Solar Panels For Homes

As investors watch their investment portfolios dramatically shrink, they have come to realize that their social security and other pensions have become a more significant part of their financial security in retirement. But how do you compare monthly life-long payments with other lump sum asset totals shown on your financial statements? It is helpful to estimate the upfront, lump sum value of that life-long stream of monthly benefits. That estimate will answer the question: How much money would you need today in a lump sum to generate that same monthly social security or pension benefit for the rest of your life?    

First, you need to make some assumptions: What is your monthly social security or pension benefit? What is your life expectancy? Those two assumptions indicate how much and how long your lump sum must provide benefits. What interest rate should you assume that lump sum earns while it’s rendering those monthly payments? Finally, and for the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that the benefits end with your death. A simple example illustrates these assumptions in action. Let’s say your monthly benefit is $1,000 and you expect to live another 25 years. Generally, you would select as your interest rate a long-term treasury rate equal to or greater than your life expectancy, because you would want to invest your lump sum to insure the safety of principal and interest for the rest of your life. In this example, you might select a 30-year treasury rate, which currently yields nearly 4%.

Armed with your assumptions, there are two easy methods for performing the actual calculation. The first method is to use a sophisticated hand calculator that has financial function keys and do the same calculations you would do if you were calculating mortgage payments. With mortgage calculations, you typically enter the mortgage balance, mortgage rate and mortgage term and solve for the monthly mortgage payment. In order to calculate the lump sum value of your social security benefits, you enter the interest rate (instead of a mortgage rate) and your life expectancy (instead of the mortgage term). You then enter your monthly benefit (using the mortgage payment key) and solve for the lump sum amount (obtained from the mortgage balance key). With a typical mortgage calculation, you enter the mortgage balance and solve for the monthly mortgage payment. With the lump sum calculation, you enter the monthly benefit and solve for the lump sum balance. Don’t forget to use monthly interest rates and express your life expectancy in months, if you use monthly benefits in your calculation. Otherwise, use annual interest rates, your life expectancy expressed in years and your annual benefits in the calculation.

The second method is to use a present value ordinary annuity table and find the annuity factor that corresponds to your interest rate and life expectancy assumptions. In our example, we assume a 4% rate and a 25-year life expectancy, which according to the table, indicates an annuity factor of 15.6. Multiplying your annual benefit of $12,000 by that 15.6 factor indicates an estimate of $187,200 for the lump sum value of social security benefits in this example. Either method works, so you decide which to use.

Lump sum value estimates can be useful in your investment allocation planning process as they allow you to translate guaranteed monthly income streams into upfront totals that can then be easily compared to the amounts of other assets in your portfolio. They also offer additional insight into the potential net worth of your investment holdings. However, you should realize that those values are intangible, analytic in nature and exist only on paper, i.e., you can’t cash them in at a bank. They are also likely to change as interest rates, your life expectancy, and social security benefits inevitably change during your lifetime. Due to their tentative nature and potential volatility, such estimates may be useful in formulating a long-term strategy for your finances, but less useful in making specific, tactical investment decisions.

Source: For a Present Value Ordinary Annuity Table, go to Annuities-Financial-Planning.com

More articles by this author are available at http://joedelcasino.blogspot.com Books are available at http://www.Xlibris.com

The high home loan interest rates have forced the borrowers to think of prepayments. However, prepayment of home loans shouldn’t be just done impulsively. There are a lot of factors to consider before making a decision to prepay a home loan or not. Here are some basic things to consider.

Factors to consider before prepayment

The current financial situation of the borrower: Is there enough money floating around to prepay the home loan?

How much money is needed immediately or in near future: Does the borrower have enough money to meet financial exigencies?

The home loan interest rates: Are they likely to rise, remain at the same level or fall?

Are there investment options available which can give better returns (of course with minimal risks) than the current home loan rates?

Important points

Always calculate the total amount you have to pay to the bank. This included the home loan interest with the principal. This will give you a clear idea on the amount of money you owe to the bank.

If you are planning to invest the money instead of prepaying, calculate the total earnings by investments over the entire duration of loan amount. Always deduct the tax liabilities so as to reach exact figures. If subtracting your home loan repayment from the gains from investing, provide a surplus amount; it is always better to invest your money.

Prepayment penalties are also to be paid to the bank if you are not able to provide proofs that the money you are using to prepay is from windfall gains or your own. (People generally use Home loan balance transfers and get the money from other banks. In such cases banks will charge prepayment penalties).

If your home loan tenure has stretched substantially due to the increase in interest rates, consider making part- prepayments if your situation permits to keep the home loan tenure to the same levels.

Total solar eclipse seen on Bangladesh and Panchagarh

Reverse Osmosis equipment (RO) in power generation facilities is primarily used in the boiler water pre-treatment area. Power boilers tend to operate at extremely high pressures (>700 psig), so boiler feed water must be extremely pure. Therefore, Reverse Osmosis equipment systems for boiler pre-treatment are almost always followed by some type of demineralization polishing equipment, designed to reduce feed water dissolved solids, especially silica, to trace levels.

The Reverse Osmosis design performance (permeate water quality and quantity) will dictate how the polishing demineralization equipment will be sized and any problems with the Reverse Osmosis equipment operation can have drastic effects on demineralizer performance. Poor demineralizer performance in turn can cause operating costs to increase sharply, through increased regenerations and acid and caustic usage.

Further downstream, the impact of Reverse Osmosis design on the power generation boilers can be severe, ultimately leading to plant de-rating, and even boiler and turbine damage.

Understanding Reverse Osmosis Design Fundamentals In order to understand how Reverse Osmosis equipment works, one must look into the physics of osmotic pressure and semipermeable membranes.

A semipermeable membrane allows the passage of specific molecules through it. If a concentrated aqueous solution exists on one side of a semipermeable membrane, pure water molecules tend to spontaneously diffuse from the more dilute side of the membrane to the more concentrated side. This is called Osmosis.

As water molecules continue to flow across the membrane, the amount of water increases on the concentrated side of the membrane, as does its pressure, called the head pressure. Once this head pressure increases to a given level such that further water flow can no longer occur across the membrane, the system is said to be in equilibrium. The pressure at this point is called the Osmotic Pressure.

Osmotic pressure is proportional to the dissolved solids concentration in the more concentrated solution.    

According to the Van’t Hoff equation for the calculation of osmotic pressure:

(symbol P)…

 

PV = nRT = (g/m)RT or 

P = (g/m)RT/V, where

 

R = universal gas constant, 0.0821 Litre•atm/(mol•K)

 

T = absolute temperature, K (degrees Kelvin)

 

g = solute weight, grams

 

V = volume of solution, Litres

 

m = molecular weight of solute, if non-ionic

n = moles

P = osmotic pressure, atmospheres

Using this equation, and applying it to an aqueous solution of 1,000 mg/L. of dissolved ionic solids, as CaCO3, we arrive at an osmotic pressure of 7.2 psi [50 kPa] at 77° F. In general terms, the osmotic pressure averages about 1 psi [6.9 kPa] for every 100 mg/L. of dissolved solids.

By applying a pressure on the concentrated side of this membrane, we can cause this process to reverse. Pure water molecules (and dissolved gas molecules) can be forced to flow from the concentrated side to the dilute side.

This is the entire Reverse Osmosis design or “RO” design process in a nutshell. Water purification occurs when water molecules are forced to flow from a concentrated solution through a semipermeable membrane to the dilute side in the Reverse Osmosis equipment.

To overcome the osmotic pressure, and force water molecules to reverse flow, one must apply a pressure. The Net Driving Pressure needed is defined as:

 

NDP = Feed Pressure + Permeate O. P. (usually negligible) – Permeate Pressure – Feed O. P.

O. P. = Osmotic Pressure

 The flow through a Reverse Osmosis equipment membrane is proportional to the NDP.

In order to obtain reasonable permeate flow rates, and to minimize membrane fouling, the applied feed pressure must be very much greater than the calculated P. It is generally in the range of 200 – 450 psi [1.4 - 3.2 MPa]. This high pressure requires specific Reverse Osmosis design considerations.

An in-depth analysis of a Reverse Osmosis Design for the Power Generation Industry (and other industrial markets) can be downloaded in the free Layne Christensen white paper (a $97 value) titled REVERSE OSMOSIS DESIGN FOR THE POWER GENERATION INDUSTRY- WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW.

A narrated slideshow on this topic can be accessed at Reverse Osmosis Equipment Design

As a leader in the development of industrial reverse osmosis (RO) equipment systems, Layne Christensen Company has the technical expertise to design and build reverse osmosis systems for all of your plant water needs.

Beyond Reverse Osmosis equipment systems, Layne Christensen’s Water Treatment Division Research & Development team focuses on refining and expanding the water treatment methods we currently employ so we can meet the most demanding challenges head-on with innovation.

Your concerns about water quality are Layne’s concerns as well. The Water Treatment Division has been resolving water quality problems for over a half century, installing thousands of treatment systems throughout North America. You can reach our technical experts through our website at LayneWater.com or by phone 262.246.4646.