Today marks a bit of a sad day for my team and I, as two of my team members say farewell and step out onto their own paths to independent financial success. Tim, who I wrote about here, and Shane, who has worked as a content provider and has been an excellent source of ideas (and the vast majority of pop culture references) found across this blog, are leaving us...

So you've got what you believe is a genius idea that you think has serious potential to make you a lot of money. Heck, you might think this is such a good idea, it has the potential to change the world. That's fantastic news! Good for you! Kudos to you on your creativity. But hold on a second there, tiger. Before you go any further, I want you to consider...

This should really be a no-brainer. The key to making any business successful is sustainability. Having a successful launch and making a ton of money at the onset is great. But nothing lasts forever, except perhaps diamonds if you ask Sir Ian Fleming, who incidentally was never officially Knighted, a fact I just found out now while researching this article. Anyway, back on track. That initial run of business (and resulting...

Inflation has been in the news regularly lately, a consequence of the ongoing global recession. Inflation is an important metric for central banks and investors to measure, as it gives some insight into the actual value of an given currency. Because inflation impacts wages and prices at the same time, the biggest concern is not the purchasing power for average people on point-of-sale purchases (though that is what is often...

We’ve all heard the news. Europe is sliding back into a recession as its economic elites continue to slash any spending that benefits the average citizen. In America, the Republicans have voted consistently to end Medicare and may gain enough power in the 2012 elections to achieve their aims. And Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party has floated the idea of slashing retirement benefits for future generations (though not, it...

Unless you’ve been travelling very far abroad the last few years, you’ve surely heard the term “The Great Recession.” It was in many ways an economic catastrophe unrivaled since the Great Depression, brought about by a toxic mix of unregulated banks, Wall Street greed, and misplaced housing policy. And when it hit, it hit hard. What you may not know is that, like any recession, the Great Recession presents you...

I find debt to be a terrifying word, and with good reason. To anyone who's in it for themselves to earn money their own way, the idea of owing a dime of it to someone else, be it a person or worse, a corporate entity, should be anathema. Abhorrent. Sickening. The worst thing about debt, is that few people realize just how unbelievably easy it is to get into it,...

It's a fact of life - business is risky. It is virtually impossible to guarantee success with perfect certainty. There are simply too many variables to be able to plan for every eventuality. This is especially true for new business owners who lack the experience to predict what sort of challenges they'll face - that's why most small businesses fail in the first two years. Knowing the biggest risks to...