Category Archives: The Personal Side

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Differing Expert Witness Valuation Conclusions

Differences May Not Be the Result of Advocacy

Because of the large difference between the two appraisers, courts may assume that business valuation experts are being advocative. This judicial attitude is fairly widespread based on my experience, and accounts for many decisions where courts “split the valuation baby.” Perhaps, there’s more to the story. In this post, we discuss six sources of differences in valuation opinions between opposing experts.

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Two Personal Stories: Living with Margin and Being Marginless

Would you rather live a life with margin or one of being marginless? I’ve always worked on one or more of the important areas of life where margin is needed: personal finances, work, physical conditioning, spiritual life, emotional, and time. Seldom do I hit on all cylinders at the same time. But I keep trying.

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What My Father Taught Me About Margin in Life

And a Few Other Thoughts as Well

I’ve been thinking about the meaning of a simple word, margin, in our lives. Last week, I wrote the first in what will be a series of posts on this topic. It was titled Do You Have Margin in the Important Areas of Your Life? And so we continue a discussion of the concept of margin in life, this time, focusing on early lessons from my father.

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Do You Have Margin in the Important Areas of Your Life?

If Not, It is Time to Think About Building Margins before you are Marginless

We live life now, at the margin between the past and the future. What we do at this margin impacts our futures. What we have done or have not done in the past influences, or creates, the options we have now in our lives, or at the margins. In other words, the margins that we create in various areas of our lives impact or influence what we can, will, or won’t do each day.

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An Integrated Theory for the Major Valuation Issues of Today

Overview of Coming Presentation at AAML Annual Meeting 2016

On November 4, 2016, I will be speaking at the AAML Annual Meeting addressing a topic that is near to my heart as a business appraiser: An Integrated Theory for the Major Valuation Issues of Today. While each of these issues is worthy of hours of coverage, I provide an overview these issues in my post today.

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The Growing Professional

Part 1

I was asked to prepare a short talk for the celebration of the 500th webinar event of Business Valuation Resources. I chose the topic, “Expectations of a Growing Professional.” This is a topic I’ve addressed before in a few outside talks and internally at Mercer Capital. In this post and two more in the near future, I’ll share the gist of my thoughts on the webinar yesterday.

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Ownership and Management Transition Planning or Mere Hope?

Recently, an attorney and financial planner called me to talk about a client who was discussing his ownership, management succession plans, and the life insurance associated with his “planning.” During our two-hour discussion, I learned about the client’s situation and was able to offer potential modifications to his current transition plan.

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AICPA/AAML Divorce Conference 2016 in New Orleans

Buy-Sell Agreements and the Battle of New Orleans

Last week, I attended the joint AICPA/AAML and spoke on Friday. I spoke on the topic of buy-sell agreements and related the subject matter to divorce, as divorce is a frequent trigger event in buy-sell agreements. I also participated in a panel labeled the Battle of New Orleans 2016. This post recaps some speaking highlights of my time in New Orleans.