Financial Poise™ has one mission: to provide reliable and understandable business, financial and legal education to investors, private business owners and executives, and their respective trusted advisors.

Cash Allocation Challenges Businesses For most businesses, cash allocation is a challenge. Margin pressure, seasonality, credit risk, and bank covenants make it a constant chore. Cash is the oxygen of business. You can’t run low and survive. For successful businesses,[...]

How to Find Appropriate Business Attire Suit? Dress? Slacks? Skirt? Neutrals? Colors? Don’t get me started on “business casual Friday”! Choosing the appropriate business attire is so time-consuming in our already busy lives. Not many of us are willing to[...]

An ongoing dispute between Oracle and Google has landed in both Federal Court and Northern District of California court. What will happen next? The Federal Circuit recently resurrected one of the most closely watched cases in recent software history: Oracle v.[...]

Editor's Note: This is an updated version of a previous article. To view the original, click here. Employee Stock Ownership Plans Offer Many Economic Perks Employee stock ownership plans, commonly referred to as an ESOP, offer a range of benefits[...]

Editor's Note: This article is an updated version of an article originally published on May 14, 2014. Mutual Fund Investment Left Investors Behind The Wall Street machine is interested in creating products for profit and not creating profit for the[...]

Success Depends as Much on You as it does Them So you want to improve your relationship with your advisor? Is the relationship tenuous or does it feel like there are trust issues- from your end and theirs? Read on![...]

Use Specific Sales and Marketing Activities for Specific Purposes Hi and welcome to my first article for Financial Poise! Let's jump right in. Supposedly, the days of “I know half of my marketing budget is wasted, but I just don’t[...]

International Venture Capital Races Ahead Take a look at The Fortune Unicorn List: Of the top 100 most valuable unicorns in 2016, 39 are currently based outside of the United States. Fundraising of U.S. VCs has dropped slowly as a[...]

Happy, without Purchasing Disability Insurance Daria and Daniel Diligent had it all figured out. Both were hard-working professionals — Daria a dentist and Daniel a pilot. Happily married and living in a beautiful home, they were raising twin girls with[...]

An Urban Dictionary Education in Terms Anyone with the Internet has probably heard of urbandictionary.com, the crowdsourced, online dictionary for slang words and phrases that contains plenty “NSFW” content. (To spare you the trouble/consequence of going there, NSFW means “Not[...]

The Loss of Losing Power at Home We recently experienced losing power at home, specifically our gas-powered heat,  for a few days while away on vacation. In the aftermath, I got to thinking about how I could have been better[...]

Exploring Owning Operational Real Estate Owning real estate for investment can take a little or a lot of work, depending on the type of asset you purchase. Passive investments in real estate offerings managed by professional sponsors require little-to-no work[...]

Recently, bad practices caused a client’s accounts receivable to get extended well past 90 days. In fact, the client had 20% of its receivables dated further back than 120 days. Company staff knew that much of that would prove to[...]

Having Your Identity Stolen by Family Hurts Worse Raphael’s Story Raphael was distraught and confused to learn that his son, Raphael Jr., had unknowingly and quite fraudulently signed his dad’s name to his own student loans several years back. Dad[...]

You Can Drive Business Growth Forward- or Backward Many businesses on the precipice of growth or those preparing to enter a new chapter are searching for ways to drive business growth, but can find themselves struggling to move into that[...]

Don't Underestimate the Benefits of Vacation Are you “too busy” to take a vacation? What if I told you that some of the benefits of vacation include better health and an improved bottom line? Would you take one then? Reducing[...]

Choking on the Words During Sensitive Family Business Every cat owner knows the sounds. The deep retching and heaving. The cough that sounds like your cat just may turn himself inside out to eliminate a fur ball. Next may come[...]

Are Wage Discrimination Claims Avoidable? An employer can be sued by an employee for all sorts of things. Specifically, wage discrimination claims is an area that every employer should understand because they are so easy to avoid. One example would[...]

Stock Market Volatility Circles Back Around Stock market volatility isn’t a new concept, especially for baby boomer women who have lived through some of the market’s most tumultuous times. However, with headlines proclaiming catastrophic losses and record point drops for[...]

How much is dinner out costing you? As we were heading out from a restaurant dinner party last week, my friend, Ann, leaned over and griped to me about the group decision to split the check evenly. While grumbling about how[...]

Someone once told me that, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” We have all seen how constructive feedback improves performance and helps employees to avoid mistakes. The challenge is getting actionable feedback to people early enough for them to use[...]

Wellness is a Daily Journey Your physical and financial well-being add up when you have good nutrition, proper rest and adequate exercise. In fact, study results conducted by researchers at Duke found that low credit scores could be used to[...]

How to Identify a Scam Email: Exhibit A My dad got an email a few days ago. It looked like this: From: John Maryline [mailto:john.maryline@yahoo.com] Sent: Friday, February 16, 2018 1:21 PM Subject: Your ATM Cards Released.. Attention: This is[...]

The Needs vs. The WANTS I try very hard to be a minimalist. First, because I like to practice what I preach; and second, because leaving a colossal carbon footprint negates the simplicity I try to reflect in my lifestyle.[...]

So far in this column, we have talked primarily about fraud committed at arms’ length by salespersons or investment advisors. These sorts of sales fraud are but two of the many flavors in the Cold Stone display of frozen, delicious[...]

What do Real Estate Investments Cost- in Sheer Effort? Savvy investors make real estate part of a diversified portfolio to grow and preserve their wealth. The challenge with many real estate investments, however, is that they can require considerable work[...]

Private Company Board Strategies Create Advantage Strategy has been defined as the art of finding an unfair competitive advantage in the marketplace. It is implemented through defined objectives, strategies and tactics. Whether public or private, driving strategy is how boards[...]

Assessing Confidence Being someone who provides leadership assessments and 360° evaluations, I’m often fascinated by the results I see. A recent Confidence Assessment survey I came across speaks to the overconfidence certain people seem to possess more than others. This[...]

Who’s in Charge of What We’re Doing Online? Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is a little-known statutory provision that is far more powerful and important than most casual internet users realize. Section 230, as its commonly known, is[...]

Creating Healthy Soil Saves More than Plants When I first picked up Josh Tickell’s latest book, “Kiss the Ground,” last November, I thought it was going to be a book about regenerative agriculture. While it does cover this topic, the[...]

Marital Satisfaction + Baby You and your partner have likely been preparing for the arrival of your baby for months, if not years. You’ve rearranged the house, shifted your schedules, arranged for help and support, and you finally feel ready-and[...]

Learn How to Use Facebook Ads to Keep Up with the Pace Chances are if you’re reading this, you may be one of the 50 million businesses maintaining a Facebook page. Businesses in all shapes and sizes have a Facebook[...]

America’s Rich Soil Has Growth Potential Between 2009-2014 America’s farmland values grew rapidly, according to the USDA. In 2009, the value of an acre of farmland was $2000, and by 2014, the value of increased upward of $3000 per acre.[...]

You know that sickening feeling you get when you are happily driving along and a light on your dashboard pops up, indicating the need for some immediate repair? Or worse yet, when the lights that pop up are those of[...]

The Risks and Rewards of Chasing Your Dreams- Worth it? What is the risk of chasing your dream? There is a lot to unpack in this succinct question, so let’s take a moment to break it down: To answer the[...]

“Risky Business” is: A)  The title of a big Hollywood hit from the early 1980s that launched actor Tom Cruise to stardom and recorded a spectacular $63.5 million gross; B)  A description of what investing in movies may be faced[...]

The Federal Circuit just ruled that the “scandalous” clause of the Lanham Act is unconstitutional in view of the Supreme Court decision in Matal v. Tam. The Lanham Act is also known as the Trademark Act. Recapping The Slants’ Fight[...]

How Unemployment and Depression Affect Military Spouses Everyone knows that people get down in the dumps when they are out of work, but did you know the “out-of-work-blues” can become full-blown depression that often requires medication to resolve? Unemployment and[...]

The tax prep season perennially stirs financial advisors to reach out to their retirement-minded clients to review asset allocation strategies. There are several 2018 IRA alerts and reminders that may make this tax season a little smoother for everyone. 2018[...]

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) works for (and against) everyone If you have not had the good fortune to litigate a fraud claim in federal court, you might not be aware of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b), which[...]

Whether a company is public or private, the mission of its board of directors is to provide leadership in four key issues: strategy, capital structure, succession planning, and risk management. While regulators will enforce matters at public companies, outside directors[...]

From natural disaster after natural disaster, to terrorist act after terrorist act, there are a lot of things going down in the world right now. The Survivalism Industry (did you know that was even a “thing?”) has even started to[...]

The Complexity of Real Estate Partnerships Owning investment real estate can be a complicated undertaking. Add in real estate partnerships and the complexity only increases. However, real estate can be a valuable part of your investment portfolio. It provides asset[...]

Vanessa and David were swimming in financial debt. They bought real estate at the height of the market and were in over their heads. They owed credit card debt to numerous banks, had significant student loan debt, monthly daycare costs[...]

Invest in Your Health, and Wealth With the new year finally here, it is pretty much accepted as canon that weight loss resolutions must be made. That makes investing in weight loss companies a potentially lucrative resolution in and of[...]

Beauty Bias: The Ugly Truth Right or wrong, the reality is that when you put your best face forward, it positively impacts your bottom line. While being too pretty backfires and results in the “bimbo effect,” research shows that 84%[...]

You're at Risk if You're not Recording Your Assets From maintaining farmland to purchasing real estate investment properties to  owning jewelry to possessing all kinds of precious metals in general, or even delving into collecting wines and fine art and[...]

Who's at Fault? The Money Will Speak for Itself It’s really scary to be involved in a car accident. Having all your necessary car accident information ready to go before such an event occurs will help guide you and may[...]

Retiring Abroad May be Better When You're Older, Wiser- and Richer While in college, did you ever dream of spending a year abroad? You might have hoped to study Spanish in Mexico, or perhaps you wanted to master art and[...]

Consider Using Your Assets for Good if You Want to Feel Good About Giving Using your assets for good is part of the joy of having enough wealth to make a difference in the lives of others. For many people,[...]

If you were recently widowed, you are likely feeling a range of emotions and are overwhelmed by the prospect of managing things on your own. Advice for recent widows will range from person to person, but the tax, estate and[...]

Avoid Fees from Free Trial Offers By Avoiding "Free" Stuff Surely, you’ve been in this harrowing moment: You’ve got your cup of coffee, you’re going through your inbox, and your eyes dart to an email informing you that your account[...]

Venture Capital Unicorns are as Rare as Real Unicorns A unicorn is an imaginary horse-like creature with a large, pointed horn. Venture capital unicorns are companies still privately owned with valuations exceeding $1 billion. Valuation is based on share price[...]

Learn how to promote yourself effectively Sit at your desk, do a good job and before long, you’ll be noticed. Ah, what a nice idea that is. But don’t kid yourself. Grinding away without knowing how to promote yourself may[...]

Giving Charitable Donations is One Thing... Debby lives paycheck to paycheck, always struggling to make ends meet, although she does believe in giving charitable donations and helping others where she can. After a long day at work, on a windy,[...]

Getting Enough Sleep and Finances that Add Up Makes Good Sense Everyone has heard the term “beauty rest,” and it is common knowledge that sleep deprivation speeds up the aging process. But did you know that there is also a[...]

Curing America’s Obesity Epidemic May Look Different (and Younger?) than We Thought Several months ago, I had this strange encounter with my high school-aged daughter. It was a bit of an “aha” moment that sparked a lot of other ideas[...]

Is Investing in Comics Big Money, Big Fun- or Both? If you’ve ever thought that investing in comics is for the birds, you could be missing out. It’s well-known that diversifying your portfolio with hard, tangible assets is a sound[...]

Arthur Andersen. Enron. Bernie Madoff. Harvey Weinstein. Wells Fargo. Equifax. Again and again and again with these unscrupulous companies, their boards and their leaders, we hear the same questions repeated: 1) How did this happen? 2) How could nobody else[...]

If you ever watch Saturday morning cartoons, you may notice that every time a hero like Bugs Bunny gets stuck in a tight spot, there is always an “eject” button to catapult him safely out of danger. Not only is[...]