Because money plays such an important role in our lives, we must establish clear financial priorities.  While money won’t bring us happiness, a lack of money can most certainly bring stress and anxiety. It’s also really hard to think about the big picture and to...

Qualified accounts are the primary way we save for retirement but it wasn't always that way. In 1875, the American Express Company developed the first private pension in the United States. Prior to that, the military and government had been providing pensions since...

A rule of thumb for both businesses and individuals is to have at least three to six months’ worth of expenses in cash on hand.  For a CFO (Chief Financial Officer), cash can be as important as profit. Without cash, business operations won’t be able to...

Saving and investing are two of the most important things we do with our money. There’s a lot we can learn from how Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) do it.  It’s a CFOs job to invest corporate assets (or decide not to). They must manage today’s financial needs and...

The Securities and Exchange Commission defines time horizon as, “Your time horizon is the number of months, years, or decades you need to invest to achieve your financial goal.” You and I have enough time to do most everything we want. But we don’t have time to waste....

Taking a business-like approach to the financial planning process can help get you where you want to go with money.  Having the right strategy and planning are integral to the success of a business. The CEO works to set the organization’s goals, decide on the...

Businesses and individuals alike are always interested in improving their bottom line. It can be accomplished in many ways, but focusing on decreasing overhead, and increasing profit are excellent starting points.  For businesses, revenue minus costs equals...

To become successful, you need a strong financial foundation.  To do that, there are a lot of financial best practices individuals can borrow from an organization’s CFO.  A CFO stewards the assets of an organization, accessing and reducing risks, maintaining...

Businesses engage in a formal and organized goal-setting process. It involves strategic planning that takes into consideration time horizon, opportunity, and threats. This process demands constant updates. Do you set goals? Do you follow a goal-setting process? ...