This month’s Client in Focus is Peter and Andrea Schulz, owners of AP Filter Solutions.

We speak to Peter and Andrea on the success of their business since taking over as distributor, discussing the challenges they encountered throughout their business journey.

Leaving a high flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realised that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. In this video, Angela explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.

At the University of Pennsylvania, Angela Lee Duckworth studies intangible concepts such as self-control and grit to determine how they might predict both academic and professional success.

Great investors don’t just read about world events, they analyse the likely trickle-down effects of those events on the industries and sectors in which they invest.

There are two important changes all employers should be aware of in relation to superannuation and new gender equality reporting requirements. The first of these is the changes to the superannuation regime which increase employer’s superannuation obligations starting from the 1st July 2013 to compulsory contributions of 9.25%.

For business owners in the building and construction industry, by 21 July (28 July for quarterly instalment lodgers) you will need to report to the Australian Taxation Office all payments made to contractors during the financial year.

This month’s Client in Focus is Ray and Colleen Sullivan, owners of Leader Hydraulics.

We speak to Ray and Colleen on the success of their business since taking over ownership in 2008 and discuss the challenges they encounter on a day-to-day basis.

You might think that the 2007-2008 financial crisis was an unpredictable one-time crash. But Didier Sornette and his Financial Crisis Observatory have plotted a set of early warning signs for unstable, growing systems, tracking the moment when any bubble is about to pop. (And he’s seeing it happen again, right now.)

Didier Sornette studies whether it is possible to anticipate big changes or predict crises in complex systems.

How much money do you need to fund your retirement? In the past this has been a difficult question to answer but as analysts, academics and superannuation/investment specialists have put their heads together to crunch the numbers, things have become a little clearer. It’s no surprise that it all depends on your life expectancy, work plans, investment returns and desired lifestyle – basic, modest or comfortable.

Poor time management can have terrible consequences for small business owners overwhelmed by challenging priorities. Some simple changes are worth trying for a better night’s sleep.

A Gallup survey shows that 10 years ago almost 60 per cent of people believed they would have enough money for a comfortable retirement. Last year, the portion of survey respondents who told the Gallup survey they would have enough money was less than 40 per cent.