Financial Poise™ has one mission: to provide reliable plain English business, financial and legal education to individual investors and private business owners.

How Much is Clutter Actually Costing You? What if I told you that digital and physical clutter negatively impact your productivity and performance? Similar to multitasking, clutter of all types overloads your senses causing your brain and body to feel stressed[...]

The S&P 500 fell 2.3% and the Dow fell 2.2% on Friday. Is the sky falling? Look, short-term market swings do not define an economy. On the other hand, a market that constantly swings based on what a single man[...]

Is a university degree a good investment? The Economist Magazine asked this question last year and while the article concludes that statistics support the proposition that a college education generally makes good financial sense, it also concludes that, “like so much else in economics, [it] boils down to supply and demand.” In other words, a college education does not always make sense from a strictly financial perspective.

Family Businesses Need Strategies to Govern Both the Family and the Business Family businesses are unique and the way they are run differs from family to family. Each business has varying degrees of corporate governance. Formal governance structures grow as the[...]

Get Smart with the Ten Best Food Documentaries I am a sucker for a good food documentary. I love to learn more about how our food is made, how it affects our world, and how it affects our bodies. Many[...]

Conflicts between business partners are nearly inevitable. Thankfully, there are a number of ways for parties to negotiate up-front. Precautionary agreements give you space to resolve issues more easily or, at least, provide a picture of what the result will be when resolution is not possible.

A Family's Most Valuable Business Asset is Itself The component to family businesses that make them unique from other businesses is the family. Solving family business problems without understanding the family dynamic is akin to a placing a bandage on[...]

The term “venture capital” is typically associated with high-risk, high-growth potential start-ups that may sink or soar depending on a number of external factors. Any investment in a start-up, however, can be called a venture capital investment, though a common hallmark of venture capital investors is that with their investment they obtain some level of influence over the company in which they invest.

How Accelerators Can Help Your Business Grow Startups need money to, well, startup. In order to get money, fundraising is a likely path that most startups will travel. There are many different funding sources available, and the usefulness of each[...]

The A to Z’s of Carveout Guaranties When utilizing a loan to acquire an investment property, there are two basic types available to the buyer: recourse and non-recourse. Regardless of the type of loan, the borrower may be asked to[...]

The legality of investing in life settlements* (also referred to as a "life settlement") traces back to a 1911 Supreme Court decision, Grigsby vs. Russell, 222 U.S. 149. In Grigsby, a life insurance company refused to pay out the death benefit proceeds on the grounds that the policy had previously been sold to a third party who had no insurable interest in the insured.

So You're Selling a Business: Now What? For most business owners, selling a business is a once-in-a-lifetime event. These owners want to maximize their proceeds and they may be super salespeople, but likely have little experience selling a business. In fact,[...]

Agriculture, as an investment sector, is in its infancy. Even though agriculture accounts for 3% of global economic activity, related public markets are still severely under-developed. In addition, the sector has recently been out-of-favor; so many investors are either ignoring or overlooking its longer-term potential.

A Company Is Only as Good as Its Worst Behavior What is the worst behavior that your company’s leadership will tolerate? Think about it for a minute. That behavior, particularly if it is repeatedly tolerated, defines your organizational culture. There[...]

How to Move on Quickly and Successfully We have all experienced failure in our professional lives. And while no one enjoys opening old wounds, it is important to examine our failures so we can learn from them. In the workplace[...]

The market for online alternative investments has been growing at a steady pace the past few years. Issuers of private placements have realized that they have the opportunity to reach a larger number of accredited investors by using third-party internet platforms. As an investor, it is important to know what distinguishes each type of platform out there, and what to watch out for when considering an online alternative investment.

Let’s Make this (Customer) Relationship Work The customer relationship is one of the most important relationships a business will have. As companies grow, expanding their customer base, their sales and marketing activities can become vastly more complicated. Companies that have[...]

Weekly Meal Planning for a Healthier You and a Happier Bank Account Being fit and healthy impacts more than just clothing size. Research has shown that employees with a healthy BMI earn more money over the course of their career[...]

An introduction to Employer Site Visits It is nearly impossible to imagine the modern U.S. workplace without foreign nationals. Companies across the nation, in a wide variety of industries, rely on their specialized knowledge and invaluable professional experience to remain[...]

An Overreliance on Market Terms Business professionals commonly negotiate transactions by reference to what is “market.” This makes great sense for the people who are responsible for negotiating price. Valuation and pricing methods are relatively tried and true after all,[...]

Succession Planning Means Looking Beyond the Second Generation Most family businesses don’t make it beyond the second generation. Even fewer reach the third generation of ownership. Why is that? As much as one generation would like to hand the business[...]

Change is Constant, the Pace of Change Increases Our world is constantly changing but the pace of change has increased exponentially. The way we adopt and adapt to new technology far outpaces 10, 20 or 50 years ago. People expect[...]

Your Closet and Your Career Will Thank You You have finally decided that it is time to amp up your wardrobe! Boring black pants and a button-down shirt are not cutting it anymore. You want to get noticed by your[...]

Striking a Balance in the Relationship Between GPs and LPs The relationship between GPs and LPs- that is, between a “General Partner” and “Limited Partners” in the multi-trillion private equity industry is a complex symbiosis. General Partners (GPs) are the[...]

Is One a Better Investment Than the Other? Some of my investors have recently expressed concern about owning single-tenant properties.  They cite the all-or-nothing risks of occupancy and renewal as the primary objections to these types of investments.  These are[...]

Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a similar article published on February 3, 2016. This article updates, amends and supersedes that earlier article. Nobody Said It Was Easy (Selecting a Private Equity Manager) Selecting a private equity manager[...]

The “This is Spinal Tap” Lawsuit If you’ve never seen This is Spinal Tap, close your browser immediately and watch. The 1984 “mockumentary” about a fictitious British rock band touring America belongs on the Mount Rushmore of movie comedies. It birthed[...]

How Do I Love Thee Advantages of a Buy-Sell Agreement? Let Me Count the Ways... Businesses with more than one owner face unique challenges in planning for the future. A buy-sell agreement is an arrangement between business partners to govern[...]

Reasonable Cybersecurity Measures for Protection After collecting personal information, businesses must take “reasonable measures” to safeguard it. Some states, such as Florida and Alabama, have this standard (or a similar one) in their cybersecurity statutes. On the federal level, the[...]

Like Life Itself, Your Wealth is Entropic The hard truth about life is that the moment we are born a process begins that leads to our death. While some days are better than others, our cells and our bodies are[...]

Let's Talk Litigation Funding A July 30, 2018, legal ethics opinion from the New York City Bar Association (“NYCBA”) raises concerns about a common structure used for funding of litigation. In particular, the NYCBA Professional Ethics Committee concludes: “Under Rule[...]

What is the Business Valuation Tax Act of 2017 Anyway? The Business Valuation Tax Act of 2017 (Tax Act) has introduced changes to the financial and regulatory landscape that specifically affect business valuation in the context of C-Corporations. This article[...]

Show Business to Business Sales and Marketing Who’s Boss Businesses that focus on selling products and services to other businesses are very similar to those that sell to consumers. The differences between the two lie in their sales and marketing[...]

Parenting the Whole Child for Successful Living Raising children is a lot of things. It’s exhilarating, exhausting, loving, caring, difficult, rewarding, and can be really scary. The vulnerability of a parent can be overwhelming and truly a kind of vulnerability[...]

Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a similar article published in November of 2015. To view the original, click here. Americans take great pride in saying that ours is a nation of laws, not people. But resting on[...]

For the Threat of Cybercrime, Get a Cyber Liability Policy If cybercrime were a nation state, it would be the world’s 13th-largest by GDP, just ahead of Australia. The threat of cybercrime can take many forms – from hijacking sensitive[...]

Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a similar article published in March of 2015. To view the original, click here. Creative Capital is Driving Economic Recovery As small business owners get creative in raising capital, the economy is[...]

Good Character and Cash Flow Improve Banking Relationships Typically, there is significant triage to be done before determining if you can improve banking relationships. Most often, the problems come back to cash flow and misunderstanding what banks do. While Boards[...]

Consumer Sales and Marketing Challenges That May Challenge You Too Consumer-focused businesses have three key challenges: Understanding what the customer/market wants Targeting the right segments Differentiating what they offer from what their competitors offer In all my years creating marketing[...]

Understand the Stakes of Collecting Personal Information Cybersecurity law has been called many things in recent years—evolving, complex, varied, cutting-edge, even hilarious. Ok, maybe not the last one. But I would offer another phrase that can serve as a key[...]

Preserve Wealth by Recognizing Tipping Points Families that have worked extremely hard to build wealth find it even more difficult to preserve that wealth over time. Often, the concern is that a wealthy family could go from shirtsleeves to shirtless in[...]

Tribal Knowledge: Be in the Know America is getting older. Not just in terms of it having a birthday every year, but in terms of the percentage of people closing in on retirement. You can thank the aging Baby Boomer[...]

Consuming More Protein Is Consuming Us Walk down a grocery aisle, or do a quick Google search on weight loss, and you will be inundated with low carb, high protein diets, articles and products. Low Carb, Paleo, Keto, Eco-Atkins, Zero[...]

Millennials in the Workplace Want to be Understood The Leading With Courage Academy recently led a panel discussion on millennials in the workplace, and how to better incorporate this unique demographic into your culture for greater success. During that discussion,[...]

It’s not Selfish to Reap the Benefits of Organized Philanthropy Bringing family members together to invest philanthropically is a game changer, but organized giving can challenge even the strongest families. Yes, philanthropy is about generosity, but it can also feel[...]

Midwest Is Best When It Comes to Venture Capital Value Readers of my earlier Financial Poise articles may remember this: I am a rare breed, a value investor who also loves to talk venture capital value. Seems strange? I’ll explain.[...]

Using a Travel Agent to Plan a Trip is a Necessity Not a Luxury You know taking a vacation is great for your long-term job performance, stress levels, and overall health, and you finally got your spouse to agree to[...]

Everyone Who's Anyone Is Developing a Branding Strategy “Branding” is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days. From individuals developing personal brands to professionals tasked with complete makeovers for iconic brands like FedEx, UPS, and KFC (notably[...]

What Qualifies as Qualified Business Income? In the six months following the passage of the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the business community has been anxiously awaiting clarifications on certain aspects of the legislation. Specifically, the area that defines[...]

Medical Identity Theft is a High Cost Crime Norah said she thought it was odd when she received a letter from her insurance company denying a $7,000 insulin pump. She wasn’t a diabetic. That letter should have been an alert[...]

The Financial Market is Reaping the Benefits of New Blockchain Technology Technological advancement is accelerating at an extraordinary rate. Yet, finance and capital markets, which operate within a restrictive regulatory environment, have been resistant to adapt to this phenomenon. The[...]

Lessons in Structuring Family Office Structures The number and sophistication of family offices has grown substantially over the past several decades. In fact, some estimates suggest that there are more than 3,000 family offices managing trillions in private wealth. This[...]

Death and the Distribution of a Descendant’s Dough A trustee manages the assets, distributions and other obligations under a trust agreement. A corporate trustee is an entity, such as a bank-owned or independent trust company. There are many types of[...]

Family Owned Business: The Other Side of the Coin On February 19, 2018, Financial Poise published an article by Bruce Werner, the regular contributor to this column, entitled, “Effective Private Company Board Strategies Drive Goals to Completion.” Bruce highlighted that[...]

Driving Future Hedge Fund Returns, Performance With so many articles about “hedge fund performance” popping up recently, investors are right to wonder what is driving this increase in returns and renewed investor interest. With thousands of funds spread across multiple[...]

Many Paths, Much Resistance for Families in Business I’m old enough to remember maps. Yes, physical, paper maps that you bought at gas stations or got for free from the AAA office. Once unfolded, they never went back to the[...]

The New Rules of Data Privacy and Protection You’ve probably heard the letters GDPR everywhere lately. “What do they mean and why do I have to care?” is probably your common response. This article seeks to provide you with an[...]

The Best Advisor You Can Hire Would Hire Herself, Too The best advisor you can hire will be a clever and a creative problem solver who interacts with you with total integrity, honesty, and ethical conduct. The worst? Someone’s goal[...]

Blockchain technology is here to stay. Here are 10 reasons why the blockchain won’t be stopped: 1. The Blockchain Won’t Be Stopped: It’s a Technology Wave We’ve seen technology waves before. The PC wave distributed computer power to everyone. The[...]

Get Started Investing in Real Estate If you want to invest your savings prudently, there are plenty of alternatives available. Investing in real estate, savings accounts, stocks and mutual funds, hedge funds, precious metals, oil and gas and cryptocurrencies all[...]