We all want to know how to be good at financial decision making. And it’s easy, but it’s not simple.  It’s impossible for anyone to eliminate all bad decisions. What we want to do is minimize how many we make. The wrong financial decision can delay our most...

Is it possible to “set it and forget it” with our personal finances?  Our time and attention are just as valuable as our money. When we can stop doing menial tasks like paying bills and balancing our checkbooks, we can spend our time and attention on other...

Having the money talk with aging loved ones is important. We’re all going to get there eventually, the lucky ones, that is. Old age. And we’ll see that first in our parents if we’re lucky enough to keep them with us that long.  Because with age comes a decreased...

In personal finance as well as corporate, what gets measured, gets managed.  CFOs handle the finances of their organizations, and there are many stakeholders who rely on their data and insight. They look back at historical results, as well as plan and forecast...

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....