Making Cents: Planning for Succession of the Business
Small businesses are often credited as being a strong driver of our economy, and many are owned by one person. You may own one yourself, or have at least one solely owned business as a supplier of products or services for your home or business. In my experience, very few of these have a plan…
The Lifelong Learner In All Of Us
A recent social media post by one of our great clients talking about an advanced training she received regarding building a better business reminded me just how important lifelong learning is to all of us. In our profession, you are nobody if you are not committed to lifelong learning. In fact, I write this…
Making Cents: Make Risk Assessment Your First Step
Many say that an analysis of risk should be the first step of the financial planning process after you’ve compiled your financial statements and enumerated your dreams, goals and objectives. The reason for starting with risk is because the occurrence of an unplanned risk may prevent your best laid plans from ever having a chance to…
Making Cents: Why Financial Education is Important
We live in the age of information and big data. As a result, there is no shortage of ways to obtain information about any matter of personal finance. Sometimes the information that you find is relevant and useful, and other times it is outdated and not germane to your topic or need. The problem is…
Making Cents: Decoding Alphabet Soup When It Comes To Financial Advisors
Recently, a friend poked fun of my email signature because of all the initials after my name. Lots of professionals use designations in their signature; some recognizable and some not. The question you need to ask is whether the initials, (AKA credentials or designations) are necessary and would a credentialed professional deliver better service and…
Making Cents: Are you Suffering from Familiarity Risk?
Unless you are a CPA who audits public companies, you’ve probably never heard of familiarity risk. Familiarity risk are risks that you may be incurring that are easily masked by something or someone that you simply become used to. Being too familiar with any situation may cause your guard to become lower than it should…
Making Cents: Starting A Small Business In Retirement
Everyone’s vision of retirement is different. Certainly the idea of retirement in 2023 is different than it was in 1950. Today’s retiree is more active, with many to-dos on the bucket list and the time and resources to pursue their vision. To some that means starting a small business. Maybe it’s your hobby that you’ve…
Making Cents: Why Many Won’t Discuss Their Finances
Many people would rather talk about their love lives than their finances. This is a conundrum to me, but I have a few theories on what may be holding you back. The fear of confirming ignorance appears to be a riskier place for many than the complacency of innocence. For many, it is as simple as…
Making Cents: Suddenly Bad News
We should all have our affairs in order as if tomorrow is our last day. If all of a sudden your doctor told you that you had advancing dementia or stage 4 cancer, your thoughts would be all over the place. As you pass from anger to reality, your mind eventually wanders to financial matters and…
Making Cents: What Type of Advice Are You Getting?
There are so many different terms used to describe a relationship with a financial professional that what you get may frequently differ from what you expected. Terms like investment consultant, financial planner, wealth management or broker are frequently tossed around with little thought as to what each actually means. Regulation surrounding the titles and services…