part. It has disfigured the economy and if we do not take correct practical steps we will never be able to emerge out this crisis.

Slowly we realize ourselves getting stacked with Credit Card Debt and it accumulates like never before. Then creditors stat off with their harassing phone calls every day. In such a situation there still is some help that will aid you in coming out from these liabilities. You can opt for several Debt Relief options available like financial planning, debt consolidation or direct contact with your creditors. But it will be really helpful in future if you do not decide on filing of bankruptcy. Depending on your circumstances one can choose from the list of Debt Relief options available.

You can also hire professionals who are attached to settlement firms and they work hard in reducing your unsecured debts. They help in talking and negotiating with your creditors and come to a conclusion that will be beneficial for both debtor and the creditor. They negotiate with your creditor on your behalf acting as mediators. They conclude with a reasonably low monthly plan which can be comfortably paid by the customer within some months or years.

This is the best way to get freedom from your Credit Card Debt. Not only this, these companies also help you waiver your actual amount up to 60%. These agencies have experts who guide you through debt negotiation and take you out of these wearisome debts.

But one important word of advice is to not directly approach settlement firms present in the market. In fact, initially attend a debt relief network. They have a list of the top rated companies that are legal and have established track record as well. They are all free of cost and the recommendation and advice offered is hugely beneficial.

It would be wise to utilize a debt relief network if you are considering getting a debt settlement. The top debt relief networks are only affiliated with the best performing settlement companies that are established and proven. LegitimateDebtSettlement.com is one of the largest and most respected debt relief networks on the market.

In Wealth Management is it Speculating, Investing or Are Results Simply Random?

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:59:15 +0000

Below are a few frequently asked questions as well as answers, regarding wealth management, financial planning and the financial industry.

Q: Are my portfolios positioned to endure another economic downturn? If not, how do we ensure that they are?

A: We are long-term investors, not market-timers. We look for long-term bargains and do not try to time the markets. We must allow for our portfolios to fall during downturns in order fully participate in the long-term benefits of our wealth management. Because of market cycle fluctuations, the money we manage should be viewed as long-term money. As for retired clients who take income from their portfolios, they need to understand our goal is long-term growth of income, not short-term market timing. That said, a normal by-product of favoring investments with higher-than-average dividends, cash flow, balance sheets and price-to-value fundamentals in normal market downturns generally provides a downside cushion.

Q: What is the impact of the U.S. dollar dropping in value, and how do we protect against it?

A: In addition to inflation, another result we anticipate from the stimulus actions of our government, namely extremely low interest rates and massive borrowing/spending, is downward pressure on the U.S. dollar. This phenomenon also has dual outcomes. A devalued U.S. dollar makes domestic goods and services less expensive to countries with stronger currencies, which should make American businesses more competitive globally and thus stimulate our economy. But for consumers at home, it means that nearly everything we buy will become more expensive due both directly to increasing costs of foreign products/labor and indirectly to increasing prices of purely domestic competing goods and services. Foreign-denominated assets, such as foreign-listed stocks and bonds, directly increase in dollar terms as the dollar falls. FIM Group, however, does not invest in foreign investments merely because we are predicting the direction of currencies. As a matter of fact, we require a higher margin of safety in the prices of the foreign investments we buy specifically because of the added risks currency fluctuations may present. We currently invest in foreign economies and companies that we feel are poised to benefit from local, global and company-specific factors, resulting in our portfolios benefiting from a weakening dollar.

Q: The financial industry has convinced many investors that “markets are efficient,” “you can’t beat the market” and several other “truths,” so why should an investor pay fees for active management?

A: It is indeed true that 80% of the so-called money managers (actually mutual fund managers are the universe used in such studies) under perform the average (i.e., the market indexes). But that does not mean markets are efficient. Nor does it mean that the approaches used by the mediocre managers are anything but mediocre. Mediocrity, plus mutual fund constraints, minus fees equals lackluster performance. No argument here. But what about the other 20%? Using this theory implies that on any Sunday every football team has the same odds of winning as every other team. It implies that Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or the New York Yankees have the same probability of finishing in the top half of the pack as the bottom. The fallacy in this logic seems obvious to most people when talking about sports or other fields, yet some still believe that investment success is random. Tiger, Roger and Mr. Steinbrenner all have systematic competitive advantages.

So do investment managers who employ time-tested techniques and skills such as favoring securities with the qualities mentioned above and avoiding securities that are either overpriced or have headwinds to overcome. Yes, Tiger misses the cut sometimes. Yes, managers with solid long-term performance have periods where they under perform some arbitrary index. But in the long run, time-tested disciplines provide better returns with less downside risk (on average!) than random investing. In the case of FIM Group, we missed the cut in 2008. But we have regained ground lost to most arbitrary benchmarks (such as the S&P 500) in 2009. Nevertheless, one year versus another is not what counts. What counts are long-term results. For readers who have not been with us for more than ten years, I encourage you to ask your FIM Group adviser to show you our ten-year returns for periods ending September 30, 2009, or ten-year periods ending 2008, 2007, 2006, etc. Past performance notwithstanding, we remain forward-focused. We manage in the present, employing the timely strategies such as those described above. But we remain flexible, with our ears to the ground, and willing to change course as conditions warrant.

Mortgage Repayment Calculators

admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 13:59:14 +0000

A mortgage repayment calculator is a wonderful tool that will allow you as a home owner or prospective home owner to make sound financial decisions regarding your home mortgage. With a mortgage repayment calculator you can be assured that you have all of the details you will need heading into your loan negotiations and you can also rest assured that you have all of the facts that you need if you are seeking to refinance your mortgage. You could also get all of your information together if you are interested in paying off your mortgage early and trying to decide how much extra money you should put towards your mortgage each month. This calculator is very flexible and will give you all of the options you would ever need to make solid decisions regarding your mortgage repayment.

A mortgage repayment calculator is most often found online. most major financial institutions and personal finance blogs offer some form of mortgage repayment calculator because consumers want to have access to information and that is what this calculator will do. The calculator will allow you to have options and to be creative while you think through your mortgage repayment decisions. For example, if you know that have a 30 year fixed mortgage and you want to pay the mortgage loan off in 20 years, you can simply plug that into the mortgage repayment calculator and it will tell you how much money you will need to pay extra every month to meet that goal. Conversely, if you only have a certain amount of money extra per month that you could put towards a mortgage payment, you could input those figures and the calculator would tell you how many years of repayment you would save by making that set extra monthly payment.

All mortgage repayment calculators are not created equal however. There are certain criteria you should look for when choosing one. Make sure that the website or service offering the calculator does not collect your data or require a subscription to use their service. You will want to stay away from this because there are many calculators for free. Also make sure that the calculator gives you accurate numbers. Many calculators will try and skew your numbers to make it seem like you can afford more house than you really can. This will give you a false buying impression and could lead to bad financial decisions if you are not careful.