Improving the minimum wage and making Sacramento a better place to do business are not mutually exclusive goals. Done properly, an increase to the minimum wage targeted at Sacramento’s working poor will strengthen the economy, benefit the entire community and help create the Sacramento that we all want.   

Peer-to-peer lending platforms have hit their stride, and the number of peer loans has grown 84 percent per quarter since Prosper launched in 2006. In that same period, originations for other types of consumer loans have fallen 2 percent a quarter.

We are at a critical point in history. Longstanding social issues like hunger, poverty and lack of access to quality education continue to plague the world. All the while, wealth continues to grow at a staggering rate. This global dichotomy has given rise to new philanthropists who approach their discipline in a radically different way.

#GivingTuesday is a global day dedicated to giving back. You’ve given thanks. Today, we’re celebrating generosity. 

California’s business climate is well-known for being unfriendly. CEO Magazine has rated California as the worst state in which to do business for more than eight years running.  Undoing Proposition 13’s provisions, as is currently being proposed, will make a big problem even worse by increasing taxes on the very businesses that create jobs and contribute to our economy.  

Unscrupulous vendors are a small part of the so-called shadow economy – the unlicensed contractor for sure, but also a vast black market of businesses, often cash-only, working out of homes or garages, that don’t pay the taxes or licensing fees their competitors do. While profitable for the person getting away with it, this underground economy hits all of us right where it hurts – in the pocketbook.

If National Estate Planning Awareness Week, which started yesterday,  snuck up on you this year, you are not alone. In fact, if you don’t have an estate plan, you have lots of company. Fifty percent of Americans lack a will and other vital estate planning documents, and their absence is a sure path to probate court and often lengthy, costly legal proceedings before an estate is settled.

The Sacramento Republic FC has bolstered its quest to become a Major League Soccer franchise. On Monday the team announced an impressive addition of more than a dozen new business leaders who will invest in the group, including Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter and local business owner Urijah Faber.

If you have sold a business and moved on to retirement or another career, it’s worth noting that a change in lifestyle should also trigger a change in investment styles.

You’ve made all the right financial decisions. You’ve saved, you’ve planned, you’ve invested. But what if your heirs aren’t quite ready for the responsibilities and tax advantages that go along with inheriting your dutifully funded IRA? Your best bet for control from the grave may be a trusteed IRA.