chamhonms.info

General contractors, whether they work on commercial or residential properties, are responsible for managing construction projects from start to finish. These may include new construction or renovation projects, but either way your contractor will take care of all construction requirements from initial planning stages to the final details of the project. Generally speaking, there are two types of general contractor: commercial and residential. In the simplest terms possible, the main difference between these types of contractors is that they work on commercial or residential projects respectively. Still when comparing commercial contractors and residential contractors, there are some more specific differences between these professionals. Let’s take some time now to review the finer distinctions between commercial and residential contractors.Commercial ContractorsWhile working on commercial construction projects such as schools, roads, office buildings or shopping centres, these contractors are responsible for planning, scheduling, hiring specialised sub-contractors, and managing a project from beginning to end. This task requires specific skills, construction methods, and materials so your commercial contractor needs to have specific experience and knowledge. In general, commercial contractors will liaise with their clients, trades people, developers, and municipalities to get the job done on time and on budget. The size and scope of commercial projects also contribute to the differences between commercial and residential contractors. While both types of contractors will manage a staff of carpenters, electricians, excavators, painters and other professionals, the scope of commercial projects can make them more challenging.Residential ContractorsAs you may expect, residential contractors are responsible for managing home remodelling or new construction projects. They are a kind of home improvement pro with experience managing all aspects of a home build including architecture, design, planning, and completion. Like a commercial contractor, residential contractors must liaise with various professionals including framers, electricians, plumbers, drywallers and more. One of the special challenges faced by residential contractors is the ever changing expectations of the homeowner. Unlike commercial contractors, whose job is more strictly defined from the beginning of a project, homeowners often have an elusive vision of their future home. As the project evolves, homeowners can request changes to their original plan, so residential contractors have to be ready to address changing requirements throughout the lifespan of a project. Since residential projects tend to be on a smaller scale than commercial projects, they often need to be more attentive to detail.Ultimately, residential and commercial contractors provide very similar services. Some of the differences between commercial and residential buildings are obvious. Residential projects tend to be limited to homes, apartments, condos, or townhomes making the scope of work more focused. Commercial contractors can provide expertise for a wide range of large projects from schools and government institutions to restaurants and shopping malls. While a commercial contracting job is not necessarily more complicated, each type of contractor brings special skills to your building project.

Every mutual fund has an investment objective that spells out its goals. The objective states what investing style fund managers pursue and how they intend to carry out that objective.For example, a typical growth and income fund’s objective could read like this: “Growth and Income Fund X seeks growth of capital and dividend income. The fund invests at least 65% of its assets in common stock of large, well-established companies with a history of paying level or rising dividends. The fund may invest up to one-third of its assets in foreign securities.”There’s a lot of information packed into those two sentences. From reading this objective, you’ve learned that the fund is traveling down the proven growth and income route, buying up stocks of large companies with solid histories of dividend payments.Keep in mind that, in some cases, a fund’s name is really not consistent with its objective, although it is in this case.Note also from this objective that Growth & Income Fund X may invest a full third of its assets outside of the United States. The key word here is “may.”To see exactly what percentage of assets is invested oversees, take a look at the global weighting, which can be found in a fund’s Morningstar report, as well as in the fund’s annual report to shareholders.Some investors are wary of funds that invest a significant proportion of their assets overseas, because it isn’t always easy to get information about foreign companies. Without adequate information, it can be hard to tell whether these foreign companies are growth companies or the type of companies you want to invest in.Investment ObjectivesWhen it comes to stock funds, investment objectives range from the most conservative to the most aggressive.Index funds attempt to replicate the performance of a portion of the market or even of the entire market. The most widely followed index is the Standard and Poor’s 500 index, which consists of the 500 largest publicly traded U.S. companies on domestic stock exchanges.Index funds are based on a variety of domestic and foreign indexes. Before you invest in an index, be sure you know exactly what types of companies your chosen index invests in.Balanced funds hold stocks and bonds. Traditionally, the proportion allocated to stocks and bonds has been close: 60/40 or 65/35 one way or the other. Make sure that whatever balanced fund you choose does divide its assets between stocks and bonds using a stated formula; otherwise, you may be purchasing a stock fund or bond fund in disguise.Stock income funds focus their investment on high-dividend-yielding companies and pay out more dividends and distributions to shareholders than other types of funds. Stocks held by a stock income fund typically account for 60% to 75% of such a fund’s portfolio.The trade-off here is that the dividend income gained by fund shareholders is often at the expense of slower growth and lower price appreciation for fund holdings.Growth and income funds hold growth and income stocks. They can also hold more bonds to generate income. These funds are designed to be less volatile than typical growth funds, and they provide some of the income potential traditionally found in stock income funds.Growth funds seek to profit from capital appreciation; that is, an increase in share prices of their individual company holdings. To accomplish this, fund managers invest in companies that exhibit rising sales and earnings.If about 90% of a growth fund’s assets are in stocks of large, established companies with a moderate rate of growth and paying high dividends, a strong degree of stability is provided, offsetting risk.Aggressive-growth funds aim for maximum gains by taking larger risks than other growth funds. Managers invest in companies with estimated potential, or by purchasing smaller companies in popular industries.Because of this aggressive investment philosophy, the turnover rate of aggressive-growth funds can be extremely high. A high turnover brings higher commissions and potentially higher capital gains that can increase your investing costs.Sector funds concentrate their portfolios in one particular industry. There are many types of sector funds, ranging from those focused on technology to others focusing on health care or the financial industry. Because these funds have a concentrated portfolio, they tend to be highly volatile.International funds invest in companies around the world. Be aware of different types of funds within the international category. Global funds can invest anywhere in the world, including in the United States. International funds invest only in countries outside the U.S. There are many narrowly focused funds that invest in one particular country or region of the world.Investment StyleInvestment style, as categorized by companies such as Morningstar and Lipper, comes in three flavors: growth, value, and blend (or core).In the growth style of investing, the fund manager seeks out companies with above-average sales and earnings growth.Under the value style of investing, managers purchase companies that appear to be undervalued. Valuation is based on certain defined measurements such as price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios, price-to-book-value ratios, or “fair value,” a ground-up valuation of the company’s business expressed in dollars per share. Fund managers assess such opportunities based on their experience with other turnaround situations.With the blend style of investing, managers blend both growth and value investing. In some cases, they follow a growth philosophy, while in others, they look for undervalued opportunities.Both growth and value investing have their proponents and both styles have done well in years past.

Obama health care has received mixed emotions from people all over the nation. Some are in favor, others feel that the government has completely taken control of their rights. For the middle class Americans, many believe Obama care will adversely affect themselves and the upper class. While it does make significant changes to our current system, every class will be affected in one way or another.It is believed by many individuals and institutions that low-income families will benefit greatly, and have health insurance for perhaps the first time ever. However, this benefit to the lower income class means that high-income families will pay considerably, most of it in the form of increased taxes. Obama care is a touchy subject with many Americans, who feel they will be forced to pay stiff penalties if they do not buy health insurance coverage.Middle class Americans feel that they may suffer the most, and cannot see a way out as they attempt to pay for basic necessities such as childcare, food, housing, utilities, etc. In their minds, it they are already struggling to meet these obligations, how in the world can they afford health insurance? But if they don’t purchase it, according to Obama laws they will face penalties if they fail to get health insurance coverage.Struggling with the rising cost of insurance has been a problem for years, and the debate has continued regarding how to get the United States health care system under control. Under Obama health care, families who earn in excess of $250,000 per year will face an increase in Medicare tax from 1.45% to 2.35% – same for individuals who earn $200,000 per year. Since there is now no option regarding whether an individuals decides to purchase health insurance coverage or not, they will face penalties.Americans who already have health insurance may think “So what? What’s the big deal?” In fact, Obama health care may affect those who previously had health insurance coverage. While it seems that having more people paying in to the system would mean lower insurance premiums, that may not be the case. According to congressional estimates, by the year 2016 individual premiums may be 10 to 13% higher than they are currently.Several factors that play in to the equation include the fact that in 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage or charge increased premiums due to existing conditions. Add to that the fact that shortly thereafter, insurers will no longer be able to set lifetime limits on coverage, nor will they be able to drop insured individuals who become ill. What does this mean? In a nutshell, Obama health care means that more sick people will be covered, and those costs are greater to insurance companies than those of healthy individuals. All of this may ultimately counteract the benefits of a larger health care pool.At the current time, it is difficult to determine exactly how it will affect Americans in specific classes, or who will ultimately end up paying the most for mandatory health care coverage. One thing is for certain – while some believe that this is the best thing since buttered bread, others aren’t nearly so optimistic. In a few years, we will all be able to determine just how Obama health care has affected our lives personally.