Finance & Insurance

Vehicle/Car Insurance

2007-12-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

Vehicle insurance (or auto insurance, car insurance, motor insurance) is insurance purchased for cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Its primary use is to provide protection against losses incurred as a result of traffic accidents.

Coverage levels

Insurance can cover some or all of the following items:

The insured party
The insured vehicle
Third parties

Different policies specify the circumstances under which each item is covered. For example, a vehicle can be insured against theft, fire damage, or accident damage independently.

Excess

An excess payment, also known as a deductible, is the fixed contribution you must pay each time your car is repaired through your car insurance policy. Normally the payment is made directly to the accident repair garage when you collect the car. If your car is declared to be a write off, your insurance company will deduct the excess agreed on the policy from the settlement payment it makes to you.

If the accident was the other driver's fault, and this is accepted by the third party's insurer, you'll be able to reclaim your excess payment from the other person's insurance company. If the other driver is uninsured, a policy's minimum limits include coverage for the uninsured/underinsured motorist(s) at fault.

Compulsory Excess

A compulsory excess is the minimum excess payment your insurer will accept on your insurance policy. Minimum excesses do vary according to your personal details and driving record and by insurance company.

Voluntary Excess

In order to reduce your insurance premium, you may offer to pay a higher excess than the compulsory excess demanded by your insurance company. Your voluntary excess is the extra amount over and above the compulsory excess that you agree to pay in the event of a claim on the policy. As a bigger excess reduces the financial risk carried by your insurer, your insurer is able to offer you a significantly lower premium.

Public policy

In many countries it is compulsory to purchase auto insurance before driving on public roads. In the United States, penalties for not purchasing auto insurance vary by state, but often involve a substantial fine, license and/or registration suspension or revocation, as well as possible jail time in some states. Usually the minimum required by law is third party insurance to protect third parties against the financial consequences of loss, damage or injury caused by a vehicle. Typically, coverage against loss of or damage to the driver's own vehicle is optional - one notable exception to this is in Saskatchewan, where SGI provides collision coverage (less a $700 deductible) (such as a collision damage waiver) as part of its basic insurance policy. In South Australia Third Party Personal insurance from the State Government Insurance Corporation (SGIC) is included in the license registration fee. South Africa allocates a percentage of the money from petrol into the Road Accidents Fund, which goes towards compensating third parties in accidents. Most countries relate insurance to both the car and the driver, however the degree of each varies greatly.

In the United States, auto insurance is compulsory in most states, though enforcement of the requirement varies from state to state. The state of New Hampshire, for example, does not require motorists to carry liability insurance, while in Virginia residents must pay the state a $500 annual fee per vehicle if they choose not to buy liability insurance.

Real Estate

2007-12-07T09:28:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Real Estate, in broad definition, land and everything made permanently a part thereof, and the nature and extent of one's interest therein. In law, the word real, as it relates to property, means land as distinguished from personal property; and estate is defined as the interest one has in property.

Real estate may be acquired, owned, and conveyed (or transferred) by individuals; business corporations; charitable, religious, educational, fraternal, and various other nonprofit corporations; fiduciaries, such as trustees and executors; partnerships; and generally by any legal entity as determined and defined by the laws of the various states of the U.S. Limitations are established in connection with sales of real estate by minors, incompetents, and certain types of corporations, and generally in cases involving some form of legal disability or lack of capacity. In such instances, it is necessary in some jurisdictions to make application to the courts for permission to sell; in other jurisdictions such transfers are governed by statute.

Real property is generally acquired by purchase, by descent and devise, or by gift. When acquired by purchase, a deed is given by the seller, or grantor, to the purchaser, or grantee. The deed contains a legal description of the property conveyed; it must be drawn, executed, and acknowledged in proper form to be entitled to record. It is customary for the seller and the purchaser to enter into a contract, at which time the purchaser makes a deposit on account of the purchase price. The purchaser engages an attorney or a title company to search the title to the property. The title company ensures that the seller can convey clear title. The transaction is then closed; that is, the property title is transferred and the balance of the purchase price is paid.

When an owner of real property has died intestate, or without leaving a will, title to the property is said to pass by descent to the heirs; when he has died testate, or leaving a will that has been probated, the property passes by devise to the person or persons so designated in the will.

Transfer of real property by gift, as, for instance, to churches, educational institutions, or fraternal orders, is easily accomplished merely by the execution and delivery of a deed.

The greatest and most extensive interest that may be acquired in realty is described in law as a fee interest, a term that implies a proprietary ownership, free and clear of conditions. Fee interest is the most common form of ownership; with certain exceptions, private homes, apartment buildings, factories, office buildings, and similar properties are owned in fee.

THE CONDOMINIUM CONCEPT

Condominium ownership, which was introduced in the U.S. in 1961 and has since been widely adopted, implies separate ownership of individual apartments or units in a multiunit building. The purchaser of a condominium becomes the owner of a particular unit and of a proportionate share in the common elements and facilities. The unit may be separately mortgaged; the owner pays taxes and a fixed monthly sum to maintain the common elements. In the sale of a unit, the seller executes and delivers to the buyer a deed conveying all right, title, and interest in and to the entire condominium as well as the particular unit.

COOPERATIVE OWNERSHIP

Cooperative ownership, which on the surface seems similar to condominium ownership, is in fact quite different. In cooperative ownership, title to the multiunit building usually is vested in a corporation. The purchaser of an apartment or a unit actually buys stock of the corporation; in addition to a stock certificate, a cooperative member receives a lease to the apartment, in which he or she is named lessee.

As a holder of stock, each cooperative member has an ownership interest in the corporation, which in turn owns all the units and common areas. Each tenant pays to the corporation a fixed rent, which is applied to the payment of a single blanket mortgage and real estate taxes covering the entire building, and to the payment of insurance premiums and maintenance costs for the upkeep of the common areas and facilities, which each tenant uses in common with all other unit owners. In the sale of a cooperative unit, the seller surrenders his or her stock and lease to the corporation, which in turn issues a new stock certificate and lease to the purchaser. The form and structure of cooperatives vary, and in some states are regulated by law.

Apart from actual ownership, an interest in real estate may consist of a lease, a mortgage, a lien, or other encumbrance on the property.

Public Finance

2007-12-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Public Finance, field of economics concerned with how governments raise money, how that money is spent, and the effects of these activities on the economy and on society. Public finance studies how governments at all levels—national, state, and local—provide the public with desired services and how they secure the financial resources to pay for these services.

In many industrialized countries, spending and taxation by the government form a large portion of the nation's total economic activity. For example, total government spending in the United States equals about 40 percent of the nation's gross domestic product—that is, the value of all the goods and services produced within the United States in one year.

WHY PUBLIC FINANCE IS NEEDED

Governments provide public goods—government-financed items and services such as roads, military forces, lighthouses, and street lights. Private citizens would not voluntarily pay for these services, and therefore businesses have no incentive to produce them.

Public finance also enables governments to correct or offset undesirable side effects of a market economy. These side effects are called spillovers or externalities. For example, households and industries may generate pollution and release it into the environment without considering the adverse effect pollution has on others. If it costs less to pollute than not to, people and businesses have a financial incentive to continue polluting. Pollution is a spillover because it affects people who are not responsible for it. To correct a spillover, governments can encourage or restrict certain activities. For example, governments can sponsor recycling programs to encourage less pollution, pass laws that restrict pollution, or impose charges or taxes on activities that cause pollution.

Public finance provides government programs that moderate the incomes of the wealthy and the poor. These programs include social security, welfare, and other social programs. For example, some elderly people or people with disabilities require financial assistance because they cannot work. Governments redistribute income by collecting taxes from their wealthier citizens to provide resources for their needy ones. The taxes fund programs that help support people with low incomes.

PUBLIC SPENDING

Each year national, state, and local governments create a budget to determine how much money they will spend during the upcoming year. The budget determines which public goods to produce, which spillovers to correct, and how much assistance to provide to financially disadvantaged people. The chief administrator of the government—such as the president, prime minister, governor, or mayor—proposes the budget. However, the legislature—such as the congress, parliament, state legislature, or city council—ultimately must pass the budget. The legislature often changes the size and composition of the budget, but it must not make changes that the chief administrator will reject and veto.

Government spending takes two forms: exhaustive spending and transfer spending. Exhaustive spending refers to purchases made by a government for the production of public goods. For example, to construct a new harbor the government buys and uses resources from the economy, such as labor and raw materials. In transfer spending the government transfers income to people to help them support themselves. Transfers can be one of two kinds: cash or in-kind. Cash transfers are cash payments, such as social security checks and welfare payments. In-kind transfers involve no cash payments but instead transfer goods or services to recipients. Examples of in-kind transfers include food stamp coupons and Medicare. Recipients of food stamp coupons exchange the coupons for groceries.

As recently as the 1960s most spending by the U.S. government was exhaustive spending for items such as national defense, roads, airports, schools, and parks. In the mid-1960s transfer spending began to grow rapidly. In the United States today, over 50 percent of federal government spending is for cash and in-kind transfers. About 20 percent of state and local government spending is transfer spending.

PUBLIC REVENUE

Governments must have funds, or revenue, to pay for their activities. Governments generate some revenue by charging fees for the services they provide, such as entrance fees at national parks or tolls for using a highway. However, most government revenue comes from taxes, such as income taxes, capital taxes, and sales and excise taxes.

An important source of tax revenue in most industrialized countries is the income or payroll tax, also known as the personal income tax. Income taxes are imposed on labor or activities that generate income, such as wages or salaries. In the United States, income taxes account for about half of the total revenue of local, state, and federal governments combined. The federal government, many state governments, and some local governments levy personal income taxes.

Another important source of government revenue is the capital tax. Capital includes items or facilities that generate profits, such as factories, business machinery, and real estate. Some types of capital taxes are known as “profits” taxes. One kind of capital tax used by the federal government in the United States is the corporate income tax. A property tax is a capital tax used by state and local governments. Property taxes are levied on items such as houses or boats.

Sales and excise taxes are also a major source of government tax revenue. Many state and local governments levy a sales tax on the purchase of certain items. Consumers usually pay a percentage of the sales price as the tax. Excise taxes are used by all levels of government. An excise tax is levied on a specific product, such as alcohol, cigarettes, or gasoline. The tax is usually included in the purchase price.

In Canada and many European, South American, and Asian countries, a value-added tax (VAT) provides significant revenue. The VAT is levied on the value added to a product during production as its components are assembled into final goods. For example, a clothing manufacturer might spend $500 on fabric, thread, zippers, and other goods required to make dresses. The manufacturer then adds $1,000 to cover the costs of labor and the use of machines and equipment and sells the dresses for a total of $1,500. The value-added tax is paid on this $1,000.

HOW PUBLIC FINANCE AFFECTS THE ECONOMY

Government spending and taxation directly affect the overall performance of the economy. For example, if the government increases spending to build a new highway, construction of the highway will create jobs. Jobs create income that people spend on purchases, and the economy tends to grow. The opposite happens when the government increases taxes. Households and businesses have less of their income to spend, they purchase fewer goods, and the economy tends to shrink. A government's fiscal policy is the way the government spends and taxes to influence the performance of the economy.

When the government spends more than it receives, it runs a deficit. Governments finance deficits by borrowing money. Deficit spending—that is, spending funds obtained by borrowing instead of taxation—can be helpful for the economy. For example, when unemployment is high, the government can undertake projects that use workers who would otherwise be idle. The economy will then expand because more money is being pumped into it. However, deficit spending also can harm the economy. When unemployment is low, a deficit may result in rising prices, or inflation. The additional government spending creates more competition for scarce workers and resources and this inflates wages and prices.

The total of all federal government deficits forms the national debt. The size of the U.S. national debt has grown during the 20th century. The debt equaled about $25 billion in 1919 after World War I and about $260 billion in 1945 after World War II. In 1970 the debt stood at about $380 billion. Ten years later, the national debt had soared to nearly $1 trillion. In 2000 the national debt totaled $5.7 trillion.

Many people are concerned about the size of the U.S. national debt. They fear that a large amount of debt harms the economy and feel that the money used to pay interest on the debt could be better spent on other uses. Some people are also concerned about the ability of future generations to pay back the debt. However, many economists argue that the size of the debt is misleading. They point out that an important measure of the severity of a nation's debt is its size as a percentage of the nation's gross domestic product. Based on this measurement, the national debt of the United States during the mid-1990s was about half the size of the U.S. debt at the end of World War II in 1945. Other economists contend that when the balance of the debt is compared between years it does not account for the effects of inflation, which makes balances from later years appear larger.

Mortgage

2007-12-07T09:26:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Mortgage, legal instrument that pledges a house or other real estate as security for repayment of a loan. By providing a guarantee that the loan will be paid back, a mortgage enables a person to buy property without having the funds to pay for it outright. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender may foreclose on the property—that is, force the sale of the house to recover the amount of the loan.

The mortgage lending process has two instruments, a note and a mortgage. The note specifies the financial terms of a loan agreement. The mortgage contains a legal description of the property and a statement that pledges the property as security for the loan. However, the word mortgage commonly refers to both parts of the loan agreement as a whole.

GETTING A MORTGAGE

A borrower can obtain a mortgage from a bank, credit union, or other lender. Most lenders require the borrower to have a certain amount of money to use as a down payment toward the purchase of the house. For example, if an individual wants to buy a home priced at $100,000 and the lender requires a down payment of $5000, the individual will apply for a loan of $95,000 to pay for the difference.

A lender requires detailed information about borrowers to assess their ability and willingness to repay a loan. For example, a borrower will be asked about income, employment history, and credit history. The lender will also inquire about any debts, such as a car loan or credit card balances.

Before the lender agrees to a loan, an appraisal of the property by a qualified third party is required. The appraisal provides an estimate of the property's value. The lender wants to be certain that the property is worth at least as much as the loan in case of foreclosure.

If all requirements are met, the lender agrees to the loan. The loan agreement specifies the current interest rate and the loan's repayment terms. The terms of repayment specify how much the regular payments will be, how frequently they will be made, and over how many years. The interest rate and the duration, or life, of the mortgage determine the amount of the payment. Payments are usually made monthly. The life of the mortgage can be 15, 20, 30, or even 40 years.

To accept the loan the borrowers must sign a promissory note that obligates them to repay the mortgage debt. The borrower also promises to keep the property insured against fire and other hazards, and to pay any property taxes that may be owed. If the borrower fails to keep any of these obligations, the loan is considered to be in default, and subject to foreclosure.

The actual transfer of funds and property takes place at the closing. At the closing the lender transfers money to the borrower for buying the house and the borrower signs the mortgage documents. The borrower also pays the lender any fees associated with borrowing the money. These might include origination costs for creating and processing the loan, fees for obtaining reports on credit history, and fees for obtaining an appraisal.

REPAYING A MORTGAGE

Mortgage payments consist of two parts: payments for interest and for principal. Interest is the fee for using the lender's money. Principal is the amount of the loan still owed. A portion of each payment pays interest and the remaining portion reduces the principal. The process of paying off the principal while paying interest is called amortization.

When a homeowner begins to repay his or her mortgage almost all of each monthly payment pays for interest. This changes as the loan ages, even though the amount paid each month may not change. Each month's payment reduces the principal by a small amount; therefore less interest is owed the next month. Since less interest is owed, more of the payment can be used to reduce the principal. Gradually less of each month's payment is needed to pay interest, and more goes to reduce the principal.

For example, if a person borrows $80,000 at 8.0 percent for 20 years to buy a home, he or she will make monthly payments of about $669.15. Out of the first month's payment, about $533.33 pays interest on the principal ($80,000 × 8 percent interest per year ÷ 12 months per year = $533.33). The balance of the monthly payment, $135.82, reduces the principal. The second month's payment is based on the new principal of $79,864.18. This time, $532.43 goes toward interest ($79,864.18 × 8 percent ÷ 12 months) and $136.72 reduces the principal. The relationship between the amount of each monthly payment that goes to interest and principal changes over time. The first 13 years of a 20-year mortgage—or about two-thirds its life—pays back half the principal. During the last seven years, more and more of the monthly payment goes to reduce the principal until the debt is completely paid. At the end of the 20-year, $80,000 mortgage, the borrower will have made 240 monthly payments totaling about $160,500.

KINDS OF MORTGAGES

The two most common mortgages in the United States are the fixed-rate mortgage and the adjustable-rate mortgage. With a fixed-rate mortgage, the interest rate stays the same over the life of the loan. With an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM), the interest rate can change at the end of pre-determined intervals, such as every six months or every year. The interest rate is tied to changes in a published index that reflects the current interest rate. One widely-used index is the interest rate of United States Treasury bonds. If the index has gone up at the end of the adjustment period, the mortgage rate goes up, and thus the borrower's payment also goes up. Conversely, if the index has gone down, the mortgage rate goes down, and the mortgage payment goes down. Neither the lender nor the borrower can influence or predict in which direction the index will move. Most ARMs have a maximum interest rate cap.

Other, less common mortgages include the balloon mortgage and the graduated payment mortgage. A balloon mortgage is a short-term loan. The borrower makes payments for some period of time and then makes one large payment at the end. The graduated payment mortgage starts out with low monthly payments, which gradually increase over time before stabilizing.

In the United States certain government programs make it easier for borrowers to obtain a mortgage by lessening the risks for the lenders. Programs administered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) help low- and moderate-income borrowers obtain loans for housing by providing insurance for lenders against borrower default. The borrower pays for the mortgage insurance by paying a fee to the FHA. If the borrower defaults, the FHA will compensate the lender should the house sell for less than the amount of the mortgage debt. The Veterans Administration (VA) administers programs that guarantee loans made to qualified veterans. If the borrower defaults, the VA repays the lender a specified part of the mortgage loan. Other agencies buy mortgages from lenders and sell them to investors. The money the lender receives from the sale can be used to issue additional mortgages. These agencies include the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or “Fannie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or “Freddie Mac”), and the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or “Ginnie Mae”).

Money

2007-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Money, any medium of exchange that is widely accepted in payment for goods and services and in settlement of debts. Money also serves as a standard of value for measuring the relative worth of different goods and services. The number of units of money required to buy a commodity is the price of the commodity. The monetary unit chosen as a measure of value need not, however, be used widely, or even at all, as a medium of exchange. During the colonial period in America, for example, Spanish currency was an important medium of exchange, while the British pound served as the standard of value.

MONEY AND THE ECONOMY

The functions of money as a medium of exchange and a measure of value greatly facilitate the exchange of goods and services and the specialization of production. Without the use of money, trade would be reduced to barter, or the direct exchange of one commodity for another; this was the means used in primitive societies, and barter is still practiced in some parts of the world. In a barter economy, a person having something to trade must find another who wants it and has something acceptable to offer in exchange. In a money economy, the owner of a commodity may sell it for money, which is acceptable in payment for goods, thus avoiding the time and effort that would be required to find someone who could make an acceptable trade. Money may thus be regarded as a keystone of modern economic life.

Types of Money

The most important types of money are commodity money, credit money, and fiat money. The value of commodity money is about equal to the value of the material contained in it. The principal materials used for this type of money have been gold, silver, and copper. In ancient times, various articles made of these metals, as well as of iron and bronze, were used as money, while among primitive societies commodities such as shells, beads, elephant tusks, furs, skins, and livestock served as mediums of exchange. The gold coins that circulated in the United States before 1933 were examples of commodity money because the value of the gold contained in the coin was about equal to the value of the coin. Credit money is paper backed by promises by the issuer, whether a government or a bank, to pay an equivalent value in the standard monetary metal, such as gold or silver. Paper money that is not redeemable in any other type of money and the value of which is fixed merely by government edict is known as fiat money. This is the type of money found today in the United States in the form of both coins and dollar bills. Credit money becomes fiat money when the issuing government suspends the convertibility of credit money into precious metal. Most fiat money began as credit money, such as the U.S. note known as the greenback, which was issued during the American Civil War. Most minor coins in circulation are also a form of fiat money, because the value of the material of which they are made is usually less than their value as money. For example, the amount of nickel in a nickel coin today is less than its value as money.

Both the fiat and credit forms of money are generally made acceptable through a government decree that all creditors must take the money in settlement of debts; the money is then referred to as legal tender. If the supply of paper money is not excessive in relation to the needs of trade and industry and the people feel confident that this situation will continue, the currency is likely to be generally acceptable and to be relatively stable in value. If, however, such currency is issued in excessively large volume in order to finance government needs, confidence is destroyed and it rapidly loses value. Such depreciation of the currency is often followed by formal devaluation, or reduction of the official value of the currency, by governmental decree.

Monetary Standards

The basic money of a country, into which other forms of money may be converted and which determines the value of other kinds of money, is called the money of redemption or standard money. The monetary standard of a nation refers to the type of standard money used in the monetary system. Modern standards have been either commodity standards, in which either gold or silver has been chiefly used as standard money, or fiat standards, consisting of inconvertible currency paper units. The principal types of gold standard are the gold-coin standard, the standard in the United States until 1933; the gold-bullion standard consisting of a specified quantity of gold; and the gold-exchange standard, under which the currency is convertible into the currency of some other country on the gold standard. The gold-bullion standard was used in the United Kingdom from 1925 to 1931, while a number of Latin American countries have used the dollar-exchange standard. Silver standards have been used in modern times chiefly in Asia. Also, a bimetallic standard has been used in some countries, under which either gold or silver coins were the standard currency. Such systems were rarely successful, largely because of Gresham’s law, which describes the tendency for cheaper money to drive more valuable money out of circulation.

Most monetary systems of the world at the present time, including those in Canada and the United States, are fiat systems; they do not allow free convertibility of the currency into a metallic standard, and money is given value by government fiat or edict rather than by its nominal gold or silver content. Modern systems are also described as managed currencies, because the value of the currency units depends to a considerable extent on government management and policies. Internally, the monetary systems of Canada and the United States contain many elements of managed currency; although gold coinage is no longer permitted, gold may be owned, traded, or used for industrial purposes.

Economic Importance

Credit, or the use of a promise to pay in the future, is an invaluable supplement to money today. Most of the business transactions in the United States use credit instruments rather than currency. Bank deposits are commonly included in the monetary structure of a country; the term money supply, in its most narrow definition, denotes currency in circulation plus bank deposits.

The real value of money is determined by its purchasing power, which in turn depends on the level of commodity prices. According to the quantity theory of money, prices are determined largely or entirely by the volume of money outstanding. Experience has shown, however, that equally important in determining the price level are the speed of turnover of money and the volume of production of goods and services. The volume and speed of turnover of bank deposits are also significant.

THE MONETARY SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES

Like all modern industrialized societies, the monetary affairs of the United States are managed by a central bank. Central banks act as banker’s banks, have a monopoly on the issuance of paper money, and often act as the government’s bank. As late as 1890, there were only about 20 central banks in the world, but by 2000 there were more than 160. In the United States the dollar is the unit of currency, and the Federal Reserve System is the central banking system that manages the currency. As the currency for the largest economy in the world, the U.S. dollar is the dominant world currency and the currency most often used to conduct international transactions. In 1998 the U.S. dollar accounted for over 50 percent of all foreign currency deposits. Dollar deposits are a foreign currency when held by a bank outside the United States. In 1997, the ten largest banks in the world were headquartered outside the United States, but the U.S. dollar was the most important world currency.

Early Monetary Regulations

In the American colonies, coins of almost every European country circulated, with the Spanish dollar predominating. Because of the scarcity of coins, the colonists also used various primitive mediums of exchange, such as bullets, tobacco, and animal skins. Many of the colonies issued paper money that circulated at varying rates of discount. The first unified currency consisted of the notes issued by the Continental Congress to finance the American Revolution. These notes were originally declared redeemable in gold or silver coins, but redemption was found impossible after the revolution because of the excess of printed notes over metal reserves. Thus, the notes depreciated and became nearly worthless.

In 1792 Congress passed the first coinage act, adopting a bimetallic standard under which both gold and silver coins were to be minted. The gold dollar contained 24.75 grains of pure gold and the silver dollar 15 times as much silver, making the legal mint ratio 15 to 1. At this ratio gold was undervalued at the mint, as compared with its value as bullion, and very little gold was presented for coinage. Silver dollars also were largely withdrawn from circulation, because they could be exported to the West Indies and exchanged at face value for slightly heavier Spanish dollars, which were then melted down and taken to the mint for coinage into American dollars at a profit. Until 1834, when Congress adopted a mint ratio of 16 to 1 by reducing the weight of the gold dollar, the metallic currency was limited mainly to a meager supply of small silver and copper coins. The first Bank of the United States, which was chartered by Congress in 1791 for 20 years, and the second Bank of the United States, which existed from 1816 to 1836, issued bank notes that maintained a fairly stable value. Many state-chartered banks also issued notes that, because of the lax state banking laws, often greatly depreciated in value. After the closing of the second Bank of the United States, most of the paper currency consisted of notes of state-chartered banks and circulated only in a limited area.

After 1834, silver was undervalued at the mint; its market value was constantly higher than its coin value. As a result, gold gradually replaced silver in the monetary stock, especially after the discovery of gold in California in 1849. To relieve the famine in small coins, in 1853 Congress reduced the weight of the half-dollars, quarters, and dimes by 7 percent. Because the new subsidiary coins were worth more as money than as bullion, it was possible to keep them in circulation. As a result of a revision of the coinage laws in 1873 the silver dollar was omitted from the list of coins authorized for minting. Although the coinage of silver dollars was resumed in 1878, the metallic gold dollar remained the monetary standard of value in the United States; thus, bimetallism was legally discontinued and the gold standard adopted. Actually, silver dollars had been an insignificant part of the currency since early in the century.

During the Civil War (1861-1865) the governments in both the North and the South financed their needs through the issue of fiat money. The notes issued by the Confederate treasury and the Southern states became entirely worthless after the war. The U.S. notes (greenbacks) and other paper money issued by the federal government also depreciated rapidly, especially after the suspension of payment in specie (redemption of paper money with coins, usually of gold or silver) in 1861, and gold and silver coins were driven out of circulation. In 1863, the National Banking Act authorized the establishment of national banks that could issue bank notes backed by government bonds. A 10-percent tax levied on state bank notes in 1865 forced state banks to discontinue issuing them, thus giving the national banks a monopoly of bank-note issue. The state banks, however, remained an important element in the banking system.

After the elimination of the silver dollar in 1873, the greatly expanded production of silver in the West caused the value of silver to fall sharply and led to agitation by the silver interests for restoration of the free coinage of the silver dollar. In this effort they were joined by political groups who favored the free coinage of silver as a means of improving general economic conditions. This agitation led to the passage of the Bland-Allison Act in 1878 and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, under which the Treasury was directed to purchase larger amounts of silver for coinage. The former law also created the silver certificate, which remained an important part of U.S. currency until it was retired in 1968. The Sherman Silver Act, which introduced into the stream of currency an enormous quantity of overvalued silver and caused a drastic decline in the gold reserve of the Treasury, helped bring on the panic of 1893 and was repealed by Congress in that year. Even so, silver was the main issue in the 1896 presidential campaign, when William Jennings Bryan called for free coinage of silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. The silver forces were defeated, and in 1900 the Gold Standard Act affirmed the gold dollar as the standard unit of value.

Federal Reserve System

The next important change in the currency system was introduced by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, which authorized the establishment of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks, with power to issue two types of currency. The first, and most important, was the Federal Reserve note, which is issued under conditions consistent with economic stability and the needs of trade and industry. As member banks require more currency, they can obtain it from the Federal Reserve banks by drawing on their deposits or borrowing or rediscounting commercial paper if their deposit balances with the Federal Reserve banks are insufficient. The second type of Federal Reserve currency, the Federal Reserve Bank note, was originally intended to replace the national bank notes, but never became a permanent part of the currency because the Federal Reserve notes proved adequate. The national bank notes were retired in 1935, but greenbacks are still part of U.S. paper currency.

The Great Depression

The economic depression and the epidemic of bank failures in the early 1930s led to sweeping reforms in the nation’s monetary structure. Executive proclamations issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in March and April 1933 prohibited gold exports except under government license, and called in all gold and gold certificates from general circulation, thus ending the gold standard. Under the Gold Reserve Act of January 30, 1934, the country returned to a modified gold standard with a devalued dollar. The act gave the president authority to lower the weight of the gold dollar to between 50 and 60 percent of its former gold content. The following day the president issued a proclamation reducing the gold content of the dollar to 59 percent of that established by the Gold Standard Act of 1900, or from 23.22 to 13.71 grains of fine gold.

The years 1933 and 1934 were also marked by important legislation regarding silver. Under the Thomas Amendment to the Emergency Farm Relief Act of May 12, 1933 (commonly known as the Inflation Act), the president was given the power to restore unlimited coinage of silver under a bimetallic system. The Silver Purchase Act, which was signed by the president on June 19, 1934, authorized the nationalization of silver and declared it to be the policy of the United States to have the silver holdings of the U.S. Treasury ultimately make up a maximum of one quarter of the value of the nation’s combined monetary gold and silver stocks. On August 9, 1934, the president issued an executive order requiring that all silver in the United States, with the exception of certain categories such as silver coins, fabricated silver, and silver owned by foreign governments, be delivered to the mints to be coined or held as bullion for later coinage. Under the Silver Purchase Act and subsequent legislation the Treasury purchased large quantities of silver abroad and from domestic producers, which tended to raise the price of the metal and curtail the monetary use of silver abroad, especially in China and India.

Post World War II

Near the end of World War II (1939-1945) most of the Allied nations joined together in a conference held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to set up a new international monetary system, replacing the international gold standard that had collapsed during the Great Depression. The conference also provided for the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The U.S. dollar played a key role in the new system, becoming, in effect, the world’s currency. This was true, first, because all IMF members defined the value of their own currencies in terms of the dollar and, second, because the United States agreed to convert all dollars held by foreign governments into gold on demand and at the exchange rate agreed on when the IMF was established. Officially, this meant that the world was on a “gold exchange standard” since governments could change their currencies into gold via the U.S. dollar.

So long as the United States had most of the world’s gold supply, as was true after World War II, this system worked fairly well. When the quantity of dollars held by foreign governments began to exceed U.S. gold holdings by large amounts, however, the system started to falter. By the early 1970s foreign government holdings of U.S. dollars were over five times greater than the U.S. gold stock. In August 1971 President Richard M. Nixon suspended gold payments of U.S. dollars. This closing of the “gold window” effectively ended all ties between the U.S. dollar and either gold or silver. Since then the United States has had a fully managed currency system, one with no metallic base whatsoever. United States citizens are free to own, buy, and sell gold, but its price is determined in the same way as any other freely traded commodity—on the basis of supply and demand. Gold no longer serves as a medium of exchange. Federal Reserve notes are overwhelmingly the dominant form of currency in circulation today.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Several important developments took place in the U.S. monetary system in the early 1970s. Until 1971 the Federal Reserve System, also known as the Fed, defined the money supply as equal to the sum of currency in circulation (excluding bank vault cash) and demand deposits (checking accounts). This definition of the money supply ignored saving accounts and time deposits (accounts that earned interest but could not be withdrawn without penalty until they matured). Monetary authorities and economists became concerned that estimates of monetary growth could be misleading if those estimates ignored savings accounts and time deposits. In 1971 the Federal Reserve began publishing measures of broader monetary supplies. The monetary aggregates were given the names M1, M2, and M3. M1 was comparable to the original money supply measure—that is, currency in circulation and demand deposits. M2 equaled M1 plus accounts such as savings accounts and small time deposits. M3 was an even broader measure, adding in larger time deposits.

The 1970s saw the introduction of many types of monetary assets. The Federal Reserve continued to fine-tune its measures of these monetary aggregates. Money market mutual fund shares were added to M2. In 1980 the Federal Reserve began publishing estimates of a broader monetary aggregate, which was designated L and included M3 plus assets such as short-term Treasury bills and commercial paper. Over time, economists and monetary authorities have become less confident of M1 as a single measure of the money supply and have gravitated to broader monetary aggregates. Financial deregulation and other innovations have aided the trend toward identifying broader monetary aggregates as money supply measures. Nevertheless, M1 is still the best-known measure of money. As of June 2001 it totaled $1.1 trillion.

Also in 1980 the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act was passed. It expanded the range of monetary instruments used by the financial community, gradually eliminated the ceiling on interest rates that savings and loan institutions are allowed to pay depositors, and made all banks subject to the reserve requirements of the Fed by 1989. Previously, only federally chartered banks were subject to the Fed.

A third important development occurred in 1982 when the Federal Reserve changed its monetary policy. Monetary policy involves action to influence the economy’s performance—its output and employment level as well as the inflation rate—by controlling the money supply and the rate of interest. The Federal Reserve specifically initiates and carries out monetary policy. The Fed can increase the reserves of commercial banks, thus making possible an expansion of the money supply, or it can target interest rates to accomplish the same purpose. In the late 1970s the Federal Reserve began to “target” the money supply—that is, the Fed tried to establish a stable rate of growth for the money supply. But in 1982 the Fed went back to the practice of targeting interest rates as the primary way of stimulating or tightening the economy, rather than using its ability to increase the reserves of commercial banks.

Recent experience with policy and legislation shows that the U.S. monetary system is still evolving. Historically, the nation has gone from a wholly metallic system, when coins were the primary money in circulation, to a managed system, in which, aside from the currency in people’s pockets, most of the money consists of entries in the books of banks. The 1990s saw a resurgence of the currency component of M1 because of the export of U.S. currency to areas such as Russia and Latin America where domestic currencies lost credibility. The global underground economy, also known as the black market, also draws in significant sums of U.S. currency. By June 2001 currency accounted for 48 percent of M1; the remaining 52 percent of total M1 consisted of checking account and other deposits, much of which came into existence through borrowing. According to some estimates over half of U.S. currency has quietly found its way to foreign currencies. The Federal Reserve System has no way of measuring exactly how much currency is going to foreign currency. The most popular U.S. currency in foreign countries is the one-hundred dollar bill. This outflow of currency raises concern about the amount of black market activity and illegal transactions involving the U.S. dollar. However, some economists note that the willingness of residents of foreign countries to hold $100 bills as a financial asset is a positive development for the U.S. Treasury Department.

Loan

2007-12-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

A loan is a type of debt. All material things can be lent but this article focuses exclusively on monetary loans. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower.

The borrower initially receives an amount of money from the lender, which they pay back, usually but not always in regular installments, to the lender. This service is generally provided at a cost, referred to as interest on the debt. A borrower may be subject to certain restrictions known as loan covenants under the terms of the loan.

Acting as a provider of loans is one of the principal tasks for financial institutions. For other institutions, issuing of debt contracts such as bonds is a typical source of funding. Bank loans and credit are one way to increase the money supply.

Legally, a loan is a contractual promise of a debtor to repay a sum of money in exchange for the promise of a creditor to give another sum of money.

Types

Secured

A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset (e.g. a car or property) as collateral for the loan.

A mortgage loan is a very common type of debt instrument, used by many individuals to purchase housing. In this arrangement, the money is used to purchase the property. The financial institution, however, is given security - a lien on the title to the house - until the mortgage is paid off in full. If the borrower defaults on the loan, the bank would have the legal right to repossess the house and sell it, to recover sums owing to it.

In some instances, a loan taken out to purchase a new or used car may be secured by the car, in much the same way as a mortgage is secured by housing. The duration of the loan period is considerably shorter - often corresponding to the useful life of the car. There are two types of auto loans, direct and indirect. A direct auto loan is where a bank gives the loan directly to a consumer. An indirect auto loan is where a car dealership acts as an intermediary between the bank or financial institution and the consumer.

A type of loan especially used in limited partnership agreements is the recourse note.

Unsecured

Unsecured loans are monetary loans that are not secured against the borrowers assets. These may be available from financial institutions under many different guises or marketing packages:

credit card debt,
personal loans,
bank overdrafts
credit facilities or lines of credit
corporate bonds

The interest rates applicable to these different forms may vary depending on the lender, the borrower. These may or may not be regulated by law. In the United Kingdom, when applied to individuals, these may come under the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Abuses

Predatory lending is one form of abuse in the granting of loans. It usually involves granting a loan in order to put the borrower in a position that one can gain advantage over him or her. Where the moneylender is not authorized, it could be considered a loan shark.

Usury is a different form of abuse, charging excessive interest. In different time periods and cultures the acceptable interest rate has varied, from no interest at all to unlimited interest rates. Credit card companies in some countries have been accused by consumer organizations of lending at usurious interest rates and making money out of frivolous "extra charges"

Abuses can also take place in the form of the customer abusing the lender by not repaying the loan or with intent to defraud the lender.

Life Insurance

2007-12-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Life insurance or life assurance is a contract between the policy owner and the insurer, where the insurer agrees to pay a sum of money upon the occurrence of the policy owner's death. In return, the policy owner (or policy payer) agrees to pay a stipulated amount called a premium at regular intervals. Assets, Bills, and death expenses plus catering for after funeral expenses should be included in Policy Premium. Anyone whose assets equal more than the value of their primary residence should not be compensated beyond that value in case they cannot sell their house. In the case of those who have lost their spouse should be compensated also for one full year the wages of their spouse which would or should be included to avoid lawsuits.

As with most insurance polices, life insurance is a contract between the insurer and the policy owner (policyholder) whereby a benefit is paid to the designated Beneficiary (or Beneficiaries) if an insured event occurs which is covered by the policy. To be a life policy the insured event must be based upon life (or lives) of the people named in the policy.

Insured events that may be covered include:

Death
Accidental death
Sickness

Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of the contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Specific exclusions are often written into the contract to limit the liability of the insurer; for example claims relating to suicide (after 2 years suicide has to be paid in full)(in India after one year Suicide is covered), fraud, war, riot and civil commotion.

Life based contracts tend to fall into two major categories:

Protection policies - designed to provide a benefit in the event of specified event, typically a lump sum payment.
Investment policies - where the main objective is to facilitate the growth of capital by regular or single premiums.

Insurance vs. assurance

The specific uses of the term "insurance" and "assurance" are sometimes confused. In general, the term insurance refers to providing cover for an event that might happen while assurance is the provision of cover for an event that is certain to happen.

When a person insures the contents of their home they do so because of events that might happen (fire, theft, flood, etc.) They hope their home will never be burglarized, or burn down, but they want to ensure that they are financially protected if the worst happens. This example of Insurance shows how it is a way of spending a little money to protect against the risk of having to spend a lot of money.

When a person insures their life they do so knowing that one day they will die. Therefore a policy that covers death is assured to make a payment. The policy offers assurance on death; even if the policy has a prescribed termination date the policy is still assured to pay on death and therefore is an assurance policy. Examples include Term Assurance and Whole Life Assurance. An accidental death policy is not assured to pay on death as the life insured may not die through an accident, therefore it is an insurance policy. (This set of distinctions does not really apply to United States jurisdictions where both forms of coverage are called "insurance".)

A policy might also be assured for other reasons. For example an endowment policy is designed to provide a lump sum on maturity. Under certain types of policy the lump sum is guaranteed. Therefore, this may also be called an assurance policy.

The test of whether a policy is assurance or insurance is that with an assurance policy the insured event will definitely occur (at some point) whereas with an insurance policy there is a risk the insured event might occur.

With regard to Whole Life policies, the question is not whether the insured event (in this case death) will occur, but simply when. If the policy has no forfeiture values (or cash values) then the policy is assured to pay.

During recent years, the distinction between the two terms has become largely blurred. This is principally due to many companies offering both types of policy, and rather than refer to themselves using both insurance and assurance titles, they instead use just one.

Types of life insurance

Life insurance may be divided into two basic classes – temporary and permanent or following subclasses - term, universal, whole life, variable, variable universal and endowment life insurance.

Temporary (Term)

Term life insurance (term assurance in British English) provides for life insurance coverage for a specified term of years for a specified premium. The policy does not accumulate cash value. Term is generally considered "pure" insurance, where the premium buys protection in the event of death and nothing else. Term insurance premiums are typically low because both the insurer and the policy owner agree that the death of the insured is unlikely during the term of coverage.

The three key factors to be considered in term insurance are: face amount (protection or death benefit), premium to be paid (cost to the insured), and length of coverage (term).

Various (U.S.) insurance companies sell term insurance with many different combinations of these three parameters. The face amount can remain constant or decline. The term can be for one or more years. The premium can remain level or increase. A common type of term is called annual renewable term. It is a one year policy but the insurance company guarantees it will issue a policy of equal or lesser amount without regard to the insurability of the insured and with a premium set for the insured's age at that time. Another common type of term insurance is mortgage insurance, which is usually a level premium, declining face value policy. The face amount is intended to equal the amount of the mortgage on the policy owner’s residence so the mortgage will be paid if the insured dies.

A policy holder insures his life for a specified term. If he dies before that specified term is up, his estate or named beneficiary (ies) receive(s) a payout. If he does not die before the term is up, he receives nothing. In the past these policies would almost always exclude suicide. However, after a number of court judgments against the industry, payouts do occur on death by suicide (presumably except for in the unlikely case that it can be shown that the suicide was just to benefit from the policy). Generally, if an insured person commits suicide within the first two policy years, the insurer will return the premiums paid. However, a death benefit will usually be paid if the suicide occurs after the two year period.

Permanent

Permanent life insurance is life insurance that remains in force (in-line) until the policy matures (pays out), unless the owner fails to pay the premium when due (the policy expires). The policy cannot be canceled by the insurer for any reason except fraud in the application, and that cancellation must occur within a period of time defined by law (usually two years). Permanent insurance builds a cash value that reduces the amount at risk to the insurance company and thus the insurance expense over time. This means that a policy with a million dollars face value can be relatively inexpensive to a 70 year old because the actual amount of insurance purchased is much less than one million dollars. The owner can access the money in the cash value by withdrawing money, borrowing the cash value, or surrendering the policy and receiving the surrender value.

The three basic types of permanent insurance are whole life, universal life, and endowment.

Whole life coverage

Whole life insurance provides for a level premium, and a cash value table included in the policy guaranteed by the company. The primary advantages of whole life are guaranteed death benefits; guaranteed cash values, fixed and known annual premiums, and mortality and expense charges will not reduce the cash value shown in the policy. The primary disadvantages of whole life are premium inflexibility, and the internal rate of return in the policy may not be competitive with other savings alternatives. Riders are available that can allow one to increase the death benefit by paying additional premium. The death benefit can also be increased through the use of policy dividends. Dividends cannot be guaranteed and may be higher or lower than historical rates over time. Premiums are much higher than term insurance in the short-term, but cumulative premiums are roughly equal if policies are kept in force until average life expectancy.

Cash value can be accessed at any time through policy "loans". Since these loans decrease the death benefit if not paid back, payback is optional. Cash values are not paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured; the beneficiary receives the death benefit only. In many policies, however, the cash value has been automatically used to purchase additional death benefit, meaning that the beneficiary is likely to receive more than base death benefit plus cash value.

Universal life coverage

Universal life insurance (UL) is a relatively new insurance product intended to provide permanent insurance coverage with greater flexibility in premium payment and the potential for a higher internal rate of return. A universal life policy includes a cash account. Premiums increase the cash account. Interest is paid within the policy (credited) on the account at a rate specified by the company. This rate has a guaranteed minimum but usually is higher than that minimum. Mortality charges and administrative costs are charged against (reduce) the cash account. The surrender value of the policy is the amount remaining in the cash account less applicable surrender charges, if any.

With all life insurance, there are basically two functions that make it work. There's a mortality function and a cash function. The mortality function would be the classical notion of pooling risk where the premiums paid by everybody else would cover the death benefit for the one or two who will die for a given period of time. The cash function inherent in all life insurance says that if a person is to reach age 95 to 100 (the age varies depending on state and company), then the policy matures and endows the face value of the policy.

Actuarially, it is reasoned that out of a group of 1000 people, if even 10 of them live to age 95, then the mortality function alone will not be able to cover the cash function. So in order to cover the cash function, a minimum rate of investment return on the premiums will be required in the event that a policy matures.

Universal life policies guarantee, to some extent, the death proceeds, but not the cash function - thus the flexible premiums and interest returns. If interest rates are high, then the dividends help reduce premiums. If interest rates are low, then the customer would have to pay additional premiums in order to keep the policy in force. When interest rates are above the minimum required, then the customer has the flexibility to pay less as investment returns cover the remainder to keep the policy in force.

The universal life policy addresses the perceived disadvantages of whole life. Premiums are flexible. The internal rate of return is usually higher because it moves with the financial markets. Mortality costs and administrative charges are known. And cash value may be considered more easily attainable because the owner can discontinue premiums if the cash value allows it. And universal life has a more flexible death benefit because the owner can select one of two death benefit options, Option A and Option B.

Option A pays the face amount at death as it's designed to have the cash value equal the death benefit at age 95. Option B pays the face amount plus the cash value, as it's designed to increase the net death benefit as cash values accumulate. Option B does carry with it a caveat. This caveat is that in order for the policy to keep its tax favored life insurance status, it must stay within a corridor specified by state and federal laws that prevent abuses such as attaching a million dollars in cash value to a two dollar insurance policy. The interesting part about this corridor is that for those people who can make it to age 95-100, this corridor requirement goes away and your cash value can equal exactly the face amount of insurance. If this corridor is ever violated, then the universal life policy will be treated as, and in effect turn into, a Modified Endowment Contract (or more commonly referred to as a MEC).

But universal life has its own disadvantages which stem primarily from this flexibility. The policy lacks the fundamental guarantee that the policy will be in force unless sufficient premiums have been paid and cash values are not guaranteed.

Universal life policies are sometimes erroneously referred to as self-sustaining policies. In the 1980s, when interest rates were high, the cash value accumulated at a more accelerated rate, and universal life coverage was often sold by agents as a policy that could be self-paying. Many policies did sustain themselves for a prolonged period, but the combination of lower interest rates and an increasing cost of insurance as the insured ages meant that for many policies, the cash option was diminished or depleted.

Variable universal life Insurance (VUL) is not the same as universal life, even though they both have cash values attached to them. These differences are in how the cash accounts are managed; thus having a great effect on how they are treated for taxation. The cash account within a VUL is held in the insurer's "separate account" (generally in mutual funds, managed by a fund manager).

Limited-pay

Another type of permanent insurance is Limited-pay life insurance, in which all the premiums are paid over a specified period after which no additional premiums are due to keep the policy in force. Common limited pay periods include 10-year, 20-year, and paid-up at age 65.

Endowments

Endowments are policies in which the cash value built up inside the policy, equals the death benefit (face amount) at a certain age. The age this commences is known as the endowment age. Endowments are considerably more expensive (in terms of annual premiums) than either whole life or universal life because the premium paying period is shortened and the endowment date is earlier.

In the United States, the Technical Corrections Act of 1988 tightened the rules on tax shelters (creating modified endowments). These follow tax rules as annuities and IRAs do.

Endowment Insurance is paid out whether the insured lives or dies, after a specific period (e.g. 15 years) or a specific age (e.g. 65).

Accidental death

Accidental death is a limited life insurance that is designed to cover the insured when they pass away due to an accident. Accidents include anything from an injury, but do not typically cover any deaths resulting from health problems or suicide. Because they only cover accidents, these policies are much less expensive than other life insurances.

It is also very commonly offered as "accidental death and dismemberment insurance", also known as an AD&D policy. In an AD&D policy, benefits are available not only for accidental death, but also for loss of limbs or bodily functions such as sight and hearing, etc.

Accidental death and AD&D policies very rarely pay a benefit; either the cause of death is not covered, or the coverage is not maintained after the accident until death occurs. To be aware of what coverage they have, an insured should always review their policy for what it covers and what it excludes. Often, it does not cover an insured who puts themselves at risk in activities such as: parachuting, flying an airplane, professional sports, or involvement in a war (military or not). Also, some insurers will exclude death and injury caused by proximate causes due to (but not limited to) racing on wheels and mountaineering.

Accidental death benefits can also be added to a standard life insurance policy as a rider. If this rider is purchased, the policy will generally pay double the face amount if the insured dies due to an accident. This used to be commonly referred to as double indemnity coverage. In some cases, some companies may even offer a triple indemnity cover.

Insurance

2007-12-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Insurance, legal contract that protects people from the financial costs that result from loss of life, loss of health, lawsuits, or property damage. Insurance provides a means for individuals and societies to cope with some of the risks faced in everyday life. People purchase contracts of insurance, called policies, from a variety of insurance organizations.

Almost everyone living in modern, industrialized countries buys insurance. For instance, laws in most states require people who own a car to buy insurance before driving it on public roads. Lenders require anyone who finances the purchase of a home or car with borrowed money to insure that property. Business partners take out life insurance on each other to make sure the business will succeed even if one of the partners dies.

Insurance makes up part of the broader financial services industry. In the United States in the late-1990s, more than 5500 insurance companies offered a wide range of policies and services. Some large companies sell virtually every type of insurance available in the marketplace. Smaller companies may specialize in a specific geographic region or type of insurance. In 1997 more than 300 Canadian companies sold some form of insurance.

REASONS FOR INSURANCE

In life, losses are sometimes unavoidable. People may become ill and lose income or savings to pay off medical bills. Individuals or their relatives may die of illness or accidents. People’s homes or other property may suffer damage or theft. People also may accidentally cause injury to others or damage to the property of others.

No one knows in advance when a loss will occur or how serious that loss will be. The uncertainty surrounding potential losses is known as risk. Insurance offers a way for people to replace risk with known costs—the costs of buying and maintaining insurance policies.

Assume a person buys a new car for $25,000. Its owner faces the possibility that, at some point, the car will suffer damage in an accident. But how could the owner budget in advance for a loss of unknown cost? The cost to repair or replace the car in the event of an accident could range from the price of a bottle of touch-up paint to as much as $25,000. If the accident injures someone, the costs of medical care could be much higher. Through the mechanism of insurance, however, the car owner can share the risk of an accident with others who face the same risk.

Insurance pools (combines) risks shared by many people, thereby reducing the risks faced by a group. People pay to buy insurance coverage (protection from risk). In exchange, all policyholders (people who own insurance policies) receive a promise that the group of policyholders—as represented by the insurance organization—will pay when any policyholder experiences a covered loss.

The reduction in risk brought by insurance relies on a mathematical concept called the law of large numbers. That law states that the ability to predict losses improves with larger groups. Using calculations based on statistics, experts known as actuaries can accurately predict the losses of a large population, even without knowing when or how any one individual will experience loss.

Insurers distinguish between two types of risk: speculative risk and pure risk. Speculative risk offers both the potential for gain and the potential for loss. People who invest in the stock of companies, for example, take speculative risk. An increase in stock prices produces a gain, while a decline in stock prices produces a loss. Pure risk, by contrast, creates the potential only for loss. Although pure risks do not necessarily result in losses, they never result in gains.

Historically, insurance dealt only with pure risks, and most people still buy insurance to cover pure risks. No one, for instance, experiences a gain when they go a full year without an auto accident. However, some insurance companies now help businesses finance large losses including those incurred on speculative risks, such as the international exchange of currency. Also, in the 1990s financial markets and some professions outside insurance, such as the field of environmental impact and damage assessment, began to expand into risk management for the first time.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INSURANCE

Insurance benefits society by allowing individuals to share the risks faced by many people. But it also serves many other important economic and societal functions. Because insurance is available and affordable, banks can make loans with the assurance that the loan’s collateral (property that can be taken as payment if a loan goes unpaid) is covered against damage. This increased availability of credit helps people buy homes and cars. Insurance also provides the capital that communities need to quickly rebuild and recover economically from natural disasters, such as tornadoes or hurricanes.

Insurance itself has become a significant economic force in most industrialized countries. Employers buy insurance to cover their employees against work-related injuries and health problems. Businesses also insure their property, including technology used in production, against damage and theft. Because it makes business operations safer, insurance encourages businesses to make economic transactions, which benefits the economies of countries. In addition, millions of people work for insurance companies and related businesses. In 1996 more than 2.4 million people worked in the insurance industry in the United States and Canada.

Insurance companies perform a type of monetary redistribution—they collect premiums and eventually redistribute that money as payments. Depending on the type of insurance, redistribution can take anywhere from a few months to many decades. Because of this delay between collecting and paying out funds, insurance companies invest their funds to bring in extra revenues. Such investments help businesses and governments finance their operations, and profits from those investments support the operations of insurance companies. With these investment earnings, insurance companies can keep rates much lower than would otherwise be possible.

Not all effects of insurance are positive ones. The possibility of earning insurance payments motivates some people to attempt to cause damage or losses. Without the possibility of collecting insurance benefits, for instance, no one would think of arson, the willful destruction of property by fire, as a potential source of money.

RISK ASSESSMENT

To help individuals and businesses manage risk, providers of insurance must have ways of determining what kinds and degrees of risk different people and businesses face. To do this, insurers rely on the basic principle of grouping together similar risks. By examining the risks faced by a variety of individuals and businesses, insurers can establish common risk profiles (patterns of characteristics). With this information, an insurer can quickly determine what kind of insurance to offer someone applying for a policy, and how much it will cost to insure that person’s risks.

Every insurer employs underwriters to assess the insurance risk posed by applicants for insurance, and to group applicants into classes based on similar risk profiles. For example, companies that insure cars and their drivers categorize teenage drivers as a class separate from older drivers. Studies have shown that teenagers have many times more crashes than other age groups.

Individuals or businesses whose profiles indicate a statistically average class of risk or lower can usually easily qualify for insurance at reasonable prices. Those whose profiles indicate higher than average risk must pay higher prices for insurance, or they may have a difficult time getting insured at all. When applicants present too much risk, all insurance companies may decline to insure them.

INSURANCE POLICIES AND COVERAGE

An insurance policy covers the insured party (known also as the insured or the policyholder) for a specified period of time, called a term. When choosing an insurance policy, a person must decide what type of coverage to buy. This means deciding at what dollar amount of loss the coverage will begin (known as the deductible) and at what amount coverage ends (known as the policy limit). Both influence the cost of a policy, which is expressed as the price of a regular, repeated payment (known as the premium).

Different types of insurance policies provide different amounts of coverage. They also provide coverage in different ways. Some policies, such as life insurance, determine an amount of coverage in advance. An insurance company pays the full amount of such a policy, called its face value, whenever a covered loss occurs. Most other types of insurance policies determine how much to pay according to what kinds of losses policyholders experience. Such policies specify a maximum amount they will pay. For example, a policy covering a home against fire for $100,000 would pay for damages up to $100,000, but no more.

Policy Term

Policy terms commonly range from six months to many years. At the end of that term, the seller and buyer may agree to renew the contract if they wish. Only permanent life insurance does not specify a finite term. These policies, also called ordinary life insurance or whole life insurance, commit the insurance company to provide coverage for the lifetime of the person insured.

Policy Limit

Insurance policies also specify an amount at which coverage ends, known as the policy limit. Most types of insurance specify the limit as a dollar amount written in the contract. For example, an automobile insurance policy with $10,000 of collision coverage pays up to $10,000 for damage caused by an accident. For property insurance, the policy limit may not exceed the value of the property, which may either be a fixed amount or an amount based on figures such as the costs of replacing property.

Deductible

Insurance policies generally include an initial amount of expense that an insured person must pay when a loss occurs. This expense is known as the policy’s deductible. The deductible is the amount of loss a policyholder agrees to pay without protection from an insurance company.

Selecting a $500 deductible on auto insurance, for instance, equals an agreement to pay up to $500 for damage to a car in the event of an accident. Under such an agreement, the insurance company will pay for losses exceeding $500. Therefore, if someone holding such a policy has an accident costing $1000 to repair, the insurance company will pay $500 toward that repair.

The premium for an insurance policy varies according to the level of its deductible. For example, a policy with a $500 deductible costs less than one with a $250 deductible, because the lower the deductible, the more the insurance company has to pay for a loss.

Premium

An insurance company sets a policy’s premium by multiplying a rate for each unit of insurance coverage by the total amount of coverage being purchased. Assume, for example, that term life insurance for 35-year-old men has a rate of $1.10 for $1000 of coverage for one year. Based on this rate, a 35-year-old father who wants $500,000 of coverage to protect his family in the case of his death will pay a premium of $1.10 times 500, or $550 for one year of coverage. Most people pay insurance premiums once or twice a year. Other people choose to make automatic monthly payments to their insurance company from a bank account.

Actuaries, experts in determining insurance rates, compute insurance rates using information not available to consumers. To compute rates, they first estimate expected losses in the coming year, based on statistics from previous years. Next they figure how much money will be needed to pay for those losses. They then divide that amount by the number of people needing insurance protection.

Consider, for example, the risks faced by 1000 people, each of whom just purchased a $25,000 car. Using statistics from past losses, an insurance company predicts that 10 of the 1000 cars will be destroyed in accidents during the next year, and 65 will be damaged. The company estimates that payments to cover the damage and destruction to these 75 cars will cost a total of $450,000. If the company collects $450 that year from each of the 1000 car owners, it should have almost exactly the funds it needs to cover those 75 out of 1000 car owners who experience losses.

In this example, each car owner would actually have to pay more than $450 to support part of the costs of the insurance company’s operations, leave some profit for the company, and leave some room for error in the company’s estimates. Also, 925 of the people who buy the insurance will have no accidents and will make no claims. Their payments will go to cover the losses of the 75 people who have accidents. But since none of the 1000 car owners knows whether or not they will have an accident, they each agree to pay the premium, even though it may go toward paying for a portion of someone else’s losses.

Although this example of computing premiums appears fairly simple, real life examples prove far more complicated. For instance, different cars have different repair costs. Car owners drive different distances and have different driving habits. Each accident can result in a different kind and degree of damage. In addition, car insurance policies typically cover much more than just damage to the driver’s automobile. By U.S. state laws, for instance, drivers generally must have some coverage for damage they cause to other cars and for medical care for other drivers and passengers injured in an accident. Taking all of these factors into consideration, the task of determining insurance rates becomes quite complex. Actuaries use statistical calculations and computer programs to make these computations.

DETERMINING THE VALUE OF INSURED PROPERTY

Although policies often set coverage as a fixed amount, the value of most items or services covered by insurance changes. When someone acquires a new car, for instance, it depreciates (loses part of its value) over time. Other items, such as houses and jewelry, may appreciate (increase in value). Insurance policies can include inflation protection for very valuable items, such as houses, to allow coverage to match such increases in value.

The value of damaged property can be difficult to determine. Insurance policies often contain a promise to pay the value of an item at the time of its damage or loss, also known as its actual cash value. Publicly available resources, such as used automobile price guides, track the average market value of some used items. Insurance policies may also allow the replacement of used items with comparable used items, such as used cars purchased from classified advertisements or used car dealers.

For most types of destroyed property insurance usually covers the actual cash value of the damaged item toward the price of a new replacement. The policyholder must pay the difference. Assume, for example, that a refrigerator lasts 15 years on average. If a house fire destroys a five-year-old refrigerator, its owner loses two-thirds of the appliance’s use—that is, two-thirds of its total value. An insurance policy covering the actual cash value of the property will pay two-thirds of the cost of a new refrigerator.

Replacing used property with new items, especially in larger losses such as house fires, can create considerable financial burdens. To relieve property owners of the risks posed by large unexpected expenditures, many policies offer an option to purchase replacement cost coverage. This option, which increases a policy’s premium, pays the full cost to replace used property with new items in the event of a loss.

CLAIMS, BENEFITS, AND DIVIDENDS

Insured individuals who have suffered losses and want to receive payments must notify their insurance company through a process called a claim. Insurance contracts always contain a condition that the insured must provide a proof of loss in order to be paid.

A claim begins when someone who suffers a loss completes and signs a statement describing exactly what happened that led to the loss. Most insurance claims require additional supporting evidence as well. For example, a person filing a life insurance claim must provide a copy of the policyholder’s death certificate. For a health or disability claim, the insured typically must provide a doctor’s report. Someone claiming damage to an automobile usually has to provide a repair estimate to the insurance company.

Once someone files a claim and provides necessary evidence, the insurance company’s claims representative, known commonly as a claims adjuster or claims service representative, reviews it. A claims representative verifies that a claimant (person filing a claim) is entitled to the payment requested.

First, the claims representative verifies that the claimant actually purchased an insurance policy from the company and paid a premium that covered the time period when the loss occurred. For example, if a policyholder misses payments, allowing a policy to expire, the insurer would make no payments on claims made after the policy’s expiration.

The claims representative also verifies that the terms agreed upon in the policy cover the specific claim, including the particular events that caused a loss. For example, standard policies to insure people’s homes generally cover damage from such natural events as lightning and storms. However, they do not cover damage from floods or earthquakes (those kinds of coverage are sold separately). Ultimately, careful claims processing assures that other members of a claimant’s insurance group pay out as little as possible in premiums to adequately cover valid claims.

BUYING INSURANCE

People face many choices when buying insurance policies. They commonly choose an insurance provider based on several criteria. Some of the most important of these include: (1) the financial stability of the insurance company, (2) the price of policies, and (3) details of coverage and service.

Only a financially sound company can fulfill its promise to pay in all circumstances. Companies with proven records of stability can provide insurance security. Choice of a provider based solely on price, on the other hand, may result in poor service and coverage, even if the provider advertises comprehensive coverage and high quality service.

Policy prices vary significantly among companies, but competition usually forces most companies’ prices into a narrow range. The greater cost of some policies may pay off in the long run through better protection. Thus, a detailed examination of coverage in policies provided by different, well-regarded companies can help consumers make the best choice based on the risks they face, their needs, and their finances.

People seeking to buy insurance often use the services of an insurance agent or broker to assist in their purchase. Precisely what services these intermediaries provide, and what they can charge, varies somewhat from state to state in the United States and among provinces in Canada. But insurance agents and brokers typically help people choose among the hundreds of policies available and among the hundreds of companies that provide insurance. Some people, however, choose to buy insurance from direct providers, who sell policies without intermediaries. Direct-provider insurance may be purchased through the mail, by telephone, or via computer on the Internet.

INSURANCE ORGANIZATIONS

Providers of insurance may organize themselves in several different ways. In some societies, people informally group together and pool their funds to help each other in times of need. Some much larger, formal insurance organizations work in much the same way. Others operate for profit.

Stock Insurance Companies

Some insurance providers, such as Allstate Insurance Company, operate as corporations, the form of organization common to many large businesses that operate for profit. These kinds of insurance organizations, called stock insurance companies, sell stock to shareholders whose investment provides the capital for company operations. Stock insurance companies represent the largest number of insurance companies in operation, and nearly all newly formed insurance companies.

Mutual Insurance Companies

Historically, individuals seeking to share risk joined together without the motivation of earning profits. This principle carries on today in mutual insurance companies. Everyone who purchases insurance from a mutual company owns a small piece of that company. In contrast to the first small mutual insurance associations, however, today’s large mutual companies, such as State Farm insurance companies and Northwestern Mutual Life, compete against stock companies for business and generally operate much like those companies. Mutuals have boards of directors elected by policyholders, and excess income goes back to policyholders as dividends.

Reciprocals, Lloyd’s Associations, and Cooperatives

Other forms of insurance organizations include reciprocals, Lloyd’s associations, and cooperatives. These organizations serve an important role in making insurance available to specialized businesses. Most reciprocals and Lloyd’s associations do not sell insurance to individuals.

In reciprocal insurance organizations, also known as reciprocal exchanges or interinsurance exchanges, each policyholder is directly insured by all the others. Attorneys-in-fact (contractually bound agents) manage the affairs of reciprocals for the members, and members commonly know how much liability each member of the group assumes.

Lloyd’s associations, modeled after the longstanding British insurance association Lloyd's of London, are groups of businesses and individuals who come together to underwrite (assume a portion of risk for) specific types of insurance risks. Lloyd’s associations employ independent underwriters—agents who establish insurance rules, assess the qualifications of customers to purchase insurance, and set policy rates—to make insurance contracts on their behalf. Lloyd’s associations insure a wide variety of risks faced by international businesses and, in some cases, individuals.

Cooperative organizations are nonprofit membership groups maintained and operated for the benefit of their members and subscribers. Cooperatives are prohibited by law from paying dividends or distributing profits and are exempt from most forms of taxation. Many fraternal orders also provide insurance in the same manner as cooperatives.

TYPES OF INSURANCE

Most insurance falls into four main categories, according to what it covers: (1) property and casualty, (2) life, (3) health and disability, and (4) old-age and unemployment. Insurers commonly refer to insurance purchased by individuals as personal lines coverage and to insurance purchased by businesses as commercial coverage.

Property and Casualty Insurance

Property and casualty insurance policies protect things. Property insurance protects people against losses of and damage to things they have acquired, including houses and valuable items such as appliances or jewelry. Casualty insurance protects people against having their property taken to compensate others in settlements of legal disputes. Property and casualty insurance commonly go together because many policies include provisions to cover both casualty and property damage or loss. Common types of property and casualty insurance include (1) homeowner’s, (2) tenant’s, (3) automobile, (4) marine, and (5) commercial.

Casualty insurance resembles a more restrictive but similar form of coverage known as liability insurance. In general, liability refers to the legal and financial responsibility someone has to another person. A person can be found to be liable for causing loss or harm to another person or for having an unpaid debt. Some types of liability are covered under property and casualty policies. Liability claims require determination of fault for loss or damage, whereas other types of casualty claims may not.

When someone sustains injuries in, on, or caused by another person’s property, the property owner may be found legally liable for those injuries. For example, if someone is injured as a passenger in another person’s car, the car’s owner and driver are held legally responsible. If a person sustains injuries by slipping on a patch of wet ground at a private golf club, the club may be liable for damages. If someone is injured directly by someone else’s property, such as when the occupants of a car are hurt by the impact of someone else’s speeding car in an accident, the owner of that property may often be found legally liable.

Homeowner’s Insurance

Homeowner’s insurance covers a wide range of losses or damages to people’s houses and home property, as well as many types of liabilities for which homeowners might be responsible. It protects homeowners against losses from such causes as theft, storms, and fires.

Also, homeowner’s insurance typically pays for additional expenses related to home damage, such as fees for temporary lodging while damage is fixed. It also protects against most lawsuits that could arise from ownership of the property. It usually includes a type of coverage called medical payments. Such coverage would pay, for instance, for damages to a guest who slipped on the steps to the door of a house and suffered an injury. Homeowners insurance normally does not cover the risks associated with operating a home-based business, such as if a customer is injured on the premises.

Tenant’s Insurance

Tenant’s insurance, also known as renter’s insurance, provides much the same coverage as does homeowner’s insurance, but it does not cover damage to houses or apartments themselves. A fairly inexpensive form of insurance, it protects against loss of or damage to personal property and most lawsuits that could arise from occupying rented property. For example, tenant’s insurance would pay for damages caused by a fire that started in a policyholder’s apartment and spread to the rest of the building.

Automobile Insurance

Automobile insurance protects against damage to a policyholder’s car and most liabilities that could arise from operating that car. Most U.S. states allow drivers to satisfy their financial responsibility for the costs of auto accidents by obtaining insurance in three categories of liability coverage: (1) for injury to any one person, (2) for injury to two or more people, and (3) for damage to another person’s property. An increasing number of states are requiring drivers to obtain auto insurance by law.

Most U.S. states require that drivers who purchase auto insurance buy no less than a specified minimum of coverage, such as $25,000 toward the injury of another individual, $50,000 toward the injury of multiple persons, and $10,000 toward the damage of another person’s property. This minimum requirement is generally listed on policies as 25/50/10. Most Canadian provinces require $200,000 of liability coverage for covering the combined costs of bodily injury and property damage claims. In some provinces, such as British Columbia and Saskatchewan, the government operates compulsory programs of auto insurance in which all drivers must participate.

Most drivers also purchase medical payments coverage, which pays for treatment of injuries they or their passengers may sustain in an accident, and collision protection, which pays for damages to their own cars. Another optional form of auto insurance, called comprehensive, covers a person’s car against theft or many types of nonaccident damage, such as windshield cracks caused by rocks.

In addition, drivers may purchase insurance against injuries to themselves or their passengers from accidents with drivers who have little or no insurance. With underinsured motorist and uninsured motorist coverage, a person’s own insurance policy provides damage and injury compensation that would normally come from another person’s auto liability insurance. Another type of coverage, called personal injury protection or no-fault, is required in some states in addition to or instead of liability insurance. This coverage compensates drivers from their own policies for damages from accidents without determining responsibility for the accident.

Marine and Other Forms of Transportation Insurance

Boats and their cargo and passengers face many risks on unpredictable and powerful waterways. Marine insurance, one of the oldest forms of insurance, covers damage to and losses of boats, ships, marine workers, cargo, and passengers. Both businesses and individuals may purchase various forms of marine insurance.

Insurance for commercial ships or boats at sea, docked in a port, or on some inland waterways—as well as their cargo or passengers—is known as ocean marine insurance. There are four main types of ocean marine insurance: (1) hull insurance, (2) cargo insurance, (3) freight insurance, and (4) marine liability.

Hull insurance covers damage to a ship itself. Cargo insurance covers losses to a ship’s physical cargo. Freight insurance covers shippers against a loss of freight (payment for the transportation of cargo). Marine liability covers damages to people and property from collisions and other incidents.

Businesses involved in transporting cargo or passengers by land or by air can purchase coverage similar to that of marine insurance. Insurance policies for commercial transport of cargo by land or air are commonly known as inland marine insurance. However, because of the increasing importance of the passenger airline industry, specialized property and casualty coverage, known as aviation insurance or aircraft insurance, has developed to cover aircraft and their cargo or passengers.

Commercial Property and Casualty Insurance

Commercial property and casualty insurance cover businesses against a wide variety of liabilities and property damages or losses. Commercial property policies cover the building occupied by a business; such items as the furniture, fixtures, machinery, and inventory (unsold, warehoused goods) of a business; income lost by a business due to fire, theft, or other damage; and most liabilities that may arise from owning property and operating a business. A special kind of casualty insurance, called workers’ compensation, pays for employee injuries or illnesses that occur on the job.

Life Insurance

Life insurance provides compensation to specified individuals or groups—such as to family members or charities—when the policyholder dies. Some policies also provide funds for people to use during periods of their life when they will no longer be able to earn income through work, such as in the final stages of a terminal illness.

In industrialized countries such as the United States and Canada, most people must earn a living to provide for themselves and their families. When a wage-earning family member dies, remaining family members may not be able to meet financial obligations and goals. Life insurance allows people to use some of their earnings to assure that money will be available in the case of death. Individuals can purchase life insurance coverage individually from insurance companies. Others purchase coverage as part of a group, such as through their place of employment.

Some life insurance policies, known as term life, cover policyholders for set periods of time, or terms. Other policies, known as permanent life, cover policyholders for their entire lives.

Term Life Insurance

Term life insurance pays out its face value (the value specified on the policy) if the policyholder dies during the period specified in the policy. People may purchase term life coverage for 1, 5, 10, or 20 years. It works best for covering defined costs in the case of death, such as to pay off short-term loans. Younger people also buy term life insurance because of its affordability, perhaps its biggest advantage. Young families, in particular, often need more coverage than they could afford through permanent insurance. Term life can provide fairly large amounts of coverage with relatively low premiums.

However, some people need longer-term coverage to provide for such expenses as a 30-year home mortgage loan or estate taxes imposed after the insured person’s death. Term insurance can play a part in covering certain long-term expenses, if the insurer can design policy options to match the need.

Using term insurance policies to deal with long-term risks poses two serious problems: (1) An insured person’s health may decline to the point that the insurance company will no longer wish to extend a policy for another term. To protect against this problem, a policyholder can consider adding an option to make a policy guaranteed renewable, an agreement in which an insurance company must continue to provide coverage if the policyholder wants it. (2) The premiums of guaranteed renewable term life policies, or any term policy, commonly increase with each renewal. Often the increasing premiums become so high that policyholders decide to drop their coverage, sometimes before the need for the coverage disappears.

Policyholders using term life insurance to protect against long-term risks should consider buying convertible term insurance, which can be changed to permanent coverage. Convertible term life policyholders can switch their coverage as soon as they can afford additional premium costs. Once this switch is made, costs usually remain stable.

Permanent Life Insurance

Permanent life insurance pays its face value whenever policyholders die, as long as they have complied with policy requirements. Most types of permanent life insurance policies also provide a cash surrender value, which returns some money to people who cancel their policies. This practice helps maintain fairness within large groups of policyholders.

If the risk that caused some people to buy their insurance, such as an outstanding debt, should disappear, those people would probably decide to discontinue their coverage, often called “surrendering the policy.” But they would also have overpaid for the amount of risk protection delivered by the time they ended coverage. Cash surrender rules allow individuals who surrender their policies to take some or most of their overpayments out of the group without hurting those who retain their policies.

Insurance companies commonly sell three different categories of permanent life insurance: (1) whole life, (2) universal life, and (3) variable life. Although some insurance companies may use different names to market their policies, most fall into one of these three categories.

Whole life insurance spreads the cost of insurance coverage over a person’s entire life through a payment plan of regular, equal installments. People’s early payments into a whole life plan actually exceed what they would have had to pay for similar amounts of term insurance coverage. But these overpayments accumulate in whole life policies to a cash-surrender-value fund. The fund returns money to those who end their coverage and also keeps premiums from going up for people who do not end their coverage. Whole life policyholders may take out loans using their insurance as collateral, which they can either repay with interest or deduct from their death benefit (face-value benefit at death).

Another type of policy, known as endowment life insurance, resembles whole life but runs for less than the full life of the policyholder. Endowment policies pay out their face value at the contract’s end, even if the insured is still living. Because endowments have short terms, they also have higher premiums than do whole life policies, which in turn force the policyholder to save more.

Universal life insurance policies are permanent plans that incorporate some features of term life plans. Although more flexible than whole life, universal life policies transfer less of policyholders’ total risk to the insurance company. Typically, a universal life policy has a flexible target premium, which the insurance company calculates will keep the plan in force for life for a particular group of policyholders. Policyholders may pay somewhat more or less than the target premium, depending on their current financial circumstances.

When an insurance company collects universal life premiums for a particular policy period, it allocates a portion of that premium to pay claims if policyholders die during the policy period. This is called the policy’s mortality charge, which is the equivalent of a term life insurance premium. The company then deposits the remainder of the universal premium in an investment account that earns interest. The amount that results is called the policy’s accumulation value. The accumulation value minus any charge for surrendering the policy equals its cash surrender value. The company repeats the same calculation each month, deducting the mortality charge from the accumulation value in months when no premium is paid.

Variable life insurance works much like whole life except that the insurance company invests overpayments from all policyholders in the stock market instead of in accounts that earn a regular rate of interest. The performance of stock investments varies. Therefore, the insurer and policyholders cannot know the exact cash surrender values of policies in advance. Instead, their value depends on the performance of the stocks bought with money from premiums.

Some variable life policies also allow the death benefit to vary with stock market performance. Variable universal life, a variety of policy introduced in the 1980s, combines the stock market investment feature of variable life insurance with the flexible premium feature of universal life.

Health and Disability Insurance

Illnesses and disabilities can lead to enormous medical care expenses and also can prevent people from being able to earn income, so insurance can provide important economic relief. Health insurance protects people against the costs and consequences of illness and injury. Disability income insurance, or disability insurance, provides money for ordinary living expenses if an accident or illness prevents a policyholder from working. Employer-sponsored workers’ compensation plans provide limited coverage that applies only to job-caused or -related disabilities.

In many countries, government programs provide both health care services and insurance support for health care. The provincial governments of Canada, for instance, provide a fairly wide range of medical services to all of the country’s residents. Many governments also provide limited forms of disability insurance. People should understand what kinds of coverage government programs provide in order to determine what protection they need from private policies.

About 20 percent of people in the United States purchase individual health insurance to cover medical costs. Policies that cover all expenses for what is defined as medically necessary treatment provide better protection than do ones that limit benefits to accidents, cancer, or other specific causes for treatment.

Most people buy health insurance as part of a group. Group health plans generally have lower premiums than do individual plans. In 1995 in the United States, employee benefit plans, group plans sponsored by many employers, provided medical coverage for about 60 percent of nonelderly individuals and families. More employers offer insurance to cover medical expenses than coverage for income loss due to disability.

Independent insurance companies and health care providers manage most employee health insurance plans, and most insurers work with a number of businesses. Similar plans exist in Canada, but they provide more limited coverage because they build upon the substantial base provided by government-funded health plans. In addition to employers, many professional associations, unions, and other organizations offer benefit plans to their members.

Some very large businesses may provide their own group insurance plans, known as self-insured health plans. Many government regulations that apply to standard insured plans do not apply to self-insured health plans. Therefore, people covered under self-insured plans have limited recourse in the event of a dispute over medical service or insurance coverage.

Many health insurance plans offer separate policies for very specific kinds of insurance, in addition to general medical care. For instance, dental coverage, if purchased, pays for routine care and often a portion of the costs of more complex dental procedures. Vision care insurance pays for visits to eye doctors as well as a portion of the price of prescription corrective eyewear. Another type of policy provides long-term care for critically ill or terminally ill patients. These coverages, when added to general health insurance, lead to higher premium costs.

Government Programs

The governments of many countries provide a basic level of health and disability insurance and services for their citizens. In the United States, the Medicare program, operated by the Social Security Administration, helps assure that people with disabilities and senior citizens have access to health services. Medicaid programs, funded by both state and federal revenues, also operate in all 50 states to provide medical care for the poor.

Medicare medical insurance, which helps pay for routine medical care, is funded by contributions from the elderly and by general federal revenues. The U.S. government takes a tax out of people’s paychecks to fund Medicare hospital insurance, which helps pay for hospital care.

Canada also has provincially administered health insurance programs called Medicare (in most provinces) that are very different from the U.S. program of the same name. Under the Canadian Medicare program, each province and territory provides a wide range of health coverage to all residents.

The U.S. Social Security program provides some disability protection for workers through its Old-Age, Survivor’s, and Disability Insurance program, or OASDI. The federal government takes a portion of people’s incomes in taxes earmarked specifically to pay for OASDI. The disability portion of OASDI provides fairly minimal coverage, and it does not cover short-term disabilities. Thus, people who want adequate compensation in the event of disability usually try to have a combination of government-provided and employer-provided or individual plans. Similarly in Canada, the Canada Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan provide limited disability benefits to workers who have contributed to the system.

Private Health and Disability Insurance

The health insurance sold by private U.S. insurance companies promises to indemnify (reimburse) the insured for covered medical expenses. A contract of indemnification puts the ultimate responsibility for the entire bill with the policyholder. Doctors and hospitals often submit their bills directly to insurers as an administrative courtesy designed to speed up their payments. Any portion of a bill not paid by an insurer becomes the policyholder’s own responsibility to pay.

Health insurance plans that offer only indemnity coverage are known as fee-for-service plans. Today, however, many people cover the costs of health care through managed care plans, which promise to actually manage or provide, not simply insure, medical services covered by their policies. People who use managed care rarely or never go through a process of indemnification, because their contracts guarantee the provision of health care services instead of repayment for the cost of those services. In some cases, a managed care plan may use a process of indemnification to pay for services given by health care providers who are not part of the plan. The common types of managed care include (1) health maintenance organizations, (2) preferred provider organizations, and (3) point-of-service plans.

A health maintenance organization (HMO) agrees to provide patients with whatever medical services they need usually given by health care providers who are part of the HMO in exchange for their monthly premium payment. HMOs tend to provide good coverage of routine health care services, but limit the choices of which doctors and hospitals patients can use.

Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) have contracts with health care providers who will charge favorable rates for services to insured members. PPO members choose a primary care physician who is responsible for referring patients to specialists. Policyholders must pay higher amounts for services received from health care providers not in the PPO network.

Point-of-service (POS) plans provide a combination of PPO network benefits with the option of receiving indemnity coverage for care outside the network. Health care service within a POS network works the same as in a PPO.

In most U.S. states and in parts of Canada, a system of independent insurance providers known as Blue Cross and Blue Shield member plans offer many types of health insurance coverage. Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans were the first to offer a form of prepaid health care coverage, beginning in the 1930s. Today they offer HMO, PPO, POS, and fee-for-service coverage. Collectively, Blue Cross and Blue Shield member plans are the largest provider of managed care services in the United States.

The individual disability insurance offered by private insurance companies often has fairly strict coverage qualifications. Plans commonly offer to provide between 50 percent and 60 percent of a person’s income should he or she suffer a disability. Many people purchase individual disability insurance to augment the coverage provided by group plans and government disability-income insurance.

Old-Age and Unemployment Insurance

Old-age insurance policies pay out funds after a person retires. Most people’s insurance protection for loss of income in their old age comes from annuities, policies that pay out regular monthly amounts for many years. In Canada and Australia, annuities are sometimes called superannuation policies.

Unlike annuities, life insurance protects policyholders and their families against the loss of income that can result if the insured person dies before retirement. Annuities, on the other hand, protect policyholders against outliving their financial resources, of which income is a big part.

The U.S. Social Security program, through OASDI, provides old-age insurance along with its disability coverage. Americans usually augment their social security retirement benefits with employment-based old-age pension plans and other retirement investments such as individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Canadians similarly augment their benefits from the Canada Pension Plan (or the Quebec Pension Plan) with employment-based pension plans and retirement investments such as Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs).

Unemployment insurance provides income to people experiencing periods without paid work. Free-market economies, common to almost all countries today, depend on having a slight surplus of workers—that is, having some level of unemployment. This allows businesses to keep wages from going up too quickly, because unemployed people may be willing to work for fairly low wages. In the strongest economies, unemployment rates may be about 2 to 3 percent, while weaker economies in industrialized countries may have rates well above 20 percent. But even the lowest rates of unemployment indicate that hundreds of thousands of people are out of work.

Because unemployment results from government free-market economic policies, affects so many people at any given time, and is so predictably persistent, private insurers do not cover it. Instead, most governments support unemployment insurance programs. In the United States, employers must pay for unemployment insurance. Canadian workers and their employers contribute to a similar government-run system of Employment Insurance (EI). In both countries people can collect unemployment benefits on a regular basis for specified periods of time if they lose their jobs for reasons out of their control, provided that they continue to actively look for work.

GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF INSURANCE

The insurance business in many countries comes under some degree of government regulation. Insurance is complex, takes in money for something not delivered at the time of sale, and is poorly understood by many consumers. Regulation assures that insurers deal fairly with clients and can actually pay out on all valid claims.

Insurance is one of the largest U.S. industries, in terms of revenues, to come under regulation by individual states. Each state has an insurance commissioner who issues licenses to sellers of insurance, oversees the financial stability of the state’s insurance companies, and assists in resolving consumer complaints. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which coordinates insurance laws and regulations among all U.S. states and territories, makes it easier for insurers and clients to conduct business across the country.

In Canada, an insurance company chooses to be regulated either by the federal government or by one of the provincial governments. The Canadian federal government oversees the operations of most of the country’s large insurance companies.

The U.S. insurance industry also works with government regulators to protect purchasers of insurance. Together they have established a system of safeguards to assure that policyholders receive most of their benefits for valid claims, even if their insurance provider becomes unable to pay.

Most state governments have two insurance protection systems, known as guaranty funds, one for life insurance and health insurance and one for property insurance and casualty insurance. State governments finance guaranty funds primarily with taxes on solvent private insurers. Canada also has separate systems protecting customers using these two sides of the insurance industry: the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Compensation Corporation and the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation.

HISTORY OF INSURANCE

Early Development

Historians believe insurance first developed in Sumer and Babylonia (both in what is now Iraq) beginning in about 3000 bc. The merchants and traders of these societies transferred and pooled their money to protect themselves from losses of cargo to thieves and pirates.

In the 18th century bc, Babylonian king Hammurabi developed a code of law, known as the Code of Hammurabi, which codified many specific rules governing the practices of early risk-sharing activities. For instance, the code dictated that traders had to repay merchants who financed trading voyages unless thieves stole goods in transit, in which case debts would be cancelled.

Seagoing merchants from Phoenicia (in and around present-day Lebanon) began using a system of insurance known as bottomry about 1200 bc. In this system, backers loaned money to merchants to finance voyages. Merchants offered their ships (the hull was known as the ship’s ‘bottom’) as collateral for such loans. When a trip succeeded, the merchant would pay the trip’s backer the original loan plus interest, the equivalent of a premium. If a ship went down on its voyage, the trip’s backer would cancel the merchant’s loan. Forms of insurance resembling bottomry had spread to other parts of Asia and the Mediterranean by 400 bc.

In the last several centuries bc the societies of Greece and Rome developed some of the earliest systems of life insurance. Greek and Roman citizens formed benevolent societies, organizations in which members paid dues that went toward paying for the burial of members who died. Sometimes these societies also paid for the living expenses of deceased members’ families. During the Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries ad), workers joined together in craft. Many guilds, particularly in England and Italy, provided benefits to workers and their families in the event of illness or death.

Growth of Modern Insurance in Europe

Many modern forms of insurance developed in England between the 16th to 18th centuries. The first known life insurance policy was written in London during the late 1500s. In England, groups called friendly societies gradually assumed many of the functions of guilds, including providing insurance to society members. Workers contributed to a society’s pool of funds. If workers fell ill or died, the society would distribute money to them or their families. However, many friendly societies went bankrupt due to poor management. In response, the English government enacted the Friendly Society Act of 1793, which placed regulations on the societies’ practices.

Also in England in the early 1700s, seagoing merchants and traders began pooling their risks against damage to the goods they transported by ship. Seafarers and people wishing to back their expeditions met informally to make insurance arrangements, sometimes at a pub called Lloyd’s in London. Lloyd’s pub later developed into the formal association of insurance brokers known as Lloyd’s of London. Insurance arrangements such as those negotiated at Lloyd’s were the forerunners of modern marine insurance.

As growing commerce fueled the development of new urban centers, primarily in Europe and North America, new risks also emerged. New forms of insurance developed to manage these risks. In 1666 a fire raged through London for five days and destroyed about 85 percent of the city. The following year, a real estate developer began promising to rebuild any house he sold if it burned down. The idea became so popular that it developed into England’s first fire insurance business. Soon, many more companies formed to offer fire insurance, which became one of the most widely offered forms of property insurance.

The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain in the late 1700s and spread around the world during the following century, brought even more people into cities. These increases in urban population density concentrated the risks of fire and other types of property damage. Between 1640 and 1827, major fires occurred in a number of growing cities, including London; Hamburg, Germany; Paris, France; Saint Petersburg, Russia; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

The Insurance Business Today

Since the 1970s, the insurance business has grown dramatically and undergone tremendous changes. As a result of the deregulation of financial services businesses—including insurance, banking, and securities trading—the roles, products, and services of these formerly distinct businesses have become blurred. For instance, citizens in the U.S. state of California voted in 1988 to allow banks to sell insurance in that state. In Canada, banks may also soon be allowed to sell insurance.

Advances in communications technology have also allowed traditionally distinct financial businesses to keep instantaneous track of developments in other businesses and compete for some of the same customers. Some insurance companies now offer deposit accounts and mortgages. In the United States, life insurance companies now sell more pension plans and other asset management services than they do conventional life insurance.

Developments in computer technology that have given insurance providers the ability to quickly access and process information have allowed them to custom-design policies to fit the needs of individual customers. But the increasing complexity of policies has also made some aspects of buying and selling insurance more difficult.

For example, though the Internet offers tremendous access to information about prices, it has done little to simplify the process of comparing the offerings of different insurance policies and services. Therefore, consumers have increasingly come to view insurance as a commodity, differing only in price from provider to provider. This attitude may lead people to buy insurance that does not give them the kind of coverage they need.

Other types of technology and scientific developments may also have great effect on insurance. By providing a broad scope of new information about people’s medical predispositions, genetic testing has the potential to redefine how providers of life and health insurance determine risk. Genetic engineering in medical treatments may provide new ways to extend people’s lives, changing traditional assessments of life expectancy.

In addition, improvements in geological and meteorological technology have the potential to change the way property insurers calculate risks of damage. For example, as scientists improve their abilities to predict severe weather patterns, such as hurricanes, and geological disturbances, such as earthquakes, insurers may change how they provide protection against losses from such events.

Health Insurance

2007-12-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Health Insurance, insurance designed to pay the costs associated with health care. Health insurance plans pay the bills from physicians, hospitals, and other providers of medical services. By doing so, health insurance protects people from financial hardship caused by large or unexpected medical bills.

People obtain health insurance from private organizations or from government agencies. All industrialized countries other than the United States have government-funded national health insurance systems that provide health insurance for virtually everyone. Countries with national health insurance generally consider access to health care to be a basic right of citizenship.

In the United States private organizations have traditionally provided the vast majority of health insurance coverage. The U.S. government operates some publicly funded health insurance programs but access is limited to specific groups, such as the poor and the elderly. Most Americans obtain private health insurance through their places of employment.

Americans pay the cost of health insurance in a variety of ways. Workers may pay for private health insurance by authorizing their employers to deduct a specified amount from their paychecks. Alternatively, individuals may work for employers who pay the direct costs of health insurance. People who do not receive health insurance through their jobs or through government programs can purchase private health insurance policies by paying premiums directly to an insurance company.

REASONS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE

Health insurance protects people from financial loss caused by the high cost of medical care. The cost of a one-day stay in a hospital—excluding the cost of all other health care services—can exceed $1000 in some parts of the United States. A hospital stay that includes the cost of surgery and other physician services can easily produce bills exceeding $10,000. Health care costs of this magnitude pose substantial risks to most families’ financial well-being.

By combining, or pooling, the risks of many people into a single group, insurance can make the financial risks associated with health care more manageable. Experts can reasonably predict the health care costs of a large group, even though they cannot know in advance how much health care will be required by any given individual. Through insurance, each person who buys coverage agrees to pay a share of the group’s total losses in exchange for a promise that the group will pay when he or she needs services. Essentially, individuals make regular payments to the plan rather than having to pay especially large sums at any one time in the event of sudden illness or injury. In this way, the group as a whole funds expensive treatments for those few who need them.

Many people believe that in addition to providing financial stability, health insurance can promote good health. Supporters of this idea claim that by lowering the personal cost of services, insurance induces individuals to seek health-maintenance services more regularly than they otherwise would, thereby heading off potentially serious illnesses.

DISABILITY INSURANCE

Another type of health insurance coverage is disability insurance, which replaces workers’ income when an accident or illness prevents them from performing their jobs. Disability insurance is less common than medical coverage, but it can be important to assure future financial security for any family that depends on each paycheck to meet its financial obligations. Benefits are generally structured to pay a proportion of a person’s actual earnings, usually from 40 to 60 percent. Short-term disability insurance covers up to six months of disability. Coverage for longer than six months is called long-term disability insurance. Most disability insurance policies limit coverage to a maximum period of time—such as to age 65—that determines the term of the policy.

A few U.S. states operate a system of public short-term disability coverage. The states collect payroll taxes from all workers to fund these programs. Employer-sponsored group plans can also provide disability insurance, but most employer-provided disability insurance ends when workers change jobs.

OBTAINING COVERAGE

People can obtain private health insurance coverage as a member of a group or as an individual. Both group plans and individual plans may offer coverage in either a managed care program or in a fee-for-service program. Most Americans receive group coverage through their employers, although some Americans join group plans through unions, professional associations, and other organizations that offer group insurance policies. People who obtain health insurance as individuals are typically self-employed, or they work for small companies that do not provide insurance. Elderly and some low-income Americans may qualify for the government-funded health insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid.

Group and Employer Plans

Groups of people who have something in common other than their need for insurance often can join forces to purchase group health insurance. For example, individuals who all work for the same employer may join a group health insurance plan sponsored by their employer. Group plans typically have lower administrative costs than do individual health insurance plans, so they are able to charge individual subscribers lower monthly premiums. They also offer significant tax advantages in the United States.

Approximately two-thirds of American families obtain health insurance coverage through employer-sponsored group plans. Employers usually cover some or all of the cost of group health insurance for plan participants. Most employer-sponsored programs are with managed care programs, although many employers offer workers a choice of managed care or fee-for-service plans.

The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1985, requires most U.S. companies to allow employees, their spouses, and their dependent children to stay on the company’s medical plan after eligibility would normally end. This law requires companies to provide health coverage to workers who are laid off, to ex-spouses of workers after a death or divorce, to children of workers who reach the plan’s cutoff age, and to others in certain circumstances.

However, COBRA allows the terms of plan participation to change, so companies almost always require participants in these circumstances to start paying the full cost of coverage. Nevertheless, COBRA provides many people with important safeguards. Under the provisions of COBRA, health insurance coverage continues without interruption, the cost may be substantially less than an individual plan, and coverage is guaranteed to be available for either 18 or 36 months (depending on the event that qualified the individual for COBRA benefits in the first place). In addition, this coverage continues regardless of any changes in the beneficiary’s health conditions. The regulations outlined in COBRA also apply to workers covered by self-insured plans.

Individual Plans

Individuals who do not have access to less expensive group plans can buy policies directly from health insurance companies. Approximately 10 percent of Americans purchase individual health insurance policies to cover medical costs.

FEATURES OF HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES

Nearly all health insurance policies in the United States share a few common features, regardless of whether the policies are purchased by individuals or through an employer. These features generally define the extent of benefits provided by a given health insurance policy.

Deductible

Health insurance policyholders pay a specified amount of money each year for medical services before the insurance policy pays anything at all. This amount is called the deductible. For example, a person who selects a policy with a $500 deductible agrees to pay the first $500 of medical costs in a given year. Likewise, the insurance company agrees to pay some or all costs that exceed $500. Policies with a low deductible generally charge a relatively high monthly fee—called a premium—to maintain the insurance account. Policies may express the deductible in terms of per-person and per-family amounts. For example, the policy might provide for a deductible amount of $250 per person, but it might also set a maximum deductible of $500 per family when more than one person in the family has incurred medical expenses.

Coinsurance

Many insurance policies also require policyholders to pay a certain portion of medical costs that exceed the deductible. This extra amount is called the coinsurance figure. For example, consider a person who has already paid her policy’s deductible for the year and then has a diagnostic test that costs $100. If that person’s health insurance policy sets the terms of coinsurance at 20 percent, the insurance company must pay $80 of the bill for the test and the policyholder must pay $20. Policies that do not require a coinsurance payment usually charge subscribers a relatively high premium.

Copayment

Most managed care policies require policyholders to make a modest payment—called a copayment—toward the cost of services for each visit to a health care provider. Copayments are usually $10 or less. Although the amount of money collected from copayments may contribute little toward the actual cost of medical services, it does force some cost onto consumers in a way that provides incentives against overusing the health care system. These policies also assume that unless patients pay something for the services they receive, they place little value on those services. Indemnity plans typically do not require policyholders to make a copayment in addition to the deductible amount.

Premium

Insurance policies charge a certain monthly amount—called a premium—to maintain an insurance contract. The premium is the payment an individual policyholder makes in exchange for the promise of financial assistance for medical costs. The premium charged for the insurance reflects the value of the benefits received. For example, insurance with a $500 deductible generally has a lower premium than insurance with a $250 deductible.

Terms and Limits

Most health insurance policies limit coverage to services that the insurance company defines as both “reasonable and necessary.” These terms are key to understanding the policy’s benefits because they define whether particular services are within the scope of coverage.

Insurance companies carefully determine what they consider to be “reasonable” costs of medical services. To do this, an insurance company gathers statistics on what health care providers in a particular area typically charge for identical or similar services. That information helps the company determine the amounts it considers to be reasonable. For example, many insurance policies cover payment for an office visit to a doctor. If 90 percent of the doctors in a particular geographical area charge $60 or less for an office visit, an insurance company might logically decide to limit its policy’s coverage of office visits to the first $60 in charges. When a particular patient’s doctor charges $75 for an office visit, the insurance company may send the patient a bill—known as a balance billing charge—for the additional $15. Some benefit programs, such as Medicare, may not hold patients responsible for balance billing charges.

Insurance companies also determine what they consider to be “necessary” medical treatments. Health insurance contracts limit coverage to services that are considered important to maintaining sound health. For example, services such as cosmetic surgery usually are not considered necessary except in specific circumstances, such as after a disfiguring accident.

Out-of-Pocket Maximum

Health insurance policies define the maximum amount that an individual or family must pay each year for deductibles and coinsurance combined. This amount is called the out-of-pocket maximum. For example, a policy with a $250-per-person deductible might have a $1,000 limit on the total amount that a person would have to pay in both deductibles and coinsurance.

Lifetime Policy Limit

Some health insurance companies establish lifetime policy limits that define the maximum amount the insurer agrees to pay for a policyholder’s medical expenses. For example, a policy with a $500,000 limit pays up to $500,000 toward covered medical expenses over the life of the policy. A policy covering as much as $1 million or more of medical expenses usually does not cost the policyholder much more in premiums than one with $250,000 or $500,000 limits. The difference in cost is so slight because the probability of needing the highest amounts of coverage is very small. If the cost of medical services exceeds the lifetime policy limit, the insured person is liable for the difference, regardless of the limits set by the out-of-pocket maximum.

Preexisting Conditions

When a policyholder has medical conditions before being issued a health insurance policy, these are referred to in the new policy as preexisting conditions. Many newly issued policies contain a clause that limits the amount the insurance company will pay for services related to preexisting conditions. The precise limit can be expressed in this clause as a dollar amount, as a period of time for which benefits are limited, or as a permanent exclusion of coverage for particular services related to the conditions. By including such clauses, private insurance companies can make limited insurance available even to people with known health problems. At the same time, these clauses protect the company and the other members of the policy group from the likelihood of paying large bills associated with new policyholders’ preexisting conditions.

LEVEL OF COVERAGE

The extent to which an insurance policy will cover specific health care services varies considerably based on the level of benefits outlined in the policy. Because each person has different medical needs and risks, no one level of health insurance coverage is right for everyone. Some of the most common levels of coverage available in the United States include comprehensive medical insurance, hospital-surgical insurance, catastrophic health insurance, specified disease insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Comprehensive Coverage

Comprehensive medical insurance is a single plan that combines coverage for both doctor and hospital charges. Most medical services are covered by comprehensive policies, although even comprehensive plans limit benefits for certain specific conditions. They also may not cover services associated with preexisting conditions.

Hospital-Surgical Coverage

Hospital-Surgical policies provide separate limits for hospital charges and for physician charges associated with a hospital stay. A hospital-surgical plan usually limits its benefits to cover a relatively low amount of medical costs, so most people consider it only in conjunction with a more comprehensive policy.

Catastrophic Coverage

Catastrophic health insurance—also known as major medical insurance—is a policy of health insurance with a relatively high deductible, often as high as $500 or $1000. Although catastrophic health insurance policies offer coverage only beyond this high deductible amount, they can help people avoid bankruptcy in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury that requires expensive medical treatments. Because catastrophic health insurance policies have a high deductible, they typically charge policyholders relatively low monthly premiums.

Specified Disease Policies

Some insurance companies offer specified disease policies that cover only one illness, such as cancer. These plans offer no benefits at all for medical costs associated with any disease other than that specified in the policy. Therefore, most people who purchase these policies also need to be covered by a more comprehensive policy. Some of these policies provide only for the treatment of the specified illness and exclude from their benefits package the costs of diagnosing the disease.

Long-Term Care Policies

Americans increasingly buy long-term care policies to cover nursing home costs. Medicare and most private medical insurance policies cover medically necessary services such as care while recuperating from surgery, but they do not pay for the so-called custodial care offered by nursing homes. In about 80 percent of American families, at least one family member will eventually need long-term care. The average annual cost of a nursing home stay in the United States is around $40,000. Long-term care policies can help families meet these high medical expenses incurred by the elderly.

SPECIFIC BENEFITS

Each health plan or insurance policy must define what kinds of medical services are covered by insurance. These policies must also explain limitations or exclusions of coverage for specific services. In addition, insurance policies define the kinds of medical care providers that are covered by insurance. For example, covered providers usually include physicians and hospitals, but the policy’s terms may also include coverage for nurse practitioners, midwives, chiropractors, and naturopaths.

Almost all health insurance plans cover the cost of diagnostic tests, prescription drugs, and other items necessary to provide care in hospitals. Some policies also provide coverage for such things as prescription drugs to be taken outside of hospital settings.

Inpatient Hospital Care

Hospitals provide inpatient care when they admit a patient for an overnight stay. Most comprehensive health insurance policies cover the costs of inpatient care as long as that level of care is considered necessary to treat the patient’s condition.

Hospital indemnity policies pay a specified dollar amount per day of inpatient care, regardless of the cause of the hospitalization. The amount paid by the insurer varies neither with the services provided nor with the expense of those services. The benefit amounts paid by hospital indemnity policies are generally quite low when compared with the typical cost of a hospital stay.

Outpatient Care

Patients who do not require an overnight hospital stay receive outpatient care, which is generally covered by comprehensive policies. Outpatient care could be provided in a doctor’s office, a neighborhood clinic, or in a hospital if the patient is sent home the same day. For example, patients often will come to the hospital the day before surgery so that doctors can perform blood tests. Simple surgeries like a tonsillectomy (a procedure to remove the tonsils) usually can be performed on an outpatient basis. Even very sophisticated surgeries like a cochlear implant (a device used to stimulate the auditory nerve in deaf people) often do not require a hospital stay. To encourage patients to make cost-effective use of the health care system, health insurance plans—particularly managed care plans—often include financial incentives to use outpatient services whenever possible.

Treatment of mental illness is commonly performed on an outpatient basis, but insurance coverage is often limited for such services as psychotherapy. For example, private insurers generally pay 80 percent of the cost of most outpatient medical services, but they traditionally limit reimbursement for psychotherapy to 50 percent or less of its cost. Also, many insurers limit their coverage of psychotherapy to a specified maximum dollar amount or to a maximum number of visits.

Many insurance policies will offer coverage of health care performed in the patient’s home by an approved medical provider. Home health care benefits are generally limited to medically necessary services that are part of a treatment plan prescribed by the patient’s doctor. Some policies also cover hospice care that allows a terminally ill patient to receive health care services at home or in an approved hospice center instead of in a hospital.

Emergency Care

Most insurance policies cover emergency care provided in hospital emergency departments, but they generally discourage overuse of emergency room visits by requiring the patient to make a copayment. Health insurance policies also usually offer limited coverage for ambulance transportation to emergency rooms.

Substance Abuse and Alcoholism Treatment

Most comprehensive policies offer limited coverage for treatment of alcoholism and other forms of substance abuse. These policies generally pay a percentage of the cost for treatment performed by an approved facility or counselor, but benefits are usually limited to a maximum amount paid over a specified period.

Alternative Medicine

An increasing number of health insurance policies provide benefits for so-called alternative medicine—that is, for therapeutic practices and treatments that lie outside the mainstream of Western medical care. Policies that cover alternative medicine may provide benefits for such treatments as acupuncture, chiropractic care, therapeutic massage, and naturopathy (treatments that avoid drugs and surgery in favor of natural remedies). Advocates of alternative medical practices believe that they can provide safe, natural approaches to treating illnesses or injuries that conventional medicine has had limited success in curing, such as chronic pain and drug addiction.

Foreign Exchange

2007-12-07T09:17:00.002-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Foreign Exchange, currency and money claims, such as bank balances and bank drafts, expressed in the equivalent value in foreign money. Thus, a pound sterling note is money in the United Kingdom, but it is foreign exchange in the United States. A deposit of $1,000 in an American bank to the account of a French company constitutes that amount of foreign exchange in France. The term foreign exchange is also used to refer to transactions involving the conversion of money of one country into that of another or to the international transfer of money and credit instruments.

The use of foreign exchange arises because different nations have different monetary units, and the currency of one country cannot be used for making payments in another country. Because of trade, travel, and other transactions between individuals and business enterprises of different countries, it becomes necessary to convert money into the currency of other countries in order to pay for goods or services in those countries. The transfer of money values from one country to another and the determination of the price at which the currency of one country will be surrendered for that of another constitute the main problems of foreign exchange.

PRICE FLUCTUATION

Foreign exchange is a commodity, and its price fluctuates in accordance with supply and demand; exchange rates are published daily in the principal newspapers of the world and on the World Wide Web. By international agreement fixed exchange rates with a narrow margin of fluctuation existed until 1973, when floating rates were adopted that fluctuate as supply and demand dictate. Foreigners need dollar exchange to pay for goods imported from the United States, for services supplied by Americans, for interest and dividends earned by American capital invested abroad, for the purchase of securities in the United States, and for other types of transactions. Americans buy foreign exchange for similar reasons. Payments for services that must be made by one nation to another include freight charges, insurance premiums, commissions, and travel expenses.

New York City merchants importing goods from the United Kingdom buy drafts on London from their banks. These drafts, or bills of exchange, create a supply of dollars and a demand for pounds. At the same time, other American merchants sell goods to persons in the United Kingdom and receive drafts payable in pounds that they desire to convert into dollars. The foreign exchange banker buys the pounds from the American exporters and sells them to the importers who need pounds in exchange for their dollars.

Ordinarily, and without government restrictions, the rate of exchange, or the price of the currency of one country in terms of that of another, will depend on overall supply and demand and on the relative purchasing power of the two currencies—that is, on the competitive position of the two countries in world markets. At times, speculation in foreign exchange by dealers, brokers, or others becomes a major influence on exchange rates.

GOVERNMENT CONTROL

When the foreign exchange needs of a country exceed total receipts from abroad, and it is unable to receive foreign credits, the exchange value of the currency of the country tends to decline. Under these conditions, the government has the alternative of allowing freedom of transactions in foreign exchange and permitting its currency to depreciate, or of abandoning free transfer of currency by the establishment of exchange control. The aim of such control is to limit the demand for and to increase the supply of foreign exchange in order to maintain a stable exchange rate. Control usually provides for allocating foreign exchange only for approved imports and requires that all or part of the foreign exchange derived from exports or other sources be given to the central bank in exchange for local currency. Since the worldwide depression of the early 1930s, many countries, particularly the developing ones with limited exchange reserves, have periodically instituted foreign exchange controls. To help resolve the unbalanced international payments situation after World War II (1939-1945), the United Nations established in 1946 the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The fund promotes currency stability and removal of foreign exchange restrictions by granting member nations foreign exchange loans to cover temporary deficits in their international accounts. The bank grants long-term foreign currency loans to member countries for specific projects.

Finance

2007-12-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

Finance, branch of economics concerned with providing funds to individuals, businesses, and governments. Finance allows these entities to use credit instead of cash to purchase goods and invest in projects. For example, an individual can borrow money from a bank to buy a home. An industrial firm can raise money through investors to build a new factory. Governments can issue bonds to raise money for projects.

Finance plays an important role in the economy. As banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions provide credit, they help expand the economy by directing funds from savers to borrowers. For example, a bank acquires large amounts of money from the deposits of individual savers. The bank does not let this money sit idle but instead provides loans to borrowers who might then build a house or expand a business. The savings of millions of people percolate through many financial institutions, spurring economic growth.

A wide variety of financial institutions have different roles in finance and the economy. Some institutions, such as banks, link lenders and borrowers. These institutions act as an intermediary among consumers, businesses, and governments by lending out deposits. Other institutions, such as stock exchanges, provide a market for existing securities, which include stocks and bonds. Stock exchanges encourage investment because they enable investors to sell their securities when the need arises.

Many aspects of finance are studied individually. Corporate finance centers on how businesses can best raise and spend their funds. Public finance focuses on the financial role of federal, state, and local governments.

Personal finance

Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, budget, save and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. Components of personal finance might include checking and savings accounts, credit cards and consumer loans, investments in the stock market, retirement plans, social security benefits, insurance policies, and income tax management.

Personal financial planning

A key component of personal finance is financial planning, a dynamic process that requires regular monitoring and reevaluation. In general, it has five steps:

Assessment: One's personal financial situation can be assessed by compiling simplified versions of financial balance sheets and income statements. A personal balance sheet lists the values of personal assets (e.g., car, house, clothes, stocks, bank account), along with personal liabilities (e.g., credit card debt, bank loan, mortgage). A personal cash flow statement lists personal income and expenses.
Setting goals: Two examples are "retire at age 65 with a personal net worth of $200,000 American" and "buy a house in 3 years paying a monthly mortgage servicing cost that is no more than 25% of my gross income". It is not uncommon to have several goals, some short term and some long term. Setting financial goals helps direct financial planning.
Creating a plan: The financial plan details how to accomplish your goals. It could include, for example, reducing unnecessary expenses, increasing one's employment income, or investing in the stock market.
Execution: Execution of one's personal financial plan often requires discipline and perseverance. Many people obtain assistance from professionals such as accountants, financial planners, investment advisers, and lawyers.
Monitoring and reassessment: As time passes, one's personal financial plan must be monitored for possible adjustments or reassessments.

Typical goals most adults have are paying off credit card and or student loan debt, retirement, college costs for children, medical expenses, and estate planning.

Corporate finance

Corporate finance is an area of finance dealing with the financial decisions corporations make and the tools and analysis used to make these decisions. The primary goal of corporate finance is to maximize corporate value while reducing the firm's financial risks. Although it is in principle different from managerial finance which studies the financial decisions of all firms, rather than corporations alone, the main concepts in the study of corporate finance are applicable to the financial problems of all kinds of firms.

The discipline can be divided into long-term and short-term decisions and techniques. Capital investment decisions are long-term choices about which projects receive investment, whether to finance that investment with equity or debt, and when or whether to pay dividends to shareholders. On the other hand, the short term decisions can be grouped under the heading "Working capital management". This subject deals with the short-term balance of current assets and current liabilities; the focus here is on managing cash, inventories, and short-term borrowing and lending (such as the terms on credit extended to customers).

The terms Corporate finance and Corporate financier are also associated with investment banking. The typical role of an investment banker is to evaluate investment projects for a bank to make investment decisions.

Electronic Money

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Electronic money (also known as electronic cash, electronic currency, digital money, digital cash or digital currency) refers to money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit are examples of electronic money. Also, it is a collective term for financial cryptography and technologies enabling it.

While electronic money has been an interesting problem for cryptography (see for example the work of David Chaum and Markus Jakobsson), to date, use of digital cash has been relatively low-scale. One rare success has been Hong Kong's Octopus card system, which started as a transit payment system and has grown into a widely used electronic cash system. Singapore also has an electronic money implementation for its public transportation system (commuter trains, bus, etc), which is very similar to Hong Kong's Octopus card and based on the same type of card (FeliCa).

Alternative systems

Technically electronic or digital money is a representation, or a system of debits and credits, used (but not limited to this) to exchange value, within another system, or itself as a stand alone system, online or offline. Also sometimes the term electronic money is used to refer to the provider itself. A private currency may use gold to provide extra security, such as digital gold currency. An e-currency system may be fully backed by gold (like e-gold and c-gold), non-gold backed (like eeeCurrency), or both gold and non-gold backed (like e-Bullion and Liberty Reserve).

Many systems will sell their electronic currency directly to the end user, such as Paypal and WebMoney, but other systems, such as e-gold, sell only through third party digital currency exchangers.

In the case of Octopus Card in Hong Kong, deposits work similarly to banks'. After Octopus Card Limited receives money for deposit from users, the money is deposited into banks, which is similar to debit-card-issuing banks redepositing money at central banks.

Some community currencies, like some LETS systems, work with electronic transactions. Cyclos Software allows creation of electronic community currencies.

Ripple monetary system is a project to develop a distributed system of electronic money independent of local currency.

Advantages

Most money in today’s world is electronic, and tangible cash is becoming less frequent. With the introduction of internet / online banking, debit cards, online bill payments and internet business, paper money is becoming a thing of the past.

Banks now offer many services whereby a customer can transfer funds, purchase stocks, contribute to their retirement plans (such as Canadian RRSP) and offer a variety of other services without having to handle physical cash or cheques. Customers do not have to wait in lines; this provides a lower-hassle environment.

Debit cards and online bill payments allow immediate transfer of funds from an individual's personal account to a business's account without any actual paper transfer of money. This offers a great convenience to many people and businesses alike.

Disadvantages

Although there are many benefits to digital cash, there are also many significant disadvantages. These include fraud, failure of technology, possible tracking of individuals and loss of human interaction.

Fraud over digital cash has been a pressing issue in recent years. Hacking into bank accounts and illegal retrieval of banking records has led to a widespread invasion of privacy and has promoted identity theft.

There is also a pressing issue regarding the technology involved in digital cash. Power failures, loss of records and undependable software often cause a major setback in promoting the technology. Privacy questions have also been raised; there is a fear that the use of debit cards and the like will lead to the creation of a global tracking system by the banking industry. Some people are working on anonymous ecash to try to address this issue. The issue of providing anonymity to users itself introduces more problems, however; there is the distinct possibility that a fully anonymous digital cash system could permit the "perfect crime" - i.e., where a criminal uses someone else's electronic cash to make a payment, but cannot be traced - to occur. For this reason, 'revocable anonymity' is a suggested solution: a user is fully anonymous until they commit some crime, at which point authorization is given for their identity to be revealed. However, critics of this policy point out that the anonymous users will never be caught and held trial (thus their identity will never be revealed) without tracing.

Credit & Debit Cards

2007-12-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

Credit Card

Credit Card, card that identifies its owner as one who is entitled to credit when purchasing goods or services from certain establishments. Credit cards originated in the United States in the 1930s; their use was wide-spread by the 1950s. They are issued by many businesses serving the consumer, such as oil companies, retail stores and chain stores, restaurants, hotels, airlines, car rental agencies and banks. Some credit cards are honored in a single store, but others are general-purpose cards, for use in a wide variety of establishments. Bank credit cards, now also in use in Europe, are examples of the general purpose card. Establishments dispensing almost every form of product or service are honoring such cards, and it is predicted that credit cards might some day eliminate the need for carrying cash.

When a credit card is used, the retailer records the name and account number of the purchaser and the amount of the sale, and forwards this record to the credit card billing office. At intervals, usually monthly, the billing office sends a statement to the cardholder listing all the charged purchases and requesting payment immediately or in installments. The billing office reimburses the retailer directly.

Most of the work involved in credit card operations is now handled by computers. Charges for the use of a credit card are sometimes paid directly by the cardholder, and sometimes borne by the retail establishments that accept them. In the latter case, the cost is absorbed into the price of the merchandise. Department stores usually charge interest to credit customers who do not settle their bills within a month, but certain credit plans do not charge interest until a bill has been outstanding for several months. Interest rates for overdue balances are regulated by state law. A continuing problem involved in the use of credit cards is the ease with which they can be used fraudulently if stolen or lost, although the liability of the owner is limited.

Credit cards in ATMs

Many credit cards can also be used in an ATM to withdraw money against the credit limit extended to the card but many card issuers charge interest on cash advances before they do so on purchases. The interest on cash advances is commonly charged from the date the withdrawal is made, rather than the monthly billing date. Many card issuers levy a commission for cash withdrawals, even if the ATM belongs to the same bank as the card issuer. Merchants do not offer cash back on credit card transactions because they would pay a percentage commission of the additional cash amount to their bank or merchant services provider, thereby making it uneconomical.

Many credit card companies will also, when applying payments to a card, do so at the end of a billing cycle, and apply those payments to everything before cash advances. For this reason, many consumers have large cash balances, which have no grace period and incur interest at a rate that is (usually) higher than the purchase rate, and will carry that balance for years, even if they pay off their statement balance each month.

Debit Card

A debit card is a plastic card which provides an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. Physically the card is an ISO 7810 card like a credit card; however, its functionality is more similar to writing a cheque as the funds are withdrawn directly from either the cardholder's bank account (often referred to as a check card), or from the remaining balance on a gift card.

Depending on the store or merchant, the customer may swipe or insert their card into the terminal, or they may hand it to the merchant who will do so. The transaction is authorized and processed and the customer verifies the transaction either by entering a PIN or, occasionally, by signing a sales receipt.

In some countries the debit card is multipurpose, acting as the ATM card for withdrawing cash and as a check guarantee card. Merchants can also offer "cashback"/"cashout" facilities to customers, where a customer can withdraw cash along with their purchase.

The use of debit cards has become wide-spread in many countries and has overtaken the check, and in some instances cash transactions by volume. Like credit cards, debit cards are used widely for telephone and Internet purchases. This may cause inconvenient delays at peak shopping times (e.g. the last shopping day before Christmas), caused when the volume of transactions overloads the bank networks.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Debit and check cards, as they have become widespread, have revealed numerous advantages and disadvantages to the consumer and retailer alike. Advantages are as follows:

A consumer who is not creditworthy and may find it difficult or impossible to obtain a credit card can more easily obtain a debit card, allowing him/her to make plastic transactions.
Use of a debit card is limited to the existing funds in the account to which it is linked, thereby preventing the consumer from racking up debt as a result of its use, or being charged interest, late fees, or fees exclusive to credit cards.
For most transactions, a check card can be used to avoid check writing altogether. Check cards debit funds from the user's account on the spot, thereby finalizing the transaction at the time of purchase, and bypassing the requirement to pay a credit card bill at a later date, or to write an insecure check containing the account holder's personal information.
Like credit cards, debit cards are accepted by merchants with less identification and scrutiny than personal checks, thereby speeding up transactions and feeling less intrusive to the user. Unlike personal checks, merchants generally do not believe that a payment via a debit card may be later dishonored.
Unlike a credit card, which charges higher fees and interest rates when a cash advance is obtained, a debit card may be used to obtain cash from an ATM or a PIN-based transaction at no extra charge, other than a foreign ATM fee.

The debit card has many disadvantages as opposed to cash or credit:

Some banks are now charging over-limit fees or non-sufficient funds fees based upon pre-authorizations, and even attempted but refused transactions by the merchant (some of which may not even be known by the client).
Many merchants mistakenly believe that amounts owed can be "taken" from a customer's account after a debit card (or number) has been presented, without agreement as to date, payee name, and dollar and cent amount, thus causing penalty fees for overdrafts, over-the-limit, amounts not available causing further rejections or overdrafts, and rejected transactions by some banks.
Debit cards offer lower levels of security protection than credit cards. When used for a PIN-based transaction, theft of the PIN can be accomplished a lot easier than a signature-based credit transaction using skimming devices.
In many places, laws protect the consumer from fraud a lot less than with a credit card. While the holder of a credit card is legally responsible for only a minimal amount of a fraudulent transaction made with a credit card, which is often waived by the bank, the consumer may be held liable for hundreds of dollars in fraudulent debit transactions. The consumer also has a much shorter time (usually just two days) to report such fraud to the bank in order to be eligible for such a waiver with a debit card, whereas with a credit card, this time may be up to 60 days. A thief who obtains or clones a debit card along with its PIN may be able to clean out the consumer's bank account, and the consumer will have no recourse.
In the UK and Ireland, among other countries, a consumer who purchases goods or services with a credit card can pursue the credit card issuer if the goods or services are not delivered or are unmerchantable. While they must generally exhaust the process provided by the retailer first, this is not necessary if the retailer has gone out of business. This protection is not provided when using a debit card.
When a transaction is made using a credit card, the bank's money is being spent, and therefore, the bank has a vested interest in claiming its money where there is fraud or a dispute. The bank may fight to void the charges of a consumer who is dissatisfied with a purchase, or who has otherwise been treated unfairly by the merchant. But when a debit purchase is made, the consumer has spent his/her own money, and the bank has little if any motivation to collect the funds.
For certain types of purchases, such as gasoline, lodging, or car rental, the bank may place a hold on funds much greater than the actual purchase for a fixed period of time. Until the hold is released, any other transactions presented to the account, including checks, may be dishonored, or may be paid at the expense of an overdraft fee if the account lacks any additional funds to pay those items.
While debit cards bearing the logo of a major credit card are accepted for virtually all transactions where an equivalent credit card is taken, a major exception is at car rental facilities. When car rental agencies require an actual credit card to be used, or at the very least, will verify the creditworthiness of the renter using a debit card. These companies will deny a rental to anyone who does not fit the requirements, and such a credit check may actually hurt one's credit score.

Corporate Finance

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INTRODUCTION

Corporate Finance branch of economics concerned with how businesses raise and spend their money. Companies spend or invest funds in projects that might make the firm more profitable, such as a new factory or an improved product. Corporate finance involves selecting projects that maximize profits and make the best use of a company's funds. Sometimes businesses can fund these projects on their own. Other times businesses must raise funds from outside the company. Corporate finance also involves finding the best way for businesses to pay for their projects.

CORPORATE OWNERSHIP

Small businesses may be owned by a single individual, but major corporations are far too large to be owned in this way. Instead corporations are owned by many people, called shareholders, who own shares of stock. Investors purchase stock because it allows them to share in the company's profits, although there are no guarantees that the company will be successful. Each share of stock represents ownership of a portion of the firm and its possessions, or assets. For example, Exxon Corporation has about 600,000 shareholders, who together own a total of about 1.2 billion shares of stock.

Shareholders who possess a large number of shares own a larger portion of the company than those who possess only a few shares. For example, an individual who owns one share of Exxon stock owns just under one-billionth of the company. At the other extreme, a large financial institution, such as an insurance company or a company that manages investments, may own several million shares of Exxon stock. About half the shares of large corporations are owned directly by individuals. The other half are owned by financial institutions.

Shares of stock are bought and sold on a number of stock exchanges. For example, Exxon's shares are regularly bought and sold on the New York Stock Exchange. At the end of 1995 Exxon's shares were priced at $80 each. At that price it would have cost about $100 billion to buy all of Exxon's stock.

Although a corporation's shareholders own the company, they do not manage it. Instead they elect a board of directors who hire key company executives and review their job performance.

INVESTMENT DECISIONS

Corporate investment decisions often involve substantial amounts of money. Many investment decisions are also difficult to reverse and can affect the company's business far into the future. For example, in 1966 Boeing Company, an airplane manufacturer, decided to invest about $1 billion to develop the 747 jumbo jet. This investment delivered long-term benefits as the company was still selling the jets 30 years later. It was also able to take advantage of its experience with the 747 to develop new kinds of aircraft.

A business regards an investment as successful if it increases the wealth of the shareholders who own the company. This is accomplished when the firm earns profits and passes them back to the shareholders either in the form of dividends or as increases in the value or price of the stock. Dividends are a share of profits paid to shareholders as cash or as additional shares of stock. Profits or earnings that are not distributed to shareholders stay with the firm and are called retained earnings. These earnings influence the value of the stock because they increase the total asset value, or total amount of assets, of the firm. Because the value of their company's possessions has increased, the shareholders own stock that is worth more. If the firm realizes retained earnings of $1 per common share, it will add $1 to the value of each share. However, since many forces influence stock prices, the actual price of the stock will probably fluctuate and be more or less than the additional $1 per share.

Investment decisions—that is, deciding what projects to invest in—are based on two criteria: the expected rate of return and the risk or uncertainty of achieving the expected rate of return. The project's rate of return, or simply its return, is a measurement of its profit. A financial manager estimates the return based on forecasts of potential sales, expenses, and profits that might occur from an investment. For example, a company might have an opportunity to invest in a project that costs $100 million. If the project is expected to produce a profit of $10 million, this equals a rate of return of 10 percent on the investment of $100 million.

Before evaluating the rate of return, a financial manager must also consider the return's risk. The manager must consider the chances of earning or losing money on the project and how great the profits or losses could be. For example, if the company has a 90 percent chance of earning the $10 million return, the risk is rather small. On the other hand, if the company has only a 5 percent chance of earning the $10 million return, the project is very risky. Expected rates of return are higher with risky projects because they must compensate for the project's uncertainty to attract investors. Although their returns are not guaranteed, higher risk projects have a potential for greater profit.

Whether or not the company should go ahead with the project depends on what the $100 million could earn if invested differently. The company should accept any project that is expected to earn a higher return than shareholders can earn with another investment. For example, the shareholders could invest their $100 million by buying real estate. If the shareholders could earn a 20 percent return on their real estate investment, they are giving up that opportunity to invest in the company. In other words, 20 percent is the cost of investing their capital in the project, or the cost of capital. The firm should only accept projects whose expected return exceeds the shareholder's cost of capital.

In addition to investing in projects, firms also buy and sell entire businesses. Sometimes this takes place with a mutual agreement to merge or combine two companies into one. In other cases one firm, the buying firm, goes against the wishes of another firm's management, the target firm, and attempts a takeover. For example, a company can appeal directly to the target firm's shareholders by offering to buy their stock. If the buying firm acquires enough of the target firm's stock, it can control the target firm's activities.

RAISING MONEY FOR INVESTMENTS

Investments require cash. There are three common ways a corporation may be able to raise this cash: (1) by paying smaller dividends, (2) by borrowing, or (3) by selling more stock. Each method has advantages and disadvantages.

A firm can finance projects by paying smaller dividends. By paying out less of its profits in dividends, the company can keep more of its profits as retained earnings and use them to fund its investments. Using retained earnings to finance projects appeals to managers because they can avoid paying interest. However, the shareholders may not like it if their dividend becomes smaller. Also, sometimes the firm needs more money for a particular project than it has available in retained earnings.

A company can also choose to borrow money to fund its projects. A firm can either borrow from a bank or directly from investors by issuing bonds. Although a firm must pay interest if it borrows money, it can deduct the interest from its profits and therefore pay less in taxes. However, there are limits to how much a firm can borrow, and too much borrowing could lead to bankruptcy.

Selling stock is a third way companies can raise funds. Unlike a loan, the funds received from the sale of stock belong to the company and do not have to be repaid. As a consequence, the firm does not have the expense of paying interest. However, the firm must still earn a certain return on its investment to obtain the cash to pay dividends or devote to retained earnings. Businesses also may not want to issue stock because the costs of issuing stock, such as fees for legal and banking services, are usually higher than for issuing bonds.

A financial manager must consider factors other than cost when deciding how to raise money. For example, if a firm tries to raise new funds, the public will speculate about the company's plans. If investors think the plans are a bad idea the company's stock price could fall.

International financial markets have become increasingly important sources of funds. United States firms frequently raise money in overseas financial centers such as London or Tokyo. Loans from abroad often have a lower interest cost to domestic U.S. corporations because foreign banks are not subject to the restrictions of the U.S. Federal Reserve System. For example, instead of borrowing dollars from a bank in the United States, American firms may borrow dollars that have been deposited in London or Tokyo banks. These are known as Eurodollars. Eurodollars are U.S. dollars held in banks outside of the United States. Similarly, instead of issuing bonds in the United States, U.S. firms may issue bonds in a foreign country to a group of international investors. These are called Eurobonds. Eurobonds are bonds sold outside the country whose currency is used to write the bond. For example, a bond denominated in U.S. dollars issued by a Japanese bank is a Eurobond.

MANAGING RISK

Events outside the control of a corporation can affect the firm and its financing decisions. For example, a change in the interest rate can suddenly make borrowing money very inexpensive or very costly. From 1975 to 1995, interest rates in the United States were as high as 15 percent and as low as 3 percent. Many economic factors, such as changes in the price of oil or the price of foreign currency, can affect businesses as well.

Corporate financial managers need to make sure that potential economic fluctuations do not threaten the firm. A variety of tools, known as derivatives, help manage the risk of such events occurring. Four important kinds of derivatives include (1) futures, (2) forwards, (3) options, and (4) swaps. Futures are promises to buy or sell something in the future at a price that is agreed upon today. For example, a candy manufacturer might commit to purchasing a specified quantity of cocoa at a specified price from the producer in six months. Futures are traded on organized futures exchanges, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange or the Chicago Board of Trade. Forwards are similar to futures, but they are arranged directly between a firm and a bank. Options give a firm the right to buy or sell something in the future at a price that is agreed upon today. For example, if the candy-manufacturer does not know how much cocoa will be needed in six months, it could take out an option to buy cocoa at a certain price. Swaps involve firms swapping one set of payments for another. For example, an American firm may agree to make a series of dollar payments to a Japanese bank, while the bank in return promises to make a series of yen payments.

Derivatives are very popular. For example, worldwide trading of futures amounts to about $35 trillion a year. Most firms use derivatives to reduce risk, but some use them to speculate by buying and selling derivatives in hopes of earning a profit. When these speculations don't work out, losses can be substantial. For example, the United Kingdom's Barings', one of the world's oldest banks, collapsed in 1995 when futures speculation by one of its traders in Singapore resulted in losses of over $1 billion.

Methods of corporate finance continually evolve as financial managers invent new ways to raise money and avoid risk. Smart investment and financing decisions are crucial to a firm's success.

Banking

2007-12-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION

Banking, the business of providing financial services to consumers and businesses. The basic services a bank provides are checking accounts, which can be used like money to make payments and purchase goods and services; savings accounts and time deposits that can be used to save money for future use; loans that consumers and businesses can use to purchase goods and services; and basic cash management services such as check cashing and foreign currency exchange. Four types of banks specialize in offering these basic banking services: commercial banks, savings and loan associations, savings banks, and credit unions.

A broader definition of a bank is any financial institution that receives, collects, transfers, pays, exchanges, lends, invests, or safeguards money for its customers. This broader definition includes many other financial institutions that are not usually thought of as banks but which nevertheless provide one or more of these broadly defined banking services. These institutions include finance companies, investment companies, investment banks, insurance companies, pension funds, security brokers and dealers, mortgage companies, and real estate investment trusts. This article, however, focuses on the narrower definition of a bank and the services provided by banks in Canada and the United States.

Banking services are extremely important in a free market economy such as that found in Canada and the United States. Banking services serve two primary purposes. First, by supplying customers with the basic mediums-of-exchange (cash, checking accounts, and credit cards), banks play a key role in the way goods and services are purchased. Without these familiar methods of payment, goods could only be exchanged by barter (trading one good for another), which is extremely time-consuming and inefficient. Second, by accepting money deposits from savers and then lending the money to borrowers, banks encourage the flow of money to productive use and investments. This in turn allows the economy to grow. Without this flow, savings would sit idle in someone’s safe or pocket, money would not be available to borrow, people would not be able to purchase cars or houses, and businesses would not be able to build the new factories the economy needs to produce more goods and grow. Enabling the flow of money from savers to investors is called financial intermediation, and it is extremely important to a free market economy.

BANKING INSTITUTIONS

Banking institutions include commercial banks, savings and loan associations (SLAs), savings banks, and credit unions. The major differences between these types of banks involve how they are owned and how they manage their assets and liabilities. Assets of banks are typically cash, loans, securities (bonds, but not stocks), and property in which the bank has invested. Liabilities are primarily the deposits received from the bank’s customers. They are known as liabilities because they are still owned by, and can be withdrawn by, the depositors of the financial institution.

Until the early 1980s, the assets and liabilities of banks were tightly regulated. As a result, clear distinctions existed between the activities and types of services offered by these different types of banks. Although subsequent deregulation in the 1990s blurred these distinctions, differences do remain.

Commercial Banks

Commercial banks are so named because they specialize in loans to commercial and industrial businesses. Commercial banks are owned by private investors, called stockholders, or by companies called bank holding companies. The vast majority of commercial banks are owned by bank holding companies. (A holding company is a corporation that exists only to hold shares in another company.) In 1984, 62 percent of banks were owned by holding companies. In 2000, 76 percent of banks were owned by holding companies. The bank holding company form of ownership became increasingly attractive for several reasons. First, holding companies could engage in activities not permitted in the bank itself—for example, offering investment advice, underwriting securities, and engaging in other investment banking activities. But these activities were permitted in the bank if the holding company owned separate companies that offer these services. Using the holding company form of organization, bankers could then diversify their product lines and offer services requested by their customers and provided by their European counterparts. Second, many states had laws that restricted a bank from opening branches to within a certain number of miles from the bank’s main branch. By setting up a holding company, a banking firm could locate new banks around the state and therefore put branches in locations not previously available.

Commercial banks are “for profit” organizations. Their objective is to make a profit. The profits either can be paid out to bank stockholders or to the holding company in the form of dividends, or the profits can be retained to build capital (net worth). Commercial banks traditionally have the broadest variety of assets and liabilities. Their historical specialties have been commercial lending to businesses on the asset side and checking accounts for businesses and individuals on the liability side. However, commercial banks also make consumer loans for automobiles and other consumer goods as well as real estate (mortgage) loans for both consumers and businesses.

Savings and Loan Associations

Savings and loan associations (SLAs) are usually owned by stockholders, but they can be owned by depositors as well. (If owned by depositors, they are called “mutuals.”) If stock owned, the goal is to earn a profit that can either be paid out as a dividend or retained to increase capital. If owned by depositors, the objective is to earn a profit that can be used either to build capital or lower future loan rates or to raise future deposit rates for the depositor-owners. Until the early 1980s, regulations restricted SLAs to investing in real estate mortgage loans and accepting savings accounts and time deposits (savings accounts that exist for a specified period of time). As a result, historically SLAs have specialized in savings deposits and mortgage lending.

Savings Banks

Traditional savings banks, also known as mutual savings banks (MSBs), have no stockholders, and their assets are administered for the sole benefit of depositors. Earnings are paid to depositors after expenses are met and reserves are set aside to insure the deposits. During the 1980s savings banks were in a great state of flux, and many began to provide the same kinds of services as commercial banks.

Since 1982 savings banks have been permitted to convert to SLAs. SLAs also may convert to savings banks. Both SLAs and MSBs can now offer a full range of financial services, including multiple savings instruments; checking accounts; consumer, commercial, and agricultural loans; and trust and credit card services.

Credit Unions

Credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative organizations that are owned by their members. Their goal is to minimize the rate members pay on loans and maximize the rate paid to members on deposits. Whatever surplus is earned is retained to build the capital of the credit union. Members must share a common bond. That bond is typically employment (members all work for the same employers) or geography (members all live in the same geographic area). Historically, credit unions specialized in providing automobile and other personal loans and savings deposits for their members. However, more recently credit unions have offered mortgage loans, credit card loans, and some commercial loans in addition to checking accounts and time deposits.

Credit unions, SLAs, and savings banks help encourage thriftiness by paying interest to consumers who put their money in savings deposits. Consequently, credit unions, SLAs, and savings banks are often referred to as thrift institutions.

Of the various types of banks in the United States, commercial banks account for the greatest single source of the financial industry’s assets. In 2000 the 8,528 commercial banks in the United States controlled 24 percent of the financial industry’s total assets. Commercial banks, however, have seen their share of financial-industry assets erode over time, as more money has shifted to money market and other mutual funds. In the mid-1990s, for example, the approximately 11,000 commercial banks then in existence controlled 27 percent of assets. In 1950 they controlled nearly 50 percent of financial assets. Savings institutions’ share of financial assets has also dropped from roughly 13 percent in 1950 to 5 percent in 2000. Credit unions’ share has remained fairly constant at 2 percent.

BANKING SERVICES

Commercial banks and thrifts offer various services to their customers. These services fall into three major categories: deposits, loans, and cash management services.

Deposits

There are four major types of deposits: demand deposits, savings deposits, hybrid checking/savings deposits, and time deposits. What distinguishes one type from another are the conditions under which the deposited funds may be withdrawn.

A demand deposit is a deposit that can be withdrawn on demand at any time and in any amount up to the full amount of the deposit. The most common example of a demand deposit is a checking account. Money orders and traveler’s checks are also technically demand deposits. Checking accounts are also considered transaction accounts in that payments can be made to third parties—that is, to someone other than the depositor or the bank itself—via check, telephone, or other authorized transfer instruction. Checking accounts are popular because as demand deposits they provide perfect liquidity (immediate access to cash) and as transaction accounts they can be transferred to a third party as payment for goods or services. As such, they function like money.

Savings accounts pay interest to the depositor, but have no specific maturity date on which the funds need to be withdrawn or reinvested. Any amount can be withdrawn from a savings account up to the amount deposited. Under normal circumstances, customers can withdraw their money from a savings account simply by presenting their “passbook” or by using their automated teller machine (ATM) card. Savings accounts are highly liquid. They are different from demand deposits, however, because depositors cannot write checks against regular savings accounts. Savings accounts cannot be used directly as money to purchase goods or services.

The hybrid savings and checking account allows customers to earn interest on the account and write checks against the account. These are called either negotiable order of withdrawal (NOW) accounts, or money market deposit accounts, which are savings accounts that allow a maximum of three third-party transfers each month.

Time deposits are deposits on which the depositor and the bank have agreed that the money will not be withdrawn without substantial penalty to the depositor before a specific date. These are frequently called certificates of deposits (CDs). Because of a substantial early withdrawal penalty, time deposits are not as liquid as demand or savings deposits nor can depositors write checks against them. Time deposits also typically require a minimum deposit amount.

Loans

Banks and thrifts make three types of loans: commercial and industrial loans, consumer loans, and mortgage loans. Commercial and industrial loans are loans to businesses or industrial firms. These are primarily short-term working capital loans (loans to finance the purchase of material or labor) or transaction or longer-term loans (loans to purchase machines and equipment). Most commercial banks offer a variable rate on these loans, which means that the interest rate can change over the course of the loan. Whether a bank will make a loan or not depends on the credit and loan history of the borrower, the borrower’s ability to make scheduled loan payments, the amount of capital the borrower has invested in the business, the condition of the economy, and the value of the collateral the borrower pledges to give the bank if the loan payments are not made.

Consumer loans are loans for consumers to purchase goods or services. There are two types of consumer loans: closed-end credit and open-end credit.

Closed-end credit loans are loans for a fixed amount of money, for a fixed period of time (usually not more than five years), and for a fixed purpose (for example, to buy a car). Most closed-end loans are called installment loans because they must be repaid in equal monthly installments. The item purchased by the consumer serves as collateral for the loan. For example, if the consumer fails to make payments on an automobile, the bank can recoup the cost of its loan by taking ownership of the car.

Open-end credit loans are loans for variable amounts of money up to a set limit. Unlike closed-end loans, open-end credit does not require a borrower to specify the purpose of the loan and the lender cannot foreclose on the loan. Credit cards are an example of open-end credit. Most open-end loans carry fixed interest rates–that is, the rate does not vary over the term of the loan. Open-end loans require no collateral, but interest rates or other penalties or fees may be charged—for example, if credit card charges are not paid in full, interest is charged, or if payment is late, a fee is charged to the borrower. Open-end credit interest rates usually exceed closed-end rates because open-end loans are not backed by collateral.

Mortgage loans or real estate loans are loans used to purchase land or buildings such as houses or factories. These are typically long-term loans and the interest rate charged can be either a variable or a fixed rate for the term of the loan, which often ranges from 15 to 30 years. The land and buildings purchased serve as the collateral for the loan.

Cash Management and Other Services

Although deposits and loans are the basic banking services provided by banks and thrifts, these institutions provide a wide variety of other services to customers. For consumers, these include check cashing, foreign currency exchange, safety deposit boxes in which consumers can store valuables, electronic wire transfer through which consumers can transfer money and securities from one financial institution to another, and credit life insurance which automatically pays off loans in the event of the borrower’s death or disability.

In recent years, banks have made their services increasingly convenient through electronic banking. Electronic banking uses computers to carry out transfers of money. For example, automated teller machines (ATMs) enable bank customers to withdraw money from their checking or savings accounts by inserting an ATM card and a private electronic code into an ATM. The ATMs enable bank customers to access their money 24 hours a day and seven days a week wherever ATMs are located, including in foreign countries. Banks also offer debit cards that directly withdraw funds from a customer’s account for the amount of a purchase, much like writing a check. Banks also use electronic transfers to deposit payroll checks directly into a customer’s account and to automatically pay a customer’s bills when they are due. Many banks also use the Internet to enable customers to pay bills, move money between accounts, and perform other banking functions.

For businesses, commercial banks also provide specialized cash management and credit enhancement services. Cash management services are designed to allow businesses to make efficient use of their cash. For example, under normal circumstances a business would sell its product to a customer and send the customer a bill. The customer would then send a check to the business, and the business would then deposit the check in the bank. The time between the date the business receives the check and deposits the check in the bank could be several days or a week. To eliminate this delay and allow the business to earn interest on its money sooner, commercial banks offer services to businesses whereby customers send checks directly to the bank, not the business. This practice is referred to as “lock box” services because the payments are mailed to a secure post office box where they are picked up by bank couriers for immediate deposit.

Another important business service performed by banks is a credit enhancement. Commercial banks back up the performance of businesses by promising to pay the debts of the business if the business itself cannot pay. This service substitutes the credit of the bank for the credit of the business. This is valuable, for example, in international trade where the exporting firm is unfamiliar with the importing firm in another country and is, therefore, reluctant to ship goods without knowing for certain that the importer will pay for them. By substituting the credit of a foreign bank known to the exporter’s bank, the exporter knows payment will be made and will ship the goods. Credit enhancements are frequently called standby letters of credit or commercial letters of credit.

BENEFITS FOR THE ECONOMY

The deposit and loan services provided by banks benefit an economy in many ways. First, checking accounts, because they act like cash, make it much easier to buy goods and services and therefore help both consumers and businesses, who would find it inconvenient to carry or send through the mail huge amounts of cash. Second, loans enable consumers to improve their standard of living by borrowing money to purchase cars, houses, and other expensive consumer goods that they otherwise could not afford. Third, loans help businesses finance plant expansion and production of new goods, and therefore increase employment and economic growth. Finally, since banks want loans repaid, banks choose borrowers carefully and monitor performance of a company’s managers very closely. This helps ensure that only the best projects get financed and that companies are run efficiently. This creates a healthy, efficient economy. In addition, since the owners (stockholders) of a company receiving a loan want their company to be profitable and managed efficiently, bankers act as surrogate monitors for stockholders who cannot be present on a regular basis to watch the company’s managers.

The checking account services offered by banks provide an additional benefit to the economy. Because checks are widely accepted as payment for goods and services, the checking accounts offered by banks are functionally equivalent to real money—that is, currency and coin. When banks issue checking accounts they, in effect, create money without the federal government having to print more currency. Under government regulations in many countries, banks must hold a reserve of paper currency and coin equal to at least 10 percent of their checking account deposits. In the United States banks keep these reserves in their own vaults or on deposit with the U.S. government’s central bank known as the Federal Reserve, or the Fed. If someone wants a $10 loan, the bank can give that person a $10 checking account with only $1 of currency in its vault. As a result U.S. banks can create at least $10 of checking account money for every $1 of real money (currency or coin) actually printed by the federal government. This arrangement, which allows extra deposit money to be created by banks, is referred to as a fractional reserve banking system.

Because banks attract large amounts of savings from depositors, banks can make many loans to many different customers in various amounts and for various maturities (dates when loans are due). Banks can thereby diversify their loans, and this in turn means that a bank is at less risk if one of its customers fails to repay a loan. The lowering of risk makes bank deposits safer for depositors. Safety encourages even more bank deposits and therefore even more loans. This flow of money from savers through banks to the ultimate borrower is called financial intermediation because money flows through an intermediary—that is, the bank.

BANKING REGULATION

Banking is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the United States, and the regulatory structure is quite complex. This owes in part to the fact that the United States has a dual banking system. A dual banking system means that banks and thrifts can be chartered and therefore regulated either by the state in which they operate or by a national chartering agency.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in the U.S. Department of Treasury is the federal chartering agency for national banks. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency provides general supervision of national banks, including periodic bank examinations to determine compliance with rules and regulations and the soundness of bank operations. The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) in the Treasury Department charters national savings and loans (SLAs) and savings banks.

The agencies that insure deposits in banks and thrifts also have a role in regulating them. Almost all banks and thrifts are federally insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC insures each depositor (not each separate deposit) for up to $100,000 in each bank or thrift in which the depositor has deposits. The Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) in the FDIC insures commercial bank and savings bank deposits. The Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) in the FDIC insures savings and loan deposits. The National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) in the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) insures credit union deposits.

The Federal Reserve is also responsible for regulating commercial banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System and bank holding companies. As a result, a nationally chartered, federally insured, Federal Reserve member bank is subject to the regulations of the OCC, BIF, and the Federal Reserve.

The regulatory landscape is complicated further by the fact that state banking authorities regulate state-chartered banks and frequently conduct their own examinations of state banks. To help sort out the maze of potential regulators, banks are assigned one regulator with primary responsibility for examining the bank. The primary regulator of nationally chartered banks and thrifts is the OCC. The primary regulator of state-chartered banks that belong to the Federal Reserve is the Federal Reserve. The primary regulator of state-chartered banks that are not Fed members but are FDIC insured is the FDIC, while the primary regulator of state-chartered, noninsured banks is the state.

The regulatory agencies also enforce legislation passed by the U.S. Congress. Such legislation attempts to ensure that lending institutions act fairly and that bank customers are well informed about banking services and practices. For example, the Truth-in-Lending Act (1968) and the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act (1988) require lenders to disclose the true interest rate on loans on a uniform basis so that borrowers know the true cost of credit.

The Fair Housing Act (1968) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1976) prohibit discrimination against borrowers on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or receipt of public assistance. The Community Reinvestment Act (1977) requires banks, savings and loans, and savings banks to meet the credit needs of their local communities. This act was intended to prevent banks located in low-income areas from refusing loans to local residents, who were often members of minority groups. The Truth-in-Savings Act (1991) mandates uniform disclosure of the terms and conditions that banking institutions impose on their deposit accounts so that depositors know the true interest rate they receive on their deposits.

CENTRAL BANKING

Governments create central banks to perform a variety of functions. The functions actually performed vary considerably from country to country. Broadly speaking, central banks serve as the government’s banker, as the banker to the banking system, and as the policymaker for monetary and financial matters.

As the government’s banker, the central bank can act as the repository for government receipts, as the collection agent for taxes, and as the auctioneer for government debt. It can also act as a lender to the government and as the government’s advisor on financial matters. As the banker for the country’s banks, the central bank can act as the repository for bank reserves, as the supervisor and regulator of banks, as the facilitator of interbank services such as check clearing and money transfers, and as a lender when banks need money to honor deposit withdrawals or other needs for liquidity.

As the country’s monetary policymaker, the central bank controls the amount of credit and money available, the level of interest rates, and the exchange rate (the rate at which one nation’s currency can be exchanged for another nation’s). To achieve its monetary policy objectives, central bankers use a combination of policy tools. For example, the central bank may increase or decrease the amount of money (coin and currency) in circulation by buying or selling government debt instruments, such as bonds, on the open market. This policy tool is known as open market operations. Since interest rates are usually related to how much money and credit are available in the economy, the central bank can usually lower interest rates by buying bonds from the public with money. This increases the amount of money in the economy and lowers interest rates. To raise rates, the authority would sell bonds, thereby reducing the amount of money available to the public. The central bank could also cause a lowering or raising of interest rates by increasing or decreasing the amount of money banks must hold as a reserve against their deposits. By increasing reserves, the central bank forces banks to hold more money in their vaults, which means they can lend less money. Less money available for loans makes loans harder to get which, in turn, causes banks and other lenders to raise interest rates on loans.

Central banks can be either privately owned or owned by the government. In Europe, central banks are owned and operated by the government. In the United States, commercial banks own the central bank, which is called the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve, established in 1913, consists of a seven-person Board of Governors located in Washington, D.C., and the presidents of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks. Each member of the Board of Governors is appointed by the U.S. president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for staggered 14-year terms. From among the seven governors, the president also designates and the Senate confirms a chairman of the board for a four-year term. Alan Greenspan is the current chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve’s primary policy group is called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). It consists of the seven governors plus five regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents. The FOMC is responsible for controlling the money supply and interest rates in the United States.

Because central banks control the money supply, there is always the danger that central banks will simply create more money and then lend it to the government to finance its expenditures. This often leads to excessive money creation and inflation (a continuous increase in the prices of goods), which can be caused by having too much money available to purchase goods. Inflation occurred in the United States when the government printed Continental dollars to pay for the Revolutionary War. So many were printed that they became worthless, and a popular slogan of the day was “It’s not worth a Continental.” The danger of inflation is particularly acute in countries where the government owns the central bank. Government ownership of the central bank is illegal in the United States, except in national emergencies. European countries agreed in the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 not to allow central banks to lend money to their governments.

INTERNATIONAL BANKING

The expansion of trade in recent decades has been paralleled by the growth of multinational banking. Banks have historically financed international trade, but a notable recent development has been the expansion of branches and subsidiaries that are physically located abroad, as well as the increased volume of loans to foreign borrowers. In 1960 only eight U.S. banks had foreign offices with a total of 131 branches. By 1998 about 82 U.S. banks had about 935 foreign branches.

Similarly, the number of foreign banks with offices in the United States has increased dramatically. In 1975, 79 foreign banks were chartered in the United States, accounting for 5 percent of U.S. bank assets. In 1998, 243 foreign banks had U.S. offices, accounting for 23 percent of U.S. bank assets. Most of these banks are business-oriented banks, but some have also engaged in retail banking. In 1978 the U.S. Congress passed the International Banking Act, which imposed constraints on the activities of foreign banks in the United States, removing some of the advantages they had acquired in relation to U.S. banks.

As banks make more international loans, many experts believe that there must be greater international cooperation regarding standards and regulations to lower the risk of bank failure and international financial collapse. In 1988 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an international organization of bank regulators based in Basel, Switzerland, took the first steps in this direction with the Basel Capital Accord. The accord established a global standard for assessing the financial soundness of banks and required banks to maintain a minimum ratio of capital to risky assets. Many banking experts believe this accord became the primary tool for strengthening the safety of international banking. The accord was eventually adopted by 100 countries. In 2001 the Basel Committee recommended a new set of regulations known as the New Basel Capital Accord to replace the 1988 agreement.