Making the Most of the Next 100 Days
/I hope you’re adjusting to the reality that fall is almost here – notice that I didn’t say summer is almost over (smile). Like many of you, I’m back in the saddle after some much needed vacation. My heart and prayers go out to you, or anyone you know, who has been affected by Hurricane Irma. And, between Irma, DACA, North Korea, the volatile stock market, and so much more, I know it’s hard to stay focused on the things that are urgent and important to you. Having our money work for us is typically urgent and important for most of us.
This is where I can help.
There’s just over 100 days until the end of the year, and I want to ensure that you are on track to hit your major financial and investing goals. I want to ensure that you get to where you want to be. So, I want you to let me know the following:
Is there anything still holding you back? How can I help get you unstuck?
If you’ve had some financial or investing success, what’s the number one factor that helped you achieve your goals?
Are there any topics that are of extreme interest to you as we look to close out 2017?
Leave a comment in the section below and let’s start the conversation. In the meanwhile, I want to leave you with a few thoughts to ponder this week:
There’s Still Time to Make Your Numbers. Many of you work at companies or for yourself and are on the grind to make your numbers for 2017. I recently wrote a piece for American Express OPEN Forum that shares “3 Ways to Hit Your Revenue Goals By Year-End.” If not for you, please share this with your family and friends because I talk about how you can forecast future cash, explore targeted sales, and make dedicated investments to help you can hit your revenue goals. You won’t want to miss these tactics to boost business.
The Equifax Debacle Is Unreal. I’ve been following this storyline for the last week, and I hope you are not affected by this data breach nightmare surrounding Equifax, one of the three largest credit bureaus in the U.S. (TransUnion and Experian are the other two). Did you hear that the Equifax’s management team sold stock before they announced the breach to the public? While the company claims that some executives had no knowledge of the breach, this is a bad move. We will see what the SEC finds. As I talked about in my investing class this summer, you want to invest in companies with management teams that make good decisions – this is not one of them in my book. Banks and consumers will all bear the brunt of the hack. Some Charisse Says members have let me know that they have put a freeze on their credit reports. Check out how you can freeze your credit reports as well.
Apple is Trying Hard. With the iPhone 8, 8+, and 10 unveiled yesterday, Apple is trying to get their mojo back. IPhone sales made up two-third’s of Apple’s 2016 revenue, and thus it seems like they are betting even bigger on sales of their flagship product in the face of a slowdown in iPhone revenue growth. They must price these phones higher to get more profits. If you want to pay $1,000 for a new “X,” go for it – just know that there are trade-offs and I’m not judging you. I’m a Samsung user, but I do own Apple stock in many of my mutual funds, so I do keep an eye on it. You probably do as well since Apple is the largest U.S. traded company by market cap – it tops $830BN. Remember, market cap is simply a stock’s price multiplied by its shares outstanding.
Continue to keep your eyes on the prize, especially with 100 days to go for the rest of the year.
