Insurance Insights: The Cleary Insurance Blog
The Cleary Insurance blog covers insurance, risk management, and financial planning for New England businesses and individuals. Our team of licensed advisors and specialists publishes regular articles on commercial and personal coverage, employee benefits, life and financial planning, and insurance compliance. Browse recent articles below, or use the category filters to find topics relevant to your business or personal situation.
Public Private Partnerships
More frequently known as 3-P’s (PPP), Public Private Partnerships are becoming more prevalent as a way to finance, engineer, construct, and operate infrastructure projects across the United States. They have been used in other countries for some time now. For example the EU has had over 260 Billion Euro’s worth of 3P projects since 1990.
PPP involves a contract between a public sector authority and a private party in which the private party provides for a public project and assumes substantial financial, technical, and operational risk of the project. In some cases those end uses of the project bear the cost of of the project rather the the taxpayer. Toll roads are an example of this.
There are a few reasons why these have now taken hold in the United States. First, it is a way for government entities to harness the engineering and technical efficiencies of the private sector to bring projects on line. Second, it allows for the project to be done “off balance sheet” of the government entity. The funding is arranged for by the private sector vehicle implementing the project, although they can sometimes be done “on balance sheet” where the government entity compensates over time but gains substantial deferred cash flows.
As you can guess, the formation and structure of a PPP can be very very complex, daunting, costly, and time consuming for all parties involved. The jury is still out as to their overall success or failure. There haven’t been enough of them in the United States to conclude their viability. However, they aren’t going away any time soon.
Retirement Planning Basics
Items to consider when creating a retirement plan:
Longevity
With average life expectancy now in the 80s it is likely that you could experience a retirement period that lasts 20-30 years. Your plan must be flexible enough to account for a long retirement.
Expenses and Inflation
Inflation is always a powerful enemy in any retirement plan, especially for a retirement that could last multiple decades. Your living expenses could increase multiple times over a long retirement. And, certain expenses such as medical expenses could easily outpace inflation.
Income
Any extra income, whether from part-time work or from delayed retirement, could make a substantial difference in your retirement income. Your selected social security start date can also make a meaningful difference.
Withdrawals
Almost everyone will need to augment their retirement income with withdrawals from their portfolio assets. Many recent studies have indicated the importance of reasonable and sustainable withdrawal rates. A generally accepted withdrawal rate is 4%, but every case is different.
Asset Allocation
It is always important to have a reasonable asset allocation, but it is especially important in or near retirement since your time horizon to recoup any losses is shorter. For instance, you can allocate a portion of earnings in investments like a gold IRA or similar retirement plans after taking financial advice from your trusted advisor or websites that can give proper knowledge and reviews of investment plans. A proper allocation that balances income needs with growth needs is critical. Asset allocation does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market.
Other Goals
Other financial goals (purchasing a vacation home or subsidizing your parents’ care for example) will impact your retirement. This analysis will take into account any other goals you have defined.
Snow and Ice: What is Your Liability?
Commercial property owners need to be concerned about potential liability issues involving ice and snow. While the level of landlord and property owner responsibility varies by state, a consistent duty of responsibility exists to ensure that sidewalks, driveways and parking lots are maintained. Some states, such as Massachusetts, have increased the level of landlord responsibility for the removal of ice and snow. A Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling in 2010 applied a “reasonable care standard” that requires landlords to take reasonable steps to keep their property free from dangerous conditions such as the accumulation of ice and snow. Landlords and property owners must therefore act as a “reasonable person” to make sure snow and ice are removed to make conditions safe.
The following are a sample of management considerations for dealing with snow and ice removal from public areas such as parking lots and sidewalks:
- Develop and implement a written plan to define issues such as frequency of removal.
- Designate someone to monitor weather conditions, walking surfaces and effectiveness of removal practices.
- Record removal activities in a log that includes date, time, weather condition and action.
- Use a professional snow removal contractor. Be clear about performance standards and make sure contractor carries appropriate and sufficient insurance.
- Be aware of melting and refreezing.
Many cities and towns have passed ordinances that specify property owner requirements for maintaining adjacent sidewalks. For example, the City of Boston requires commercial property owners to clear sidewalks within three hours of snowfall ending or three hours after sunrise if it snows overnight. Worcester has a similar requirement but dictates sidewalks must be clear within 10 hours after snow ceases to fall. Violators are susceptible to a daily fine. Check with your city or town for specific snow clearing responsibilities. Examples of ordinances for some local communities can be found below:
Boston: Snow Removal
Worcester: Snow Emergency Guidelines
Somerville: Shoveling Regulations and Information
Quincy: Be a Good Neighbor
Cambridge: The Works Property Owner Responsibility
At Cleary, we will evaluate your business exposures and work with you to develop a comprehensive plan to safeguard your business. Give us a call today at 617-723-0700.