How the Bill of Rights Affects My Life

In 1791, the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States, also known as the Bill of Rights, become ratified. The Bill of Rights contained freedoms that Americans held to be their inalienable rights, and were so important that before ratifying the Constitution many states insisted on a promise of amendments guaranteeing individual rights. It was created to set limitations on the power of the United States government, protecting the natural rights of liberty and property. The Bill of Rights affects every Americans life, in many different ways: it sets standards for people to live by, it gives us the right to be citizens, and it also gives us freedom of speech. The Bill of Rights gives citizens freedom, but it also crosses the line between right and wrong. It punishes those that have done wrong, and rewards those that deserve it. It basically sets boundaries, not just for the lower or middle class, but for everyone. It reminds me of the Ten Commandments; rules are set for the people of the land, and when those rules are broken, justice is served. The Bill of Rights also gives us the right to be citizens of the United States. Not just anyone can become an actual citizens, most aliens in the U. S. are illegal. Why? Because the Bill of Rights put a stop to them becoming legal; and while that has its positives and negatives, I believe that it’s a good thing that not everyone can become a citizen of our great nation. The culture, the history, the population, all of it would be different if just anyone was allowed in. I wouldn’t be the person that I am today. Lastly, the Bill of Rights grants us the freedom of speech. The liberty to speak our minds and say what we need to say. In so many countries freedom of speech is banned, and here, sometimes even I take it for granted. Freedom of Speech is saying what you believe needs to be said, whether good or bad, without being punished for it. So, as one can see the Bill of Rights not only affects my life, but it also affects the lives of others around me. We the people are so blessed to be citizens of this nation, and to think that our ancestors (somewhere way down the line) were the great minds that created the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights sets standards for people to abide by, it grants select people to become citizens, and it gives us the freedom of speech; but, those are just the highlights and there’s more to that book than just its cover.

Policy of Appeasement essays

Policy of Appeasement essays Was the Policy of Appeasement the right one to follow? Twenty-one years after the end of the Great War the Second World War broke out. The peace was not kept due to the impact of the Great Depression and due to the arrival on the World stage of aggressive foreign dictators who were determined to adopt aggressive foreign policies. Perhaps the turning point was in 1933 when Adolf Hitler became a chancellor of Germany, he intended to challenge the Treaty of Versailles. In order to placate Hitler, Britain and France adopted a policy of appeasement. There were many arguments for appeasement; one of these was that at first, many people felt there was some justice in Hitlers claims. The British accepted that the T of V was too harsh and felt that Germany should be treated with more fairness and be allowed to go back to a country accepted as a great power as it used to be. The T of V was basically abandoned in some aspects, from 1935 onwards they made the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, remilitarised the Rhineland-which was just seen by most people as Germany marching onto its own backyard and then allowed the Anschluss to occur in Austria uniting Austria and Germany which was simply the Germans achieving self-determination that was denied to them at the T of V. Everything Germany did was justified in one way or another and it was always believed that with just one more request or concession he would be satisfied and its demanding would stop. Britain and France wanted to keep the peace and avoid the chance of another war so they wanted to find peaceful solutions to Germanys problems, most Europeans placed their trust in the League of Nations and its idea of collective security. To keep the peace the idea of appeasement seemed like a good one to go ahead with but to make matters worse Italy and Japan were still coping with the impact of the Great Depression and would make it necessary to pr ...

Demagoguery and How to Pronounce It

Demagoguery and How to Pronounce It Demagoguery and How to Pronounce It Demagoguery and How to Pronounce It By Maeve Maddox As the 2016 US presidential election campaign slouches toward November, the words demagogue, demagogic, and demagoguery make frequent appearances in the media. For example, in a Sunday morning interview with Rachel Martin, NPR stalwart Mara Liasson remarked on the reaction of other Republican candidates to Donald Trump: â€Å"They’re talking about the demagoguery and the authoritarian, violent rhetoric.† What drew my attention to the radio interview was Liaison’s pronunciation of the word demagoguery. She pronounced the second g with a soft sound: /dem-uh-GAHJ-er-ee/. Both g’s in demagoguery are â€Å"hard.† The spelling gue is always pronounced /g/, as in tongue, league, and prologue. Demagoguery is defined as â€Å"the principles or practices of a demagogue.† In modern usage, a demagogue is â€Å"a political leader who appeals to the passions and prejudices of the mob in order to obtain power and further his own interests.† An unlimited Google search for demagoguery and demagogue gives the following results: â€Å"demagoguery† about 508,000 results â€Å"demagogue† about 484,000 results A search for demagogue limited to the year 2000 brings about 2,260 results. Of the ten summaries that come up on the first page of results, nine refer to definitions and discussions of the word. Only one refers to a politician as a demagogue: â€Å"He’s a Demagogue, That’s What He Is: Hodding Carter on Huey Long.† The Ngram Viewer goes only to 2000. On the graph, the word demagogue peaks in 1862 and then drops precipitately. Note: The noun demagogue is verbed by some speakers: Hes merely made use of an existing, flawed system to demagogue his way into the hearts and minds of angry low-information voters, of whom there are a lot. The OED and the Howjsay pronunciation site give /dem-uh-GAH-gik/ (both g’s â€Å"hard†) as the first pronunciation and /dem-uh-GAH-jik/ (second g â€Å"soft†) as an alternative pronunciation. Merriam-Webster gives only the hard g pronunciation: /dem-uh-GAH-gik/. Note: When I began this post, I did not think it necessary to remark on the pronunciation of the o in demagogue. However, a friend told me that she heard NBC’s Brian Williams pronounce demagogic with a long o as well as with a soft g: /dem-uh-GO-jik/. Broadcasting networks do have pronunciation guides. Perhaps their announcers don’t always remember to consult them. American pronunciation for the three words- demagogue, demagogic and demagoguery- is with short o (as in hot) and hard g (as in got): /dem-uh-GAHG/, /dem-uh-GAH-gik/ and /dem-uh-GAHG-er-ee/. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Spelling Test 1How to Punctuate with â€Å"However†Is "Number" Singular or Plural?

Fair and Equitable Compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fair and Equitable Compensation - Essay Example â€Å"Fair and Equitable Treatment† is a standard originated from the 1948 Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization. It provided that foreign investments should be given just and equitable treatment through the promotion of bilateral or multilateral agreements on certain measures and in the treatment for an enterprise, skill, capital, arts and technology coming from a member country to another (Yannaca-Small, C., n.d). Today, the definition of the treatment is not as far from its instigation when applied to the standard in the workplace. Simply put, it is a standard that makes sure every establishment should facilitate an equal distribution of skills, arts, technology with regard to the need of an employee to be able to do a job well. Also, it determines the right of each company to determine just terms of admission and ownership of investment or compensation for every employee. A personal consideration of fair and equitable compensation could be seen in two pers pectives- the employer’s and the employee’s. A part of its provisions for employees would be to grant them at least a minimum wage which is set by a state’s government. This depends on the type and level of job one is hired to do. Also, it entitles an employee to have a chance to advance in their chosen position through job evaluation done by one’s direct boss, to know whether they are performing under or over the expectations of a certain job description. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) also sets the criteria for an employee’s benefit of getting an overtime pay. The only exemption to this would be a modified employee’s salary level based on the nature of work done that should be stated in the contract signed by the employee (Compensation and Benefits Policy, n.d.). This holds that full-time employees should receive extra payment for work done outside office hours while non-regular employees do not receive an overtime pay. Salary apprais al is another thing that is included in the fair and equitable compensation for employees. This should be done through annual performance review to regulate whether a certain employee should be considered an asset that lawfully deserves to be rewarded. Benefits, aside from salary appraisal should be granted for regular employees such as life insurance, accident insurance, flexible spending accounts, dependent care assistance, sick leaves, vacation leaves, bereavement leaves and etc, depending on the company (Compensation and Benefits Policy, n.d.). On the other hand, as fair and equitable compensation protects the rights of employees, it also provides guidelines of employers’ rights to be compensated justly, though not monetarily but through a measure of service and integrity. Some of which would be the right to demand for the agreed services expected from an employee at a certain time range per day, to call employee’s attention and push them to perform under their aut hority. Another would be to demand and at the same time punish an employee through expulsion or dismissal for disobedience to carry out work instructions and company rules, inability to display good behavior in the workplace, inconsistency, lack of loyalty and integrity, disclosure of confidential documents, theft of company property and etc (Employee & Employer Rights | Most Recent Publications, n.d.). Indeed, both parties deserve to have rights that are

Discussion prompt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discussion prompt - Essay Example In effect, Henry is saying that going to college is a mere excuse to party where students do not learn anything except to have fun. College is reduce to a mere rite of passage and not a way where can be enlightened or educated. When Henry mentioned that college is a mere rite of passage, it was in fact a statement of condescension if not derision because college is no longer a source of education where one can learn and get better but something that a person has to go through just like a ritual. And one does not necessarily learn anything when he passed through a ritual. When it is reduced to a mere rite of passage, it is like comparing college to male circumcision which is a rite of passage among males in certain societies to become â€Å"certified adult†. I do not necessarily agree with Henry that college is a mere rite of passage because people who go there have actual cognitive intelligence to overcome the academic rigors of college. There mere act of going there and going through the entrance tests are already enough justification that people who go to college are educated and has the right attitude to succeed in life because of their effort to be better through academic institution. Even assuming for the sake of argument, people who go to college are generally educated even without the formal credentialing compared to those who did not go to college. This attests that college is not a mere rite of passage but rather an actual learning process where students study to be

Nursing Shortage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing Shortage - Essay Example A few nurses are ready to help the distressed individuals due to many reasons and scarcity of nurses is creating many impacts on patients as well as the healthcare industry. This study has been selected to scrutinize the impact of nurse scarcity on the health care industries to convey ample health care assessment, diagnosis and treatment services to patients. The evaluation of the required number of nurses because of the patient to nurse ratio and availability of floor nurses is crucial in terms of getting the right considerations to the problem (Dinsdale, 2004). Chapter 2: Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..†¦..14 Nursing Staff Shortage and the Hospital Management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...14 Post Training†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15 The shortage of acute care nurses is one of the primary concerns in the healthcare industry across the world. The issue has created a substantial impact on the fitness activities efficiency in hospitals and healthcare centers. Several studies have shown that the nursing graduates entering in the nursing profession and those who are still in the occupation are not enough to facilitate the hospitals and patients. The healthcare professional shortage is one of the chief impediments in the achievement of United Nation’s Millennium Development goals to remove poverty, hunger, improvement of education systems, reduction in morbidity, and mortality as written in the guidelines of the year 2004 that are provided by the international nursing council (Littlejohn, Campbell & Collins-McNeil, 2012). The problem of shortage of acute care nurses has a relation to the past historical staffing, appointment, resources, nursing demand estimation, and nursing concerns for healthcare services of a country. The issue of shortage of nurses is not easily measureable and demands extraordinary planning and requirements. The relative

Rent-A-Captive Insurance Company Development

Rent-A-Captive Insurance Company Development A Critical Analysis of the Benefits, Risks and  Implications of Creating an Off-shore  Rent-a-Captive Insurance Company in Bermuda. Contents (Jump to) Abstract Chapter 1    Methodology Chapter 2 –   Research Process Chapter 3 – Findings and Evaluation of Findings 3.1 Captive 3.2   Analysis of Benefits, Risks and Implications 3.3 Rent-A-Captive 3.4 Pestle Analysis 3.5 Porter’s Five Forces Abstract The potential for utilizing a rent-a-captive facility in Bermuda represents a method that is a business proposition to examination the risks, benefits and implications of utilizing this as a viable strategy. Inherent in equating any strategy are its suitability, ease of entry and exit as well as costs and weighing these against the learning curve and relative benefits that will accrue in best and worst case scenarios. To reach such a determination, the examination will employ a number of strategic as well as financial tools, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the methodology to determine its viability in a general, specific and overall sense. The use of any business strategy has either direct and or indirect implications which represent variables that must prove their worth in their ability to further the overall aims, objectives and purpose of the entity and to be particularly of benefit in adverse economic conditions and or unforeseen occurances. The preceding tough evaluative climate represents the acid test via which to effectively prove or disprove its potential worth to the enterprise. A ‘captive insurance company’ represents an entity that is set up for the limited purpose by parent insurance companies to finance risks from the main organization and or its subsidiaries (Bawcutt, 1997, pp. 8-9). Rather than representing a new concept, captive insurance companies have been around since the mid 1870s, borne out of ‘protection and indemnity’ clubs of that period which offered marine insurance in coverage of third party liabilities as well as expenses emanating from either operating or owning ships as a principle (Braithwaite and Drahos, 2000, p. 157). The preceding was a result of the passage of the Lord Campbell Act of 1846 (Alabama Law Review, 2004, p. 884), which â€Å"†¦ was enacted by the English Parliament †¦Ã¢â‚¬  and titled the ‘Fatal Accidents Act of 1846’ whose purpose was â€Å"†¦ to alleviate the harsh results †¦Ã¢â‚¬  from either serious injury or death on ships during that period (Alabama Law Review, 2004, p. 884). Claim liability potential was increased as a result of the flood of immigrants traveling to the United States as well as the higher value of cargos and injuries to crew members. The Protection and Liability Clubs pooled resources to cover claims arising from the passage of the act and minimize exposure for the primary insurance carriers such as Lloyd’s of London (Alabama Law Review, 2004, p. 884). Captive insurance companies can be utilized to provide insurance coverage for commercial purposes, as well as industrial and governmental entities to insure either all or part of the risks facing an organization (Geisel, 2004). Captive insurance companies also can be formed as a result of companies that have similar business risks joining together to pool said risks in a cost effective manner to have the needed insurance coverage for these types of areas (Geisel, 2004). The increased growth in this industry segment is a result of the change in the way businesses and organizations see the way to finance their risks as it represents a more flexible approach against potential losses, augmenting catastrophic risk that is covered via conventional means (Sammer, 2001). Critical to the preceding is understanding that insurance represents â€Å"coverage by a contract binding †¦Ã¢â‚¬  one party to â€Å"†¦ indemnify another against specified loss †¦Ã¢â‚¬  as a return for pr emiums paid covering said insurance (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). It, insurance, represents a form of ‘risk management’ that is a hedge against some type of financial loss that has a probable incidence of occurring, thus insurance represents the transfer of this risk from one entity to another as a result of the exchange of premiums calculated based upon the potential of occurrence. The preceding summary will provide an understanding of the purpose and niche regarding captive insurance companies as well as how they fit into the overall realm of the insurance industry represents important background information that is germane to the topic of ‘a critical analysis of the benefits, risks and implications of creating an off-shore rent-a-captive insurance company in Bermuda’. Chapter 1 – Methodology The methodology that will be utilized in this examination will consist of understanding the nuances involved in the process of single parent captives as well as rent-a-captives to determine the subtle and or obvious differences that represent either positive or negative factors which a company would need to be aware of as well as consider to have a full understanding of the process. Inherent in such is the understanding of the legal, business, regulatory, financial, operational and administrative facets of the process and how these impact upon each other in the utilization of a rent-a-captive facility. The preceding represents a broad based understanding as well as in depth with regard to the benefits, risks, implications and related factors. In equating such this examination will employ such tools as Porter’s Five Forces framework, a SWOT analysis, as well as a Pestle Analysis and a discussion of the Balanced Scorecard to aid in reaching a determination of the foregoing. The limitations to the methodology may be in that the tools of analysis are not directly suitable to analyze the process, and or they may be too many business, operational and or industry variables to enable equating if the process is or will be effective in all or most instances. The methodology is limited by the complexity of the problem in that the decision branch tree factor may be too large to adequately cover all of the potential nuances and aspects which might be important. As the basis for the study is the suitability of a certain structure for potential utilization, the methodology is thus simplified into gathering and comparison as a means to uncover the basics and related detail factors which appear in multiple sources. Chapter 2 Research Process The research process will consist of secondary measures utilizing books, journals and online sources to provide a wide cross section of ideas, viewpoints, concepts, theories and practices to ensure that the salient foundational information is based upon the true and actual conditions present. Through a comparative analysis entailing systematic methodologies of collecting, review and analysis of data, the foregoing will provide for such an outcome. Yin (1994) advises that in conducting research, one should seek to equate the positioning of such against real life phenomenon by virtue of gathering a number of viewpoints to reach a balanced understanding. Yin (1994) also adds that the broader the examination, the better will be the grasp of the information and thus conclusions reached. Maxwell (1996) supports Yin’s (1994) approach and cautions that quality is more important than quantity, thus the research process will seek to weed out lesser sources in favor of more established ones through a comparative process. The preceding represents the suggested approach as put forth by Lieberson (1991), as well as King et al (1994). As the subject represents a pragmatic consideration whereby theory is less important, the comparative analysis of sources is easier as the base information should be relatively close, if not identical, depending upon the jurisdictional locale. Said variable renders the research process as relatively straight forward. Chapter 3 – Findings and Evaluation of Findings In examining the subject matter, background information as well as facts, details and information pertaining to the field of captive insurance companies is an important foundation to understanding the benefits of a rent-a-captive as a comparison. The forgoing includes an understanding of the jurisdiction in which the rent-a-captive is located. 3.1 Captive 3.1.1 Bermuda Bermuda’s entrance into the international insurance market got its start in 1947 when it was selected by C.V. Starr â€Å"†¦ as the location for his American International Company, Limited (Bermuda Market Solutions, 2005, p. 3). The captive concept was promulgated by Fred Reiss in the mid 1960s as â€Å"†¦ an insurer owned by a non-insurance parent †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bermuda Market Solutions, 2005, p. 3) which was established to finance the insurable exposures of the parent. Bermuda is the global leader in the captive insurance market, growing dramatically during the 1980s as a result of group captives that were created to permit smaller companies to align with those of similar interests to thus gain greater control over their insurance through the pooling of risks (Bermuda Market Solutions, 2005, p. 3). One of the largest of these was the OIL Insurance Ltd. that was formed by petroleum companies in the early 1970’s as a result of difficulties they were facing in the property insurance market. Table 1 – Total Insurance Assets for all International Insured’s (in billions) (Bermuda Market Solutions, 2005, p. 3) Bermuda, is the premier domicile for captive insurance companies as well as rent-a-captives with in excess of 1700 insurers (Lowtax.net, 2004). The captive insurance market has slowed over the last couple of years in contrast to its rapid growth pace of the late 1980s and 1990s with other locales offering similar advantages thus effectively bringing its share of the global market down to approximately one third of all captives from a high of 40% in the mid 1990s (Crombie, 2005). Locations such as the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Hawaii, Guernsey, and Barbados as well as Dublin, along with an addition 45 other jurisdiction as well as a number of states in the U.S. have slowed Bermuda’s growth and market share as a result (Crombie, 2005). Other factors in this trend have been (Crombie, 2005): the increased popularity of risk retention groups whose small size, in general, does not make them really suitable for location in Bermuda, increased marketing by new jurisdictions such as Hawaii and Vermont which have the advantage of being American states, developments in the varied types of corporate vehicles that are available, notably segregated account companies, and lastly, the ways in which some jurisdictions count their captives, including those that have formed and not removing them once they have been dissolved. Another important consideration is cost. Bermuda is expensive and thus since cost does matter to smaller captives as well as those operating on slimmer margins, there selection of locale takes this facet into account. Bermuda’s client base primarily consists of large U.S., European and South American companies whose presence has been in that location for some time (Crombie, 2005). The cost is offset by Bermuda’s reputation, quality of professional expertise as well as the ease of access thus minimizing the cost variable over the long term as a result of the foregoing and the locale’s stability. Another factor that must be considered with respect to Bermuda’s global positioning in terms of the attraction of new captives is the limited infrastructure on the island for residences, schools and traffic. Bermuda is basically more of an exclusive club which is based upon quality as opposed to quantity (Crombie, 2005). As the third largest insurance local after Ne w York and London, Bermuda’s new business formations in 2004 saw approximately 50% in the form of captives (Lowtax.net, 2004). The country is the number one location for segregated account companies with 83 that include 6,234 cells within cells as compared to 126 protected cell companies in all other locations as of 2003 (Lowtax.net, 2004). Table 2 – Captives by Domicile Year End 2002 (Towers Perrin, 2004) Table 3 – Leading Captive Domiciles (Elliott, 2005) The preceding represents data on captives as of year end 2002, thus accounting for the higher figures indicated above, showing captive numbers for domiciles mentioned as a comparison. 3.1.2 Rent-a-Captive Insurance Companies A rent-a-captive insurance company provides ‘captive’ insurance facilities to other companies for a fee and protects itself from any losses via individual programs that are further isolated from losses via other programs in the same company (Banham, 2001). Banham (2001) provides the analogy of thinking of a rent-a-captive insurance company â€Å"†¦ as a mall of stores †¦Ã¢â‚¬  and each store represents â€Å"†¦ the self insurance program of a particular company†. The rent-a-captive concept represents the fact that a company does not have to go through the procedures and regulations entailed with incorporating its own captive as it is able to lease one instead. The preceding represents a business rationale for creating an off-shore rent-a-captive insurance company, leasing out its existence. The concept of the rent-a-captive provides much of the same benefits that corporate owned captives do in that it provides (Banham, 2001): increased control regarding losses as a result of improved claims management, the ability to derive a profit from underwriting along with investment income from the funds that are set aside for claim reserves, various tax benefits, and avoidance of accounting and audit issues, which are the responsibility of the rent-a-captive sponsor. The advantages of the establishment of a rent-a-captive insurance company depend upon a number of factors on the part of the interested company. These aspects shall be discussed in the analysis of the benefits, risks, and implications of a rent-a-captive. 3.2 Analysis of Benefits, Risks and Implications In equating the reasons, as well as benefits, risks and implications of forming a rent-a-captive it is important to have an understanding of the reasons as to why captives are formed, thus providing an understanding of the benefits of a rent-a-captive. The following represent the foregoing (Elliott, 2005): To reduce and or stabilize cost Generally, the financing of risk under a captive lowers overall cost and aids in stabilizes costs long term as a result of being less susceptible to changes in the insurance market. Examples of cost savings are represented by the fact there is: no profit load, the reduction and or elimination of commissions to brokers, lower costs for administration, the owners in a captive share in all of the earnings through policyholder or shareholder dividends, a captive avoids costly insurance regulations as well as the exclusion of payments into residual market pools and premium taxes, savings in loss – cost is another area as captives serve to increase the awareness of risk management as well as cost awareness among top management. The savings benefits, in general, exceed the expense of both setting up the captive as well as administering it. Increase capacity and provide access to reinsurance A captive can access the capacity of reinsurance markets and might be able to provide more coverage limits than available within the retail market. An example of the preceding is whereby multiple insurers participate in what is termed as a slip to offer millions in added capacity which would not otherwise be available. A ‘slip’ is a binder that often includes more than one insurer. An example of the preceding is provided by Lloyd’s of London whereby the slip is passed from underwriting to underwriter to initial and subscribe to specific parts of a risk (captive.com, 2006). Control One of the reasons for the origin of captives is due to insurance buyers that were tired of the vagaries of the market regarding insurance and looked for more control concerning underwriting, rates, investments and claim settlements. Captives provided them with these benefits. Coverage An advantage of captives is that they can provide coverage to subsidiaries and other firms that might not otherwise be possible or available for such areas as professional liability, certain business risks and punitive damages. Rate and form freedom The benefits of special constructed wording can be written by captives as a guide for reinsurers to follow to thus provide coverage’s for obscure areas. Establishment of better than average claim experience As the claim history for a captive insured may be improved or batter than the overall class of business for an insurer in the commercial category, this aspect makes a sound argument for retention of that risk in this framework as opposed to the broader and poorer claims experience as a whole. Recapture of investment income and to accelerate and or manage cash flow The investment income derived from a captive may be completely or partially retained by the captive as opposed to staying with commercial insurers thus providing revenues that would otherwise be lost. Insurance accounting Special tax treatment accrues to insurance companies, such as tax deductible reserves for claims not paid and in the instance of life insurance reserves no taxes are paid on the internal build up of interest income. Tax deductibility Other tax advantages are possible such as in the case of multiple owners or insured as well as in the cases where the insured and shareholders are not the same. Another area is in the deductibility of premiums along with the deferred taxation of insurance income. Careful consideration of tax benefits need to be investigated prior to adding such advantages to the list of benefits. Perceived safety of formalized services As the books and records of captives are audited along with the claim reserves being under constant review by actuaries, investments managed by professionals and accounts that are maintained by managers that are independent, these services represent checks and balances with so many differing external factors checking the books and accounts that the system has extra measures of safety that in most cases is superior to other means whereby a number of these functions is performed in-house or by the same company. Favorable regulations Many captives are formed offshore to avoid certain unnecessary regulations concerning solvency. However, just as in onshore solvency regulations, offshore captive solvency regulations are designed to protect policyholders. In some instances this regulation is weak in offshore locales, which is not the case for Bermuda as well as the state of Vermont in the United States. Administrative tool for funding retentions In many instances, large organizations create captives to fund differences between their large corporate deductibles or retention and smaller deductibles or retention of its individual business units. Under the captive format the main organization is able to offer fixed cost rates that are above the smaller deductibles and balance the equation of as a result overall larger rate, thus spreading the deductible or retention and achieving savings. Risk management Captives provide the risk manager with more leverage than the annual cost allocation process. Innovative deals Captives can increase the access to certain deals, such as more creative loss portfolio transfers achieved by transferring liabilities from one balance sheet to another. Warehouse data Being in a captive can provide a tool for the collection of better as well as more data in support of its cost management efforts. An example of this is that a captive can be the central repository for what is termed common disability cost management for instances when an organization elects to finance certain employee risk benefits as well as worker compensation risks. Strategic partner support Coverage can be made available by organizations for their various business partners as represented by key suppliers and or customers, as well as independent contractors, etc. when the normal market pricing and or terms are not favorable. The preceding may very well provide tax management as well as profit advantages. Profit In some instances captives are created to underwrite the risks of a customer or to provide third party insurance. Such undertakings can provide and or add value to an organization as a result of tying the customer to the owner. Some of the preceding areas represent clear financial aspects as well as non financial operating areas which can in certain instances turn out to be as important or more important than the financial considerations in creating or utilizing a captive. The understanding of the benefits, advantages and implications of a captive are integral in the discussion of a rent-a-captive in that the reasons and rationales that are found in the former also apply to the latter. As such, a discussion of the structuring of captives is an important aspect to be considered in this context, as such aids in the understanding of a rent-a-captive. There are three primary aspects of captives, the financial, operational and of course personnel. Captive financial resources consist of premiums along with capital and investment income. The premiums and or capital can consist of non-investment instruments such as a letter of credit and these financial resources must be sufficient to accomplish three tasks (Geisel , 2004). First is the facet of financing the legal obligation as part of the insurance and or reinsurance agreements. Secondly, the financial resources must be sufficient to finance a reasonable level attributed to adverse development, and lastly, the financial resources needed to fund the expenses of operating the captive. It is important to understand that captives, as well as rent-a-captives operate in a somewhat similar fashion as traditional insurers. It, the captive, directly issues policies to insured’s, and or reinsurers via a fronting insurance company (Geisel, 2004). It also collects the premiums and pays claims as well as setting reserves aside to pay for legal obligations stemming from its insurance and or reinsurance agreements, and pay for the captive’s operating expenses, and dividends (Geisel, 2004). One of the advantages is that captives usually utilize a captive management company to run the day to day operations, maintain books and serve as the liaison with the regulators and Board of Directors (Towers Perrin, 2004). Captives also can and often do utilize specialty service providers, accountants, legal council and actuaries to aid in the operational aspects thus eliminating the need for finding, retaining, and setting up office space to house these aspects, which represent a considerable cost savings in internal administration. In terms of managing costs, captives have the following benefits and or advantages (Elliott, 2005): Actuarial Bermuda requires an actuarial analysis as an aspect of the feasibility study concerning the area(s) of insurance and or reinsurance being contemplated for setting up a captive. The premiums as well as losses are thus based upon this information and when the actuarial review has established a level of confidence in these figures, the captive will thus make a better impression on regulators, tax advisors and reinsurers. Bermuda requires ongoing actuarial analysis. Expenses In most circumstances a captive should be able to operate in a more efficient manner than commercial insurance companies. The captive’s expenses should be in the area of below twenty percent of premiums, unless loss control dictates a higher ratio. Investment It is a general practice among captives to set premiums to reflect the time value of cash in the assumption that the investment returns will closely approximate the amortization of the premium discount over time. The captive investment policy should thus be in keeping with the assumptions that are utilized to set premiums. 3.3 Rent-A-Captive The foregoing analysis and details concerning captive insurance companies provides the needed foundational and structural information to better understand the nature of the entity and thus the implications, benefits and other facets associated with electing to utilize a rent-a-captive format. Given the preceding, the reasons and rationales for electing to choose a rent-a-captive format takes on increased meaning. Rent-a-captives represent the fastest growing segment of the captive category and the indications are that they will continue this trend and become even more broadly utilized in the future (International Risk Management Institute, 2004). Large corporations usually establish a captive to aid in the underwriting of its risk as well as to assume portions of its losses based upon the prospect of making or deriving a profit from these operations (Elliott, 2005). In essence, the corporation enters the business of insurance in an attempt to gain control over its losses as well as t o lower the cost of its insurance as a result of deriving a return of profit from underwriting and or investment income. Smaller companies lacking the financial resources to cover the costs of setting up and meeting requirements for a captive can derive much the same benefits through renting a captive as the alternative to receiving the indicated benefits from their insurance program(s). Rent-a-captive insurance companies are in general funded, created and â€Å"†¦ rented by insurers, brokers or groups of affiliated businesses† (International Risk Management Institute, 2004). The determination as to whether a rent-a-captive represents a viable as well as sound proposition is dependent upon a number of facets that can be summarized as follows (Geisel, 2004): size of the company considering utilizing a captive, or rent-a-captive, the amount of losses it ha