Banking an emergency fund (3-6 months of expenses for most) is a good practice. But for long term savings, retirement, college funding, even a major purchase that is far into the future, utilizing an advisor can be very beneficial. There is a whole world of investment offerings and they can help you sort through what might be a good choice for you. Trying to go it alone can be overwhelming, and well, it’s worth asking an expert. I often get new clients after they have done it for a while on their own and they are dissatisfied with the whole process. I love investing, but it’s not everyone’s idea of a great hobby.

Yes. If you are invested in the stock market there is risk involved. There are ways to spread the risk out by using a mutual fund that has several companies represented as opposed to investing in one company’s stock.

There are also fixed rate investments that are much lower risk, CDs in a bank for example. Those will offer a lower return generally than the potential return in the stock market.

It’s bad if you aren’t able to over a reasonable amount of time. A few months for example. You don’t want to pay interest on everyday expenses and budget items, but many use their credit cards regularly and pay them off every month to reap the rewards. I think this is a good example of using credit well, and it’s important to pay it off monthly in that situation.

If you only use credit cards occasionally, an unexpected car maintenance bill for example. That’s generally something you would want to pay off in a few months, and it highlights that you may need to reevaluate if you have enough in your regular budget for maintenance items.

No, you must establish credit to qualify for a mortgage for example, that is good debt. Educational debt isn’t considered bad either, although sometimes the payments can eat up a large portion of income. I caution against having too much depreciating debt; vehicles, travel trailers, and credit card debt. It can easily become overwhelming and get out of hand.

Small business owners are usually fantastic craftsmen or craftswomen of their particular skill. Running a business is a whole different set of skills. I happily take on many of those tasks for the business owner, or together we can find the best resource for that task. 

All businesses are different, but offering benefit packages to your employees is critical to retention. Most valuable employees will consider staying longer in a position that provides good benefits for them, and their families. I think this is one of the best ways to grow, invest heavily in your employees.

I hope so too, but ultimately that will be up to your child once they become an adult. Whatever their passion is, may be a benefit to your business but it may not. I always tell my clients I would rather have a plan we don’t use, than need a plan that we never had.