Archive By Section - Business Columns
Jim Lentini: Retirement planning challenges seniors
Today Americans are living longer and more vivacious lives. Medicare and Social Security must now provide for many more individuals than planned for when it was created in the 1930s. According to the Centers for the Disease Control and Prevention's report, The State of Aging and Health in America 2007, life expectancy in the US has increased from 47 years for those born in 1900 to 77 years for those born in 2001. Although longer ...
Oscar Dominguez: Expense management can help save small businesses
Our small business bankers, like those at other banks, are hearing two main concerns from customers these days: They want to know what it takes to obtain loans, and they want help managing expenses and cash flow.
Teresa Todd: Auto dealers hoping things will get better
As most business owners are acutely aware, 2008 witnessed unprecedented freefall dips in the global economy.
Kevin Yeam: Know your insurance rights
One of the biggest myths offered by the California insurance industry to justify its eliminating your legal right is the need to control the "litigation explosion" under which we are supposedly burdened. It is simply not true.
Jim Lentini: Health care financing
If you are concerned about the rising cost of health care and what its escalating cost will do to your retirement plans, you are not alone.
Don’t make common retirement mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes. If we are smart, we can learn from our mistakes. With luck, we can learn from other people's mistakes too. In the current financial problems affecting our retirement assets, and our hesitancy to be in the market, following are some common pitfalls to avoid with your retirement savings plan at work.
You can rise above natural disasters
Floods, droughts, hurricanes, severe storms, landslides, ice, snow and wildfires are all natural disasters that can cause devastation when it comes to your business. What do you do if your business is destroyed by a natural disaster? Who do you turn to? How can you prepare now to prevent hardship later?
April E. Oliver: Family court mediation services
California's Family Code requires that when there are contested custody or visitation issues regarding minor children, the parties must attempt to resolve their disputes through mediation before going to court to litigate the issue.
Seek a ‘fair’ solution
On many playgrounds, you will often hear the phrase "that's not fair." Those three words also have a huge impact in dispute resolution. That is because the principle of fairness is often overlooked.
Kenneth W. Keller: A few year-end thoughts on business
My normal column provides practical advice and counsel to those in business, but there are occasions when it is important to stop and take a broader, more personal look at the world of work.
Eight lessons to learn from Costco
Twenty-five years ago, Costco opened its first warehouse store. At that time in the retail industry, selling annual memberships for the privilege of buying things was almost unheard of. The company has since grown to 544 locations in seven countries, employing 142,000 people and has annual revenue of $72.5 billion.
Jim Lentini: Pay yourself first in the new year
I do believe most of us are ready for 2008 to end and see some better New Year's resolutions in 2009, especially from our financial markets. Everyone I know is tired of seeing their 401(k) plan look like a 201(k).
Ensuring that you can retire
An increasing number of Americans believe that a comfortable retirement may be beyond their reach.
Michael Green: Year-end planning strategies
As we approach year-end, there's still time to take action to lower your 2008 tax bill and add to your tax-advantaged retirement accounts. Listed below are a few ideas to get you started. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
Get what you want in seven powerful steps
In my most recent columns we've covered issues about improving your business and marketing, but today let's start right at the beginning.
Articles by Section - Business Columns
Ken Keller: Permission to argue is granted
Peggy Noonan wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal on April 20 about her attendance at Margaret Thatcher's London funeral service. She commented that Mrs. Thatcher was often frustrated with her staff. Thatcher once said to her aides, "I don't need to be told what, I need to be told how."
Bob Khalsa: Statewide median home price at five-year high
Heated market conditions fueled by a tight inventory and strong sales in higher-cost coastal regions drove California's median home price in March to its highest level since May 2008. Local prices, right here in the Santa Clarita Valley are headed higher, too.
Ken Keller: How one company turned it around
This week I'd like to introduce a company in a far different place compared to just a year ago. The organization has gone from despair to celebrating success. At the end of the first quarter of 2013, the owner said his company had "…Increased sales, reduced costs and improved our overall financial position in terms of positive cash flow and profitability, as well as reduced debt."
Steven Tannehill: What do businesses want, anyway?
This is part two of a two-part column.
Bob Khalsa: Feds ease loan modification rules
Some homeowners who are still struggling to avoid foreclosure may soon benefit from streamlined rules that offer an easy way to lower monthly payments and modify their mortgage without requiring financial or hardship documentation.
Ken Keller: Here are the vitamins a leader must distribute
Looking back on those individuals who were my bosses, a clear distinction comes to mind.
Holly Schroeder: New homes benefit more than just buyers and builder
The only people who benefit when a house is built are the family members who get to live there, and the builder who constructed and sold the home, right?
Steven Tannehill: What do businesses want anyway? Part I
This column is part one of a two-part column.
Ken Keller: Lessons to be learned from lack of feedback
In 1970 I started my first official job. I worked nine hours a week at a small grocery store. For the next two years I grossed $11.25 a week.
Bob Khalsa: Prices, sales rise as SCV’s housing market continues its recovery
The residential housing resale market in the Santa Clarita Valley continued to recover during February, with sales and prices up to their highest levels in years.
Ken Keller: Getting crystal clear about your business
There is a terrific exchange in the courtroom drama "A Few Good Men." Colonel Jessup, played by Jack Nicolson, turns from being a witness in a court martial to being the prosecutor when he asks Lieutenant Kaffee, played by Tom Cruise: "Have you ever spent time in an infantry unit, son?"
Disaster recovery — is your business prepared?
Is your business prepared for a disaster? While it is not something any of us like to think about, businesses should have a disaster plan in place.
Joe Klocko: The conundrum: supply and demand, wages and the skills gap
Most people understand the basic economic principle of supply and demand and incorporate it into their daily decisions. They may not do it consciously, but economic decisions are made every day by each and every one of us.
