This is a New Year of questions. Big, significant questions-about values, goals, and long-term direction. Asked personally, professionally, and from a financial-service industry perspective; the questions are remarkable for both their breadth and depth. At the same time, the New Year is a time for resolutions, and for moving forward.

For many businesses each year goes by and a “list” remains of the issues and goals they’d like to have addressed. For many though, the items stay on the list and just get moved from one year to another in the hopes that time will free up in order to address them.

So, well in advance of the time to make a new year’s resolution, we offer some tips to ensure that you know what you need to do and are able to so clearly identify your goals, that you can then create a workable implementation plan and get things done in 2010!

Start by doing this 4-step assessment:

Recently, a client asked us for our thoughts on a puzzling business issue — assets in their mutual funds are falling — but at a much slower rate then their competitors and the industry leaders. While good news, on the face of it, our client rightfully wondered if there was more to this.

Women control more money than they ever have before. They earn, spend, and save almost as much as men. Today, women represent a huge opportunity for investment and financial services firms — now, the industry must figure out how to take advantage of it.