As recently as five years ago, few people had heard of emerging businesses like Airbnb and Uber that allow proprietors to share their personal residences and cars to generate income. This business model is now commonly referred to as the “sharing economy.” ¹

However, just as capitalism morphs, so does the concept of sharing. For example, some Uber drivers actually lease an upscale car to charge higher fares that compete with luxury driving services.²

The Great Recession played a hand in encouraging unemployed workers to find innovative sources of income when jobs were scarce, and the sharing economy has been seen as influential in our overall economy’s recovery. It’s worth considering how we can better prepare ourselves for potential economic declines via job innovation, vigilant savings habits and protecting a portion of our retirement assets through guaranteed insurance products. If you’d like help devising a strategy using a variety of insurance products to help you work toward your long-term retirement income goals, please call us to schedule a meeting.

In addition to the sharing economy, today’s world is home to a wide array of economic varieties, including:

Sharing Economy

As mentioned, this model focuses on sharing or renting under-utilized assets. One of the primary concerns with this model is trusting others to take care of your personal assets. Some proprietors require an upfront deposit to help defray the cost of breakage or stolen goods. Insurance companies also have gotten into this business by developing policies for reimbursement.³

On-Demand Economy

This model focuses on providing goods and services on an as-needed basis. For example, in situations where a short-term rental is cheaper than buying — such as owning a car in a large metropolitan city — it can be more cost effective and convenient to use Uber transportation rather than own a car. This is true in expensive cities including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and others, particularly when including expenses like gas and insurance. ⁴

Peer Economy

This economic model is based on the creation of products, delivery of services, funding and more by peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. These peer-lending platforms can help bolster economic progress, particularly in a rising interest-rate environment. For example, a small business seeking capital may be able to use an online P2P lending platform that matches borrowers to lenders. This can help a business owner acquire a less expensive loan more quickly than through a traditional financial institution.⁵

Crowd Economy

The crowd economy enlists the larger population or a subset to generate funding, information, resources and more. This particularly interesting phenomenon has infinite applications. For example, the city of Akron, Ohio, is providing CPR training to the general public in hopes that crowd-sourcing certain emergency service skills will lead to more victims getting immediate help until paramedics arrive.⁶ Crowd-sourcing also is a good way to find undiscovered talent. Instead of hiring an advertising agency to produce promotional artwork for an annual film festival, the organizers may hold an open competition for the public, tapping local artists whose talent may otherwise go unnoticed.⁷

Statistics indicate that the sharing economy and its various iterations are producing big revenues. A recent U.S. study found that on-demand workers generated more than $110 billion in the 15 largest metropolitan areas, including New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.⁸

Content prepared by Kara Stefan Communications.

¹ April Rinne. World Economic Forum. Dec. 13, 2017. “What exactly is the sharing economy?” https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/when-is-sharing-not-really-sharing/. Accessed June 2, 2018.

² Ibid.

³ Matthew Wall. BBC News. June 1, 2018. “‘I bought my mum a flat just by renting out my camera kit.'” https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44301183. Accessed June 2, 2018.

⁴ Megan Rose Dickey. TechCrunch.com. May 30, 2018. “Here’s where it’s cheaper to take an Uber than to own a car.” https://techcrunch.com/2018/05/30/heres-where-its-cheaper-to-take-an-uber-than-to-own-a-car/. Accessed June 2, 2018.

⁵ Craig Asano and Michael King. The Globe and Mail. May 30, 2018. “Peer-to-peer lending will help small businesses stay afloat.” https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-peer-to-peer-lending-will-help-small-businesses-stay-afloat/. Accessed June 2, 2018.

⁶ Doug Livingston. Akron Beacon Journal. May 31, 2018. “Akron is ‘crowd-sourcing’ CPR.” https://www.ohio.com/akron/news/akron-is-crowd-sourcing-cpr. Accessed June 2, 2018.

⁷ Michael Beiermeister. WBKB11.com. June 1, 2018. “Thunder Bay Film Society Crowdsourcing Cover Art for 2018 Sunrise 45 Film Festival.” http://www.wbkb11.com/thunder-bay-film-society-crowdsourcing-cover-art-for-2018-sunrise-45-film-festival. Accessed June 2, 2018.

⁸ Benjamin Mann. JD Supra. May 24, 2018. “The Gigs Get Bigger: Recent Data Shows the On-Demand Economy is Growing Into New Areas.” https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-gigs-get-bigger-recent-data-shows-85361/. Accessed June 2, 2018.

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