Small business is getting its shot at securing loans once again. But in a new regulatory environment, banks are more cautious about getting left holding the bag with bad loans that could come back to haunt them. Even credit unions are facing potential changes in laws that could affect their ways of operating as nonprofits. This makes it more challenging for businesses to get … [More]
Equity-raising Opportunity Exists for Small Businesses
Owners of small businesses may find it easier to raise money in 2013. This is because, among the favorable tax breaks included under the American Taxpayer Relief Act (the “2012 Act”), there is a temporary extension of a provision that excludes 100 percent of gain arising from the sale of certain qualified small business stock (QSBS). This is a benefit small-business owners can … [More]
The Business of Banking Is Banking on Small Business
“In just four years, we’ve seen 15 banks exit the market,” says Paul Hickman, president and CEO of the Arizona Bankers Association. “Between the economy and Dodd-Frank [post-recession federal legislation regulating banks], many banks have reached a tipping point.” The business of banking is changing significantly. New federal laws and fewer banks — particularly mid-size … [More]
$10,000 Gold
$10,000 Gold is far more than a financial book. It is a tool of survival and prosperity. It leads the reader to a deeper understanding by showing the global economic and demographic trends that support a rational prediction for gold’s future value. $10,000 Gold advocates ownership of physical, uncompromised bullion and explains the benefits of a safe haven that has preserved … [More]
The Alternative Answer
Bob Rice, Bloomberg TV’s alternative investment editor, leads an entertaining and easy-to-understand tour of this world and suggests specific alternative investments for all four key “jobs” of a portfolio: safely generating more current income, decreasing risks of economic shocks, significantly increasing long-term profits and protecting purchasing power over time. A rainbow of … [More]
Happy Money
Anyone who thinks money can’t buy happiness is not spending it right. Two rising stars in behavioral science explain how money can buy happiness. Happy Money offers a tour of new research on the science of spending. Most people recognize that they need professional advice on how to earn, save and invest their money. When it comes to spending that money, most people just follow … [More]
Loan Modification May Be Option if Loan Is Current
As the economy slowly turns itself around for many, small businesses that have been hanging on even if struggling may have more financing options available to them than they’re aware of. For a business to be able to get any concessions from a bank, however, it’s imperative that it start talking to the bank before getting behind in payments on its business loans. That goes … [More]
Critical Time Window for Federal Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives
The IRS tax code that provides federal tax incentives on energy improvement investments, §179D, expires at the end of 2013. While energy efficiency upgrades need to be completed by Dec. 31, 2013, to qualify, opportunities exist in two areas: accelerating future projects into 2013 and reviewing projects dating back to Jan. 1, 2006, that resulted in energy savings. Either of … [More]
Local Bank Offers Import/Export Financing
Businesses are increasingly involved in export commerce, but loans on their foreign receivables are not as readily available as on domestic receivables. “That restricts the amount a business can leverage,” says Greg Lehmann, managing director of Biltmore Bank of Arizona, explaining the decision is made from a risk standpoint. Helping to fill that void, Biltmore Bank recently … [More]
Wealth Management: How to Prosper in the New Economy
After four years of government polices like the zero-down-payment initiative, the Single-Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit, the American Dream Downpayment Initiative and other questionable mortgage and financial innovations, the housing bubble burst. While debate continues on the causes of the Great Recession, the popping of the $8 trillion housing bubble was instrumental in … [More]
Financial Statements: The Crucial Monthly Close
How is your business doing lately? As an owner, you probably have a sense of how things are going, but is it right? While I have developed a great respect for an owner’s “gut feel” over my 40 years of consulting, there are many illusions and counter-intuitive aspects to business that can mislead owners. A common counter-intuitive illusion is that if sales are increasing, things … [More]
Feedback: December 2012
Question: What role should business play in assisting employees in retirement planning? Robyn Barrett Founder and Managing Partner FSW Funding Sector: Financial I think businesses need to help fill the gap where Social Security will fall short. Most employees are spending their income on living and don’t know how or where to begin investing for retirement. Businesses can … [More]
Is it Time to Change Standards for Banking’s Assessment of Risk?
Banks are the underpinning of commerce. One of their key roles — if not the key role — is to intermediate financial risk among individual businesses and broad sectors. Health of the banks, as recent events have underscored, is of vital concern to those outside the banking industry as well as those in it. The Dodd-Frank Act has been variously touted or maligned as an answer … [More]
Funding for Business
No doubt about it, there’s plenty of economic uncertainty in the world, let alone Arizona, today. But Valley bankers and those associated with the banking industry want entrepreneurs and owners of small and mid-sized businesses to know their institutions have been, and continue to be, ready to talk lending. “We’re all dying for loans,” asserts Candace Wiest, president and CEO … [More]
Women Are Changing the Face of Business
Women are making a powerful difference in business, in today’s economy and in family life. The adage that there is power in numbers definitely applies. The United States Census Bureau states that women currently outnumber men in the U.S. by six million. Their impact in the marketplace, therefore, must not be underestimated, and, with that incredible power in their hands, women … [More]
An Arizona Credit Union Part of International Partnership
Federación de Cajas Populares Alianza, a credit union association located in Guanajuato, Mexico, looking to expand its presence into the United States, has chosen to partner with Mountain West Credit Union Association, which has offices in Phoenix and Denver. “Alianza is eager to share insights as to how to serve the Latino members in the U.S. credit unions better,” says Victor … [More]
