Dahna M. Chandler, MPS

You can take many paths to increased wealth, but it helps to have a recognized and easy-to-apply framework to structure your goals. The S.M.A.R.T. framework provides the structure and accountability that can help you turn your financial intentions into tangible results. Consider using the S.M.A.R.T. strategy to achieve financial goals like saving for college, starting a business, growing your income, paying off debt, reducing your taxes, or accumulating tangible assets. (Finance editors, this is the EEAT/YMYL content I can write for your mass affluent and emerging HNW clients.)

With recession and inflation concerns as a backdrop to this holiday season, you may wonder whether you can give to loved ones in ways more reflective of your personal and family wealth goals. That can include saving on taxes and hedging against inflation — while remaining consistent with the values you and your gift recipient hold. One of your values may be transferring wealth to the next generation to ensure they're prepared for the future and can weather macroeconomic shocks. Here are some ways to give the gift of economic well-being while protecting your finances.

When planning for a financially secure retirement, you might consider two investment vehicles: individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and 401(k)s. Both help you save for retirement, but they come with their own sets of rules and benefits. Understanding the difference between an IRA and 401(k) can help increase your retirement savings.
Here's what to know when choosing one or both.

Employee retention is vital to the success of every Canadian small business. When talented employees leave, it disrupts operations and hurts productivity—seriously affecting the bottom line. That's why proactive retention strategies are key to nurturing an engaged, thriving workforce. Here's what they are and how to implement them.

Maintaining healthy cash flow is essential for small-business success, since it helps you verify the correct amount of money flowing into and out of your business. The cash-flow definition is the measure of the money coming in and going out of your business over a specific period. It tracks the cash receipts and cash payments for your company. It's important you calculate this correctly and maintain a positive balance on your cash-flow statement. Here's how to generate, maintain, and measure your business cash flow.

Business owners typically can't manage what they can't measure. Better cash-flow management can start with examining three primary sources: operations, investing, and financing. These three sources align with the main sections in a company's cash-flow statement, an essential document for understanding a business's financial health. What are they and how do you generate them? (This story is part of a major SEO refresh Amex is doing, and for which I'm writing multiple stories using my business finance, research skills, and SEO expertise.)

A common question business owners have about getting business loan financing is “what is a reasonable amount to ask for a business loan?” Answering this question requires understanding the challenges associated with getting a business loan.

When you’re borrowing money for your business, it’s not just about securing funds. It's about strategically aligning your business’s financial needs with your business's growth trajectory and operational demands. Here's how to do that.

This is an area where I have intense interest and experience. I pitched this story to American Express, along with another on the subject, and both got accepted. Here's a summary:

Working together as a family can be intense, especially when traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z all work in a business. Family relationships in any context can be trying, and being in business together may complicate things further. Here's how to manage those relationships and develop family unity to successful manage your family business for long-term success.

Disorganization can overwhelm many small-business owners, and they often don’t know how to overcome the problem, leading to a cluttered mind and substantially reduced productivity. To help potentially unlock new dimensions for profitability and long-term success, consider looking at your space and time management practices. Organizing your calendar, your inbox, your office space, and your company culture may help lead to a more productive, profitable company. Three experts tell you how.

It's an honor when a friend or loved one trusts you to become their estate executor. But being a will executor is a significant responsibility. It makes you their fiduciary and it can be time-consuming and expensive. It may come with emotional challenges, particularly related to dealing with the departed's remaining family. Learn here how to address many of these challenges effectively.

Securing the capital you need to grow your business can be difficult. Learn about business loans with no personal guarantees, what they are, and how to get them.

Not only can operating in your Zone of Genius lead to more profitability, but it can also mean more fulfillment and less exhaustion. Functioning in your Zone of Genius can improve your mental health and business and personal relationships, too. That's because your Zone of Genius is the talent or area of native knowledge that comes to you so naturally, you perform it effortlessly and, usually, happily for hours at a time. Here's how to learn yours and operate in it--or them, since you might have more than one. (Image: Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels)

Sometimes economic events happen that are out of your control, which may cause financial challenges that lead to business loss. Perhaps you lose your biggest customer or a business decision you make doesn't turn out well. This blog post shows you what steps you can make to turn your business around when that happens.

As recipients of this year's Women in Capital Markets Champions of Change award, Michael Cherny and Charley Butler sat down to share their thoughts about Ontario Teachers' commitment towards advancing DEI.

Auto and home insurance companies look at your past claims when setting rates for you. But how do they know about your insurance past? A database called C.L.U.E. serves up your insurance history. A C.L.U.E. (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report provides a history of your property insurance claims for homes, rentals and vehicles. It’s offered by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and the information in the report is subject to Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) guidelines. Here's what else to know. (Originally written for Forbes Advisor.)