In March, the President predicted a strong and quick economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. Unfortunately – and at no surprise to most small business owners – the economic decline continues with no real end in sight.

Most patients diagnosed with COVID-19 will make a full recovery within a few weeks. In contrast, small businesses don’t know when or if they will ever recover from this unprecedented national crisis. What they do know is that they will not come out unscathed. There are no cures or easy fixes for the financial strain that business owners are experiencing. Although the federal government has put programs into place to help struggling small business owners, for some, the economic injuries are already too deep. For others, the programs are a stop-gap that will help them stay open only to face an uncertain future.

It's that time of year again -- when the days get shorter and darker, the leaves fall, a cold wind blows, and our thoughts might turn to mortality as we reflect upon another summer come and gone. In fact, in almost all mid-latitude and northern areas, since time out of mind a date has been set aside in autumn or late summer to venerate departed ancestors. China has the Hungry Ghost Festival, Mexico and Latin America (via the Aztecs) have the Day of the Dead, Korea has Sije, Christianity has All Souls' (or Saints') Day ... and kids of all ages have Halloween.

Halloween is a way to lighten up such a dark subject. Think about it: we take the scariest subjects and make them into jokes, replete with funny tombstones, dancing skeletons, laugh-inducing ghouls. Children, ordinarily terrified at the thought of ghosts and witches, gleefully enjoy the company of as many such characters as possible -- and even dress up like them!

Recent reports highlight an alarming trend: an increasing number of seniors are burdened by credit card debt and are facing foreclosure. In fact, according to a University of Michigan Law School study, "the age sixty-five-and-over cohort is the fastest-growing age demographic [seeking bankruptcy protection]." That seniors are reaching out and seeki...