July 5, 2026

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Should You Sign a Prenuptial Agreement Before Marriage in 2026?

Kivo Daily Staff on June 18, 2026

For many couples, the idea of signing a prenuptial agreement feels like a vote of no confidence in the marriage before it has even started. However, that perception has shifted considerably over the past decade, and more people are approaching prenups the way they approach other forms of financial planning.

If you are getting married and wondering whether a prenup makes sense for your situation, the answer depends on more than just how much money either of you has. What you own, what you owe, and what would happen to both if the marriage ended are all worth thinking through before the wedding.

Are More Couples Signing Prenups?

According to a 2023 Harris Poll cited in The New Yorker, twenty-one percent of Americans say they have signed a prenuptial agreement, up from just three percent in 2010. Part of what is driving this change is that people are marrying later in life.

As couples get older, they often accumulate more individual assets and debts before marrying. When both partners come into a marriage with careers, savings, student loans, or property of their own, a prenup can be a practical way to decide upfront what property is whose.

Prenups Are Not Just for Wealthy Couples

The assumption that prenups are only for the wealthy has not held up. Most people who sign one are not protecting a fortune. They are protecting what they have worked for, whether that is a savings account, a car, a small business, or an inheritance they hope to pass along someday.

Debt is just as common a concern as assets. If one partner has significant student loans or credit card balances, a prenup can make clear that the other spouse will not be left responsible for obligations they had no part in creating.

How a Prenuptial Agreement Can Protect Your Assets

Without a prenuptial agreement, state law dictates how property is divided in a divorce. Those default rules may not reflect what either spouse would have wanted. A prenup gives both partners a say in that outcome before the relationship is under any strain.

The agreement can define what each person owned before the marriage and establish how that property should be treated if the marriage ends. It can also address property acquired during the marriage, which matters more than most couples expect. Someone who owns a home, a retirement account, or a share in a business has a real interest in knowing how those things will be handled in the future. A prenup can answer those questions in advance, which can help couples avoid months of courtroom litigation.

Prenups for a Second Marriage

A second marriage almost always comes with a more complicated financial picture than the first. One or both spouses may have retirement savings built over decades, equity in a home, business interests, or children from a previous relationship.

A prenup can help ensure that assets intended for those children are not subject to division in a future divorce. It can also keep the finances of both spouses cleaner and more clearly defined when each person enters the marriage with their own history, obligations, and long-term plans. As a rule, the more complex the financial situation, the more useful a prenup tends to be.

Handling Spousal Support Through a Prenup

A prenuptial agreement can include terms about spousal support in the event of a divorce. Rather than leaving that question to a judge, both partners can agree in advance on whether alimony will be paid, for how long, and in what amount. That kind of advance planning can spare both parties from one of the most emotionally and financially draining parts of a divorce proceeding.

However, there are limits to alimony provisions in a prenuptial agreement. Courts are not likely to enforce an agreement that leaves one spouse destitute or that was clearly one-sided when it was signed. If you are unsure as to whether a judge will uphold an agreement, a family law attorney can review the document on your behalf.

Legal Requirements You Should Know Before Setting Up a Prenup

A prenuptial agreement has to meet certain standards to hold up in court. Both parties must sign it voluntarily, without pressure or coercion. Each person should have sufficient time to review it before the wedding, and courts have looked unfavorably on agreements presented days before the ceremony. Full financial disclosure is also required. If one party conceals assets or debts, a court may void the agreement entirely.

Both partners should have independent legal counsel when signing a prenup. Separate attorneys are not required in every state, but having them is one of the clearest ways to show that each person understood what they were agreeing to.

State law shapes prenuptial agreements more than most people realize. Many states have adopted some version of the Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, but several states follow their own rules entirely. A couple that moves across state lines after their wedding may find that an agreement drafted for one state does not hold up the same way in another.

 

Disclaimer: The content in this article is provided for general knowledge. It does not constitute legal advice, and readers should seek advice from qualified legal professionals regarding particular cases or situations.

No-Fee Banking in Canada Exists, So Why Are Millions Still Paying for Their Chequing Account?

Kivo Daily Staff on June 17, 2026

By Audrey Denise Cachuela

Most Canadians pay a monthly fee for their chequing account without giving it much thought. Institutions like Innovation Federal Credit Union have built their model around the idea that it shouldn’t cost money just to hold money, and a growing number of Canadians are starting to agree. The market for no-fee chequing accounts in Canada has expanded considerably over the past few years, and the options are better than most people realize.

Why Canadians Keep Paying Fees They Don’t Have to

Most people open a bank account when they’re young, usually at whichever institution their parents used, and keep that account indefinitely. Fees renew automatically, and nobody revisits them. Switching feels like a project, and the monthly cost is easy enough to absorb without thinking too hard about it.

Traditional banks bundled monthly fees with their services for decades, packaging branch access, transaction processing, and customer support all together. That arrangement made more sense when visiting a branch was genuinely necessary for basic tasks. Now most Canadians can open accounts, deposit cheques, pay bills, and move money around without setting foot in a branch, yet the fees have largely stayed put.

There’s also an awareness gap. Many Canadians don’t actually have a clear picture of how much they’re paying per year, or that real alternatives exist. This is especially true around credit unions, where most people have limited exposure and don’t fully understand what membership-based banking looks like in practice.

How Much Are We Actually Talking About?

More than most people realize. Research puts the average somewhere between $150 and $250 per year in banking fees for Canadian account holders. (Source: WealthNorth, 2026) Premium chequing accounts can run around $30 a month, which adds up to $360 a year, to maintain access to something that’s available elsewhere for free. (Source: Savvy New Canadians, 2026)

Over ten years, that’s several thousand dollars spent on account maintenance. For someone who mostly uses their bank for transfers and bill payments, it’s a hard number to justify.

In 2024, an independent report by North Economics compared banking fees at Canada’s Big Five banks with fees charged in the UK and Australia, finding that Canadian consumers absorb substantially higher fees than people in comparable markets. (Source: BNN Bloomberg, 2024) That research got significant attention and accelerated a conversation that was already underway.

Traditional Chequing Fees vs. No-Fee Banking

Fee-based accounts charge a fixed monthly amount and bundle services: a set number of transactions, branch access, digital banking access, paper statements, sometimes perks tied to premium tiers. If you genuinely use those services, particularly teller-assisted transactions or regular branch visits, paying for the bundle can be reasonable.

No-fee chequing works differently. There’s no monthly maintenance charge, and the account is built around what most people actually do: deposits, transfers, bill payments, and routine account management. Some services may still carry one-off fees, but the core everyday functions don’t cost anything month to month.

As Innovation Federal Credit Union has demonstrated through its own no-fee model, this approach is sustainable when banking is designed around digital delivery from the start. When most interactions happen through an app rather than a branch, the underlying cost structure shifts. Some institutions pass those savings to members. Others don’t.

What Actually Matters in an Everyday Bank Account

The monthly fee is the obvious starting point for comparison, but it’s not the whole picture. The better question is whether the account actually works for how you manage money day to day.

A monthly fee can still make sense for some people. If you visit a branch regularly, need frequent teller support, or use premium features like travel insurance or credit card rebates, a traditional account may provide value. However, it’s important to look beyond the monthly fee and consider what’s included. Some accounts limit transactions or Interac e-Transfers and charge extra once you exceed those limits. For Canadians who primarily bank online, a no-fee account with unlimited transactions can often provide better value. Innovation Federal Credit Union’s No-Fee Chequing Account, for example, includes unlimited transactions and Interac e-Transfers with no monthly fee.

At a minimum, a good everyday account should handle bills, transfers, deposits, and account monitoring without adding friction. A functional mobile app isn’t a nice-to-have anymore, it’s a must. Consumers also expect clear information about what the account charges and when. Forbes’ World’s Best Banks 2026 ranking, which surveyed more than 54,000 people across 34 countries, found that trust and transparency around terms and conditions consistently ranked among the top factors consumers use to evaluate their bank. (Source: Forbes and Statista, 2026) Picking a no-monthly-fee bank account in Canada removes one variable entirely: you’re not parsing fee schedules to figure out what you owe each month.

Younger Canadians and the Fee Calculation

People who grew up with subscription culture think differently about recurring costs. They’re used to evaluating whether a service is worth what it charges, and they cancel things that aren’t. Banking fees don’t automatically get a pass just because they’re associated with something as established as a bank.

A $15 monthly fee is $180 a year. For younger Canadians managing tighter budgets in a high cost-of-living environment, that’s exactly the kind of expense getting a second look.

There’s also a values dimension that comes up more with younger account holders. Many of them are paying attention to how financial institutions operate beyond the product itself, including whether they invest in communities or whether they’re structured to prioritize shareholders. Credit unions function as member-owned cooperatives, which means profits stay within the membership and get directed back into the communities they serve rather than flowing out to external investors. For people who care about that distinction, it matters.

How to Avoid Monthly Banking Fees

The practical steps aren’t complicated. Find an account without monthly fees and move to it. But there are few things worth checking before you do.

Watch out for accounts that market themselves as low-fee but require a minimum balance of $3,000 to $6,000 to waive the monthly charge. Keeping that much money idle to avoid a fee is still a cost, just a less visible one. A genuine no-fee chequing account in Canada carries no minimum balance requirement.

Beyond that, the best no-fee options today are broadly comparable to traditional accounts on the things that matter: unlimited transactions, free Interac e-Transfer® services, mobile cheque deposits, bill payments. The gaps that existed ten years ago have largely closed.

Before making the move, review your current account to see exactly what you’re paying and whether any of those fees are tied to services you’d actually miss. Most people find they wouldn’t. Updating a direct deposit and moving a few pre-authorized payments takes a few hours at most.

If you haven’t looked at what your account is costing you, that’s a reasonable place to start. Innovation Federal Credit Union offers a no-fee chequing account in Canada with no monthly charges, no minimum balance, and unlimited everyday transactions through a fully digital platform available to Canadians outside Quebec. You can open an account at innovationcu.ca.

The Teacher a Student Never Forgets

Kivo Daily Staff on June 17, 2026

By pairing learners with expert teachers in one-to-one settings, Cicero aims to make the kind of mentorship students remember for years more accessible to modern families.

Most people can name at least one teacher who stayed with them long after a class ended.

It may have been the teacher who noticed a hidden talent, encouraged a struggling student, or sparked an interest that shaped an entire career. Years later, the details of the coursework may fade, but the relationship often remains clear. Great teachers leave an impression that extends far beyond academics.

That belief sits at the center of Cicero, a personalized learning platform founded by former journalist and entrepreneur Paul Bennett. While many conversations in education focus on curriculum, technology, or test scores, Cicero starts with a different premise. The teacher-student relationship is the heart of learning.

A Personal Search for a Better Way to Learn

Bennett’s path to education began with his family’s experience. A longtime traveler, entrepreneur, and former journalist whose work appeared in publications including National Geographic and Wired, he spent a decade sailing around the world with his family.

The adventure raised an important question. How could children receive a meaningful education while living a life untethered from a traditional classroom?

The challenge was particularly relevant for families interested in homeschooling and alternative learning models. Many wanted flexibility without sacrificing educational quality or personal guidance.

That experience eventually led Bennett to create Cicero, a public benefit corporation that connects middle- and high-school learners with private teachers for one-to-one remote learning.

Why One Teacher Can Make Such a Difference

The idea behind Cicero reflects a long-standing educational principle. Students often learn best when a teacher has the time and space to understand them as individuals.

Research on one-to-one learning, including the well-known Bloom’s 2 Sigma findings, suggests that individualized instruction can produce substantially stronger academic outcomes than conventional classroom settings. When teachers can adapt lessons to a learner’s strengths, interests, challenges, and pace, learning becomes far more personal.

For Cicero, that personalization begins with the teacher.

Rather than positioning educators as generic tutors focused on completing assignments, the platform emphasizes expert teachers who act as mentors and guides. The goal is not simply to help a learner finish a course. It is to build an educational relationship grounded in trust, curiosity, and meaningful engagement.

That distinction matters because students rarely fit an average profile. A teenager fascinated by marine biology may need a different approach than one captivated by literature, entrepreneurship, or world history. One-to-one learning allows teachers to design courses around the learner rather than asking the learner to adapt to a standardized model.

Learning Built Around Real Lives

The model has found particular appeal among families pursuing homeschooling and worldschooling lifestyles.

For parents who travel frequently, work remotely, or seek alternatives to traditional schools, flexibility is often only part of the equation.

Many are also seeking deeper educational experiences that foster intellectual curiosity and independent thinking.

Cicero’s approach reflects those priorities. Lessons take place remotely, allowing learners to connect with teachers regardless of geography, while maintaining the consistency of an ongoing mentor relationship.

For families, that relationship can provide something increasingly difficult to find in large educational settings. A teacher who truly knows the learner.

The Lasting Value of Mentorship

Educational technology continues to expand, offering new ways to access information from virtually anywhere. Yet Bennett believes the most important element of learning remains deeply human.

A great teacher can challenge assumptions, build confidence, encourage questions, and help a learner recognize abilities they may not yet see in themselves.

Those moments often become the experiences students remember most.

As Cicero grows, Bennett’s vision remains focused on making that kind of mentorship accessible to more families. The platform’s mission is rooted in a simple but enduring idea. While lessons matter, relationships are often what make learning stick for a lifetime.

Back Pain Care at ReliefNow Laser Akron

Kivo Daily Staff on June 16, 2026

By: Dr. Andrew T. Pamer, DC | ReliefNow Laser Akron | Akron, Ohio

Back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects a large majority of adults at some point in their lives. For patients in Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Barberton, Green, Stow, Hudson, Tallmadge, Fairlawn, and across Summit County, back pain is not only a physical burden. It also drives lost workdays, reduced productivity, and limitations on the active Northeast Ohio lifestyle that residents value. Common approaches such as rest, pain medication, and surgery address parts of the clinical picture, and conservative, non-surgical options are also part of the broader range of care. At ReliefNow Laser Akron, Class IV laser therapy and the Regenerative Medical Laser™ protocol are used as part of a care approach that works with the body’s own repair mechanisms.

Back pain presents along a spectrum from acute muscle strain to complex multilevel spinal degeneration. A common thread across many forms of back pain is inflammation, the body’s immune response to tissue damage, structural stress, or neurological irritation.

Dr. Andrew T. Pamer, DC, has built ReliefNow Laser Akron on a philosophy shaped by a lifetime in chiropractic: that the body has a meaningful capacity for healing when given the right support. His father’s practice in Mansfield, Ohio, and the patient-centered values he observed growing up inform an approach to back pain that focuses on the underlying drivers of a patient’s condition alongside symptom management.

How Does Back Pain Become Chronic?

Acute back pain triggers immediate local inflammation. Chronic back pain often involves central sensitization, a neurological process documented in the journal Pain in which the spinal cord and brain become increasingly reactive to pain signals over time. Once central sensitization is established, treating only the local tissue source is frequently not sufficient on its own.

Class IV laser therapy is studied for its effects on back pain through several pathways. At the tissue level, photobiomodulation has been examined in relation to pro-inflammatory cytokines, cellular repair, and local microcirculation. At the neural level, published research has examined laser therapy’s effects on C-fiber and A-delta pain fiber activity, the fiber types involved in chronic pain transmission. At ReliefNow Laser Akron, the protocol is applied as part of an individualized care plan following clinical evaluation.

What Is the Northeast Ohio Back Pain Context?

Summit County’s population carries occupational back pain patterns shaped by manufacturing, construction, and the trades, industries that account for a significant portion of the Akron metro workforce. The heavy lifting, sustained awkward postures, and cumulative loading of physical labor can contribute to the spinal conditions behind a large share of back pain presentations seen at ReliefNow Laser Akron. Ohio winters that limit outdoor activity can also reduce the movement that supports spinal health.

Practical Considerations for Back Pain

The evidence on bed rest for back pain is consistent: prolonged rest tends to worsen outcomes, and controlled, guided movement is generally preferred. Core stabilization targeting the transverse abdominis, multifidus, and pelvic floor is commonly described as an important long-term component of back pain management, typically introduced after the acute inflammatory phase has settled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is back pain something I just have to live with?

A: Not necessarily. Many patients who receive appropriate, targeted conservative care experience meaningful functional improvement. Individual results vary, and each plan is based on a clinical evaluation.

Q: How do I know if my back pain needs imaging?

A: Most acute back pain does not require immediate imaging. Dr. Pamer uses clinical examination to identify red-flag findings that may indicate a need for X-ray or MRI.

Q: How does the ReliefNow approach differ from standard physical therapy?

A: The Class IV laser component is used to address the inflammatory and cellular environment in affected tissue, which is a different mechanism than exercise-based therapy. Combined with chiropractic assessment, the approach addresses back pain on more than one level as part of a comprehensive plan.

Addressing the Source of Back Pain

For patients across Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Green, Barberton, and Summit County who have managed back pain with medications, injections, or repeated short-term therapy without lasting resolution, a comprehensive evaluation can be a useful first step toward a longer-term care plan.

Dr. Andrew T. Pamer, DC | Chiropractor | ReliefNow Laser Akron | 3485 Fortuna Dr, Suite 300, Akron OH 44312 | (330) 522-1321 | reliefnowlaser.com/providers/akron/

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before beginning any treatment program.

Why Every Author Needs a Website They Own, Not Just a Social Following

Kivo Daily Staff on June 16, 2026

Many authors build their entire audience on social media: followers on one platform, engagement on another, and visibility wherever the algorithm happens to favor them. It feels like an audience, and in a sense it is. But it is an audience built on rented land. The platform owns the relationship, controls who sees what, and can change the rules, suppress reach, or suspend an account at any time, potentially erasing years of audience-building overnight through no fault of the author.

An author website is the answer to that fragility: the one platform a writer truly owns and controls. Lumera Publishing provides author website design for writers who want a durable home base beyond social media. A professional author website can showcase books, support author branding services, grow an author email list, and help drive long-term book visibility. This article explains the risks of relying entirely on social platforms, what it means to own your audience through a website and email list, and how a well-built website for authors can showcase books, capture readers, and support sales on the ground the author actually controls.

The Risk of Building on Rented Land

Building an audience solely on social media means building on infrastructure someone else owns and governs. The platform decides how many of an author’s followers actually see each post, and that reach can shrink dramatically with a single algorithm change. Accounts can be restricted or suspended, sometimes mistakenly, cutting an author off from the audience they spent years assembling. Even when nothing goes wrong, the author never truly has a direct line to their followers. Every message passes through the platform’s filters first.

This dependence puts an author in a precarious position. The audience may be large, but it is not secure, and it is not theirs in any meaningful sense. A change in policy, a shift in the algorithm, or a problem with an account can undo enormous effort instantly. Relying entirely on rented platforms means an author’s connection to their readers is always conditional, subject to decisions made by companies whose priorities are not the author’s. That fragility is the central weakness of a social-only presence.

A Home Base You Control

A website flips that dynamic entirely. It is a home base the author owns and controls, where the rules do not change without warning, and no third party stands between the author and their readers. The author decides what it contains, how it is organized, and how readers move through it. Nothing about it can be suppressed by an algorithm or removed by a platform’s decision. It is a permanent, owned presence that anchors everything else an author does online.

This permanence and control are what make a website fundamentally different from a social profile. Social platforms are useful for reaching people and building visibility, but they work best as channels that point back to something an author actually owns. The website is that something: the stable center of an author’s online presence. Lumera Publishing designs every mobile-friendly author website to serve as that reliable home base, giving writers a foundation that does not depend on the goodwill or stability of any outside platform.

The Power of an Owned Email List

The single most valuable thing a website enables is an owned email list: a direct line to readers that no platform controls. When a reader subscribes through an author’s site, the author can reach them whenever they choose, without an algorithm deciding whether the message gets through. Unlike social followers, email subscribers belong to the author in a real sense. The connection is direct, permanent, and unmediated, and it travels with the author regardless of what happens to any social platform.

This direct line is what turns a website from a static page into a genuine audience-building tool. A reader who follows an author on social media might never see their posts again after an algorithm shift. A reader on the author’s email list can be reached reliably for years. Lumera Publishing builds sites designed to capture those subscribers, helping authors convert visitors into a list they own: the most durable and valuable connection an author can have with their readers.

A Site That Showcases, Captures, and Sells

A well-built author website does real work rather than simply existing. It showcases an author’s books, presenting them attractively and giving readers a clear sense of what is available. It captures email subscribers, turning interested visitors into a list the author can reach directly. It also drives readers toward where they can actually buy, removing friction between discovery and purchase. Each of these functions strengthens an author’s ability to reach and convert readers on their own terms.

Lumera Publishing designs sites with these purposes built in, so the website actively supports an author’s goals rather than serving as a passive online business card. The aim is a site that continuously works for the author: introducing their books, growing their list, and channeling readers toward sales. Combined with book marketing services, an author’s website becomes a practical asset that supports visibility, credibility, and sales over time.

Built for Mobile and Search

For a website to do its job, it has to work where readers actually are, which means it must be mobile-friendly and visible in search. A large share of readers will encounter an author’s site on a phone, and a site that does not display well on mobile loses them immediately. Likewise, an SEO-friendly author website can be found by readers actively looking for the author or related books, bringing in new audiences rather than only serving existing ones.

Lumera Publishing builds author sites that are clean, mobile-friendly, and structured for search visibility, so they perform well for readers who visit and help new readers discover the author over time. This technical foundation matters because an owned platform is only valuable if it actually reaches people. A site that works smoothly on every device and can be found through search extends an author’s reach while keeping that reach firmly under the author’s control.

Owning Your Audience for the Long Run

Owning your audience changes an author’s footing entirely. Instead of hoping a platform surfaces their posts, an author with a website and email list can reach readers directly whenever there is news, a new release, or a reason to connect. The website becomes the durable center of an author’s presence: a foundation that does not disappear with an algorithm change and that the author fully controls, now and for every future book.

Lumera Publishing helps authors build that foundation through professional author website design, mobile-friendly development, SEO-friendly structure, list-building features, and author branding services that support long-term visibility. Authors who want a platform they control rather than one they merely borrow can contact Lumera Publishing to discuss building a website for authors designed to own their audience for the long run.

About Lumera Publishing

Lumera Publishing is a full-service, fee-based book publishing company based in New York, USA. The company offers ghostwriting, editing, formatting, cover design, publishing, author website design, and book marketing services for authors across all genres, helping writers self-publish professionally while retaining 100% of their rights and royalties.

Learn more at lumerapublishing.com or call +1 (888) 477-8199. Media contact: info@lumerapublishing.com.

From Gold Records to Literary Mixtapes and Why Entrepreneur C.A. Victor Refuses to Stay in One Lane

Kivo Daily Staff on June 13, 2026

By: Julian Ashford

In today’s business world, people are often encouraged to specialize. Pick a lane. Stay in it. Become known for one thing.
C.A. Victor never followed that advice.

Over the past several decades, the Brooklyn-born entrepreneur has built a career spanning music production, automotive management, real estate investing, sales leadership, entrepreneurship, and now authorship. While many people spend a lifetime pursuing a single identity, Victor has embraced a different philosophy: growth often requires discovering new dimensions of yourself rather than limiting yourself to one version of who you are.

That mindset ultimately led to the creation of The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One, a literary work that blends storytelling, philosophy, poetry, personal development, and social commentary into what Victor describes as a “literary mixtape.”

But the story behind the book is really a story about entrepreneurship, adaptability, and the pursuit of purpose.

Learning Entrepreneurship Before Knowing the Word

Long before Victor owned businesses, he was learning the principles of entrepreneurship through necessity.

Growing up in Crown Heights and East Flatbush, financial stability was far from guaranteed. Food stamps, eviction notices, and periods of economic hardship were part of daily life. Looking back, he believes those experiences may have taught him lessons many entrepreneurs don’t learn until later.

“Growing up in poverty teaches you entrepreneurship early,” Victor says. “Whether it was collecting cans for money, helping neighbors with errands, or finding creative ways to earn income, many of us were making business decisions long before we understood what business was.”

That perspective would become a recurring theme throughout his career. Rather than waiting for opportunities, Victor learned to create them.

Building Success Through Adaptability

Throughout his professional life, Victor has worked across multiple industries, including automotive, insurance, real estate, entrepreneurship, and music. While many professionals struggle to transition between industries, he credits his adaptability and communication skills for allowing him to navigate different environments.

“Communication is key,” he says. “My word is my bond, and only an act of God can break it. Trust takes years to build and minutes to destroy.”

One of the more valuable lessons came from the automotive industry, where Victor spent years in sales and management.

The experience helped sharpen his understanding of human psychology.

“People are constantly negotiating, trying to work you, or trying to get over on you,” he explains. “Over time, you learn to pay attention to what people say, what they don’t say, and whether their actions match their words.”

That ability to understand people would later influence both his business ventures and his writing.

Building a Music Company and Earning a Gold Record

Before becoming an author, Victor spent fifteen years building a music production company.

What started as a passion for music evolved into a business operation involving artist development, beat production, networking, talent scouting, marketing, and business development. Victor was not only creating music, but he was also building an enterprise around creativity.

One of the defining moments of that journey came when two tracks from his company were selected by Cam’ron for the album Purple Haze.

The achievement resulted in a gold record and a career milestone that few aspiring music entrepreneurs reach.

For many people, that would have represented the finish line.
For Victor, it became something else.

A lesson.

The Difference Between Success and Fulfillment

One of the most recurring themes throughout Victor’s story is the distinction between external success and internal fulfillment.

Receiving a gold record was validating. Building businesses was rewarding. Financial success provided opportunities that were not available during childhood. Yet Victor discovered something many entrepreneurs eventually learn.

Achievement alone does not always create purpose.

“Success and fulfillment aren’t always the same thing,” he says. “The gold record gave me validation and confidence, but fulfillment comes from purpose.”

That realization began shaping how he viewed both business and life.

Rather than asking what he could achieve next, he started asking what mattered most.

Reinvention or Rediscovery?

Many entrepreneurs experience multiple chapters throughout their careers.

Victor questions whether those chapters should even be called reinvention.

“I used to say I’ve reinvented myself several times,” he says. “Now I’m not so sure.”

His view is that many people already possess multiple talents, interests, and capabilities. The challenge is not becoming someone new, but having the courage to reveal sides of yourself that others have not seen before.

“To me, it’s less about becoming someone new and more about becoming more of who you already are.”

That philosophy eventually led him back to writing.

The Entrepreneur Behind The Conscious Pugilist

Although The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One is Victor’s first published book; its structure reflects the entrepreneurial mindset that has shaped his career.

Rather than writing a traditional novel, he built an experience.

Inspired by the albums that influenced him throughout life, Victor structured the anthology the way a producer might build a record.

Each chapter has its own rhythm, mood, perspective, and voice while contributing to a larger theme.

“I don’t just want people to read my books,” he says. “I want them to experience them the way people experience a great album.”

The result is a project that combines art, philosophy, storytelling, and personal development into something intentionally difficult to categorize.

Why Purpose Matters More Than Ever

As technology accelerates and attention becomes increasingly fragmented, Victor believes people are searching for something deeper.

Not simply information.
Meaning.

“We’re living in an era of distraction, polarization, and information overload,” he says. “The book asks readers to think for themselves and examine the stories they tell themselves about who they are.”

It’s a message that resonates beyond literature.

For entrepreneurs, creators, and business leaders alike, Victor believes self-awareness may be one of the most important competitive advantages available today.

Because before building companies, careers, or brands, people must first understand themselves.

What’s Next for C.A. Victor?

Victor views The Conscious Pugilist as the beginning rather than the destination.

Future anthology volumes, visual media projects, interviews, platform development, and broader creative initiatives are already being explored. His long-term vision is to expand The Conscious Pugilist into a larger platform centered around consciousness, critical thinking, personal growth, and culture.

“The book is only the foundation,” he says. “The goal is to create a platform that encourages people to think critically, know themselves more deeply, and recognize that true power often hides in plain sight.”

For a man who has built businesses, earned industry recognition, navigated multiple careers, and now entered the literary world, the next chapter appears to be less about what he can achieve and more about what he can contribute.

And for C.A. Victor, that may be the most entrepreneurial move of all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is C.A. Victor?

C.A. Victor is a Brooklyn-born entrepreneur, former music producer, business leader, investor, and author of The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One. His career has spanned music production, automotive management, real estate investing, sales leadership, and entrepreneurship.

What is The Conscious Pugilist?

The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One is a literary anthology that combines storytelling, poetry, philosophy, symbolism, and personal development themes while exploring consciousness, awareness, culture, and self-discovery.

What is C.A. Victor known for in the music industry?

Victor spent fifteen years operating a music production company and earned a gold record after two tracks from his company were selected for Cam’ron’s album Purple Haze.

What businesses has C.A. Victor been involved in?

Throughout his career, Victor has worked in music production, automotive sales and management, insurance, entrepreneurship, and real estate investing.

Where can readers purchase The Conscious Pugilist?

The book is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle editions.

Photo Courtesy: C.A. Victor

About C.A. Victor

C.A. Victor is a Brooklyn-born entrepreneur, author, music producer, investor, and creative storyteller. Drawing from decades of experience across business, music, leadership, sales, and personal development, his work explores consciousness, culture, self-discovery, critical thinking, and the human experience. His debut literary work, The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One, serves as the foundation of a broader platform dedicated to awareness, growth, and personal transformation.

Connect With C.A. Victor

  • Website: The Conscious Pugilist Official Website
  • Instagram: @theconsciouspugilist
  • YouTube: The Conscious Pugilist
  • TikTok: @c.a..victor1
  • Book: The Conscious Pugilist Anthology Vol. One
  • Available Now: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Hardcover, Paperback, and Kindle Edition
  • Media Inquiries: victorbabb12514@gmail.com

Smart Management Is a Fully Built, Enterprise-Grade PropTech Platform For Modern Property Operations

Kivo Daily Staff on June 12, 2026

By: Jay Kt

Smart Management grew out of a pattern business executive and investor Tim Bratz had seen too often across his apartment portfolio. After a property changed hands, hidden bills surfaced, maintenance histories were missing, and teams remained busy without consistently moving renovations, occupancy, and returns in the right direction.

“Traditional property management does a lot to achieve very little,” Bratz said. “It’s all about activity and busy work instead of achieving property goals. Timelines always get bloated, costs skyrocket, and projects routinely fail.”

Bratz understood the problem from the owner’s side of the ledger. Over more than 15 years as a property owner and investor, his portfolio reached more than 6,000 units at its peak and includes more than 3,000 units today. His team spent years repositioning distressed multifamily properties and improving communities, often while navigating third-party management providers and systems that documented activity without driving results.

“We are property owners and investors first and foremost,” Bratz said. “This background has led us into software development because of the massive need in the industry.”

The result was Smart Management, a fully built, enterprise-grade property management software platform developed over four and a half years to help owners and operators manage the work that affects occupancy, revenue, expenses, and asset value.

The technology effort gained momentum when Brian Fast, an investor in several of Bratz’s properties, approached the team with a way to turn those operational problems into a scalable software solution. Fast, now CEO of Smart Management, holds a doctorate in engineering and has worked with companies including Northrop Grumman and Rockwell Automation. Bratz said Fast built a strong reputation for the impact he delivered through automation and software engineering at those organizations.

Together, Bratz and Fast built Smart Management around two sides of the same challenge: the realities of operating multifamily properties and the technology needed to make those operations more transparent, consistent, and efficient. The platform uses automation, AI tools, and built-in standard operating procedures to help owners reduce delays, control costs, and keep properties moving toward measurable financial goals.

Before introducing Smart Management to outside operators, Bratz and Fast used the platform across their own properties, testing it against real leases, residents, maintenance demands, and operating costs.

“We wanted to make sure it worked before rolling it out to our network contacts,” Bratz said.

That early, hands-on testing shaped how Smart Management prepared the platform for outside operators. Bratz said the process reinforced the company’s goal of moving owners beyond tracking activity and giving them a system built to improve property performance.

Smart Management Software Is One Platform for Leasing and Property Operations

Smart Management brings the daily work of operating a rental portfolio into one system, from attracting prospective residents to tracking the condition of assets across a property. Its leasing and operations tools are designed to help teams move faster, reduce missed steps, and keep critical information from disappearing between employees, vendors, and ownership groups.

“Smart Management provides all the same basic functions to provide the best customer service to residents while also focusing on the ownership goals of driving occupancy and revenue through smart automation, AI co-pilots, and built-in SOPs to maximize the production of the asset as well,” Bratz shared.

In leasing, the platform manages applications, vacancy tracking, advertising, active leases, and property websites. Its AI leasing agent can respond to incoming showing requests, book appointments, send confirmations, and follow up with prospective residents, even when the leasing office is closed.

Once a resident moves in, Smart Management helps teams track the work required to operate the property. Task management, property to-do lists, activity logs, calendar views, and visual asset navigation allow operators to see what work is underway, who is responsible, and what has been completed.

The platform also creates a clearer record of the physical property itself. With AI Detail Creation, staff members can photograph an asset, identify it, label it, and create a maintenance record. That documentation can follow equipment throughout its lifespan, giving owners a record of repairs, warranties, and maintenance history that may become valuable during a refinance or sale.

Turning Operational Data Into Stronger Financial Performance

Smart Management was also built to connect daily property operations to the financial results owners ultimately measure. Its finance tools, including Smart Metrics, expense tracking, accounting, and bill pay, are designed to help operators understand economic occupancy, identify problems earlier, and see how operational decisions affect net operating income and property value.

The platform allows owners to build their systems directly into the software through standard operating procedure templates, email templates, team access controls, communication tools, AI functions, and automations. Rather than relying on employees to remember every step of a process, owners can establish repeatable workflows across properties and teams.

Other property management systems, Bratz said, may provide a place to store information. Smart Management was created to prompt action.

“No one needs to remember what to do and when to do it,” Bratz said. “The software pushes bodies where they need to be in order to do what needs to be done.”

The platform is also available through a mobile app, allowing staff members and residents to manage tasks, communications, and property needs from their phones while work is happening in the field.

For Bratz, that distinction is central to the company’s purpose. Smart Management is not designed simply to organize rental portfolios. It is designed to help owners run them with clearer information, stronger accountability, and systems built to improve performance.

A Faster Path From Portfolio Data to Daily Operations

Building a platform that works inside one portfolio was only part of the challenge. Smart Management was also designed to help outside owners bring their properties into the system without losing days to manual data entry and complicated transitions.

“We’ve designed Smart Management to make onboarding as simple as possible, having worked with most of the other software providers,” Bratz said. “We’ve been able to take the data entry down from several days with competitors to a few minutes by designing Smart Management around report uploads to get the information in seamlessly.”

Bratz said customers will receive a dedicated specialist during setup and training, followed by a customer service manager who remains a point of contact as the portfolio operates through the platform. Support workloads will be capped, he said, to protect service quality as the company grows.

That transition process is central to Smart Management’s larger pitch. Owners are not simply purchasing another software subscription. They are moving operational data, leasing activity, maintenance records, and financial visibility into one system designed to help teams act on information more quickly.

Smart Management Is Built for a Market Where Every Delay Costs More

Smart Management is not a new platform. Co-founders Tim Bratz and Brian Fast spent nearly five years developing and testing the software before preparing it for the broader market. That timing matters as apartment owners face mounting operating costs with limited ability to offset those expenses through rent growth.

CBRE reported that average U.S. multifamily rent increased just 0.2% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, while multifamily investment volume declined 6%. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported that national rent growth hovered near zero from mid-2023 into 2025, with asking rents for professionally managed apartments declining 0.6% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The pressure is significant for owners. When rent growth is nearly flat, extended vacancies, delayed renovations, missed renewals, and poorly tracked expenses can cut directly into net operating income and property value.

“It has never been more important to find simple, automated ways to reduce expenses and increase income without the strain of massive added effort,” Bratz said.

The company plans to expand the platform with investor and vendor management portals, reputation management tools, construction management capabilities, employee location features, and enhanced digital documentation for properties.

Bratz said the long-term vision is to serve owners, operators, investors, and lenders through technology that makes property operations more transparent, efficient, and accountable.

“Our goal is to get to the point where we can make our software usage totally free in order to positively impact the most users for the greatest good,” Bratz said.

What Is Revenue-Based Financing and Is It Right for Your Business

Kivo Daily Staff on June 11, 2026

Revenue-based financing has emerged as a flexible capital structure available to small business owners. Its defining feature, repayment that adjusts automatically to actual performance, makes it fundamentally different from every fixed payment product in the market.

Revenue-based financing occupies a unique position in the small business lending landscape. It is not a loan in the traditional sense, because there is no fixed interest rate and no set repayment term. It is not equity financing, because no ownership stake is transferred. It is a capital advance against future revenue, repaid as a percentage of that revenue as it arrives, creating a repayment obligation that rises with performance and compresses when performance softens.

For business owners who have spent years navigating the mismatch between fixed monthly loan payments and the variable, seasonal reality of business revenue, this structure represents a genuinely different relationship with a capital provider. Understanding how it works, what it costs, and which businesses it serves best is the foundation for evaluating whether it belongs in your capital strategy.

How Revenue-Based Financing Works

In a revenue-based financing arrangement, a direct lender advances a lump sum to the business. In exchange, the business agrees to remit a fixed percentage of its daily or weekly revenue to the lender until a defined total repayment amount is reached. The total repayment is typically expressed as a factor rate rather than an interest rate: a factor of 1.20 means the business repays $1.20 for every dollar advanced.

The daily or weekly percentage is applied to actual revenue, not to the original advance amount. A strong week produces a larger payment. A slow week produces a proportionally smaller one. The total repayment amount does not change, but the timeline for reaching it extends or contracts based on actual performance. This is the core feature that distinguishes revenue-based financing from any fixed payment product.

Because repayment is tied directly to revenue, there is no fixed maturity date. The facility is repaid when the total payment amount is reached, which could happen faster than projected if revenue is strong or slower if revenue softens. Most lenders provide a projected repayment window at the time of the advance based on historical revenue patterns, but this is an estimate rather than a contractual deadline.

Which Businesses Benefit Most

The structural advantage of revenue-based financing becomes most apparent during predictable slow periods: the business pays proportionally less precisely when its cash flow is under the most pressure, and proportionally more when performance is strong and the repayment capacity is greatest. This automatic adjustment eliminates the manual effort of managing a payment modification request with a conventional lender and removes the credit risk event that a missed or reduced payment would create under a fixed payment structure.

Revenue-based financing is most valuable for businesses with strong but variable revenue patterns: seasonal businesses where monthly revenue swings significantly between peak and off-peak periods, businesses in growth phases where revenue is increasing but the trajectory is uncertain, and businesses with cyclical client activity where revenue comes in waves rather than steady monthly streams.

For these businesses, a fixed monthly loan payment creates a structural problem: during slow periods, the fixed payment consumes a disproportionately high share of available cash flow, creating working capital stress at exactly the wrong moment. Revenue-based financing eliminates that problem by design. Fundivi offers revenue-based financing with same-day underwriting decisions, no collateral requirement, and no personal guarantee, making it one of the most accessible capital structures in the market for qualifying businesses. See if revenue-based financing is right for your business and receive a same-day decision based on your current revenue performance.

How Revenue-Based Financing Is Priced

Revenue-based financing is priced using a factor rate rather than an annual percentage rate. A factor rate of 1.20 to 1.50 means the business repays between $1.20 and $1.50 for every dollar advanced. On a $100,000 advance at a 1.30 factor, the total repayment is $130,000, regardless of how long it takes to repay.

The factor rate model makes cost evaluation different from traditional loans. Because there is no fixed repayment term, the effective annualized cost depends on how quickly the advance is repaid. A business that repays in six months has a higher effective annual rate than one repaying in twelve months, even though both pay the same total dollar amount. The relevant metric is the total dollar cost relative to the business value generated by having the capital, not an annualized rate comparison to a fixed-term product with a different structure.

What Lenders Evaluate for Approval

Revenue-based financing lenders evaluate businesses primarily on the quality and consistency of their revenue performance. Monthly revenue volume, revenue consistency over the past three to six months, bank account activity patterns, and time in business are the primary inputs. Because repayment is tied directly to revenue, the lender’s primary risk is revenue volatility, and businesses with the most consistent revenue profiles generally receive the most favorable factor rates.

Credit scores are evaluated but carry less weight than in traditional lending. A business with a 580 personal credit score but consistent $80,000 monthly revenue and clean bank account activity is a strong candidate through a direct lender, even though the same profile would face challenges with traditional bank products.

Is Revenue-Based Financing Right for Your Business

Revenue-based financing is the right tool when revenue is real and consistent but variable enough that fixed payments create cash flow friction. It is not the right tool for businesses with very low revenue relative to their capital needs, businesses where the repayment percentage would consume an uncomfortably high share of daily revenue, or businesses with revenue so irregular that projecting any repayment timeline is unreliable. Business Loans IQ provides independent analysis of revenue-based financing alongside alternative structures, helping business owners evaluate whether the product genuinely fits their revenue profile before applying. Compare revenue-based financing options independently here and understand the full cost and structure before making a decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is revenue-based financing different from a merchant cash advance?

Both advance capital repaid as a percentage of future revenue using factor rate pricing. The key differences are in the revenue source used for repayment, pricing transparency, and lender practices. Traditional merchant cash advances tied repayment to card processing volume. Revenue-based financing uses broader bank account deposits. Revenue-based financing from reputable direct lenders also tends to have more transparent pricing and clearer repayment terms than traditional merchant cash advances, which historically carried criticism for opacity.

What percentage of my daily revenue goes to repayment?

The holdback percentage typically ranges from 5 to 20 percent, depending on the lender, advance amount, revenue level, and agreed factor rate. It is set at the time of the advance and does not change. What changes is the dollar amount of each payment, which moves up or down with actual daily revenue. A business generating $5,000 on a strong day with a 10 percent holdback pays $500. On a $2,000 day, the same rate generates a $200 payment.

Can I pay off revenue-based financing early?

Yes. Most arrangements allow early repayment. Because the total repayment amount is fixed as a factor of the advance, paying off early means reaching that total sooner, which effectively reduces the annualized cost of the capital. Some lenders offer early payment discounts that reduce the total amount if the balance is cleared within a specified period. Early repayment terms should be clarified at the time of the advance, before the agreement is signed.

What happens if my revenue drops significantly after taking a revenue-based advance?

A revenue drop automatically reduces the daily or weekly payment amount proportionally. The total repayment obligation does not decrease, but the timeline extends automatically to accommodate lower revenue. This means the business is not forced into a liquidity crisis by a fixed payment during revenue stress, which is the scenario fixed payment products create. If revenue drops severely and persistently, the extended repayment timeline means the cost of the capital increases over time, which is worth considering when evaluating the product for situations with meaningful revenue downside risk.

Does revenue-based financing affect my ability to get other business loans?

Existing revenue-based financing obligations are considered in debt service coverage evaluations by other lenders. The daily holdback percentage reduces the business’s net cash flow, which affects how much additional debt service the business can support. For businesses considering multiple financing products simultaneously, evaluating the combined impact of all repayment obligations on available cash flow is more important than evaluating each product in isolation.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, legal, tax, or business advice. Revenue-based financing terms, factor rates, holdback percentages, repayment timelines, approval requirements, fees, and funding availability may vary by lender, business profile, revenue history, credit history, industry, location, and market conditions. Business owners should carefully review all financing agreements and consult a qualified financial, legal, or tax professional before deciding whether revenue-based financing is appropriate for their business.

Michelle A. Hardwick Wants Partners Left Out of the Menopause Conversation to Feel Hope When They Close Her Book

Kivo Daily Staff on June 10, 2026

By: Andrea Rocchino

Here is something nobody talks about enough. When a woman goes through menopause, her partner goes through something too. Not the same thing. Not even close to the same thing. But something real, something disorienting, and something that has remained largely unspoken and unaddressed in the wider conversation.

Michelle A. Hardwick noticed that gap from the inside. A practitioner with more than two decades of experience, she has walked alongside people through life’s most defining transitions. With roots in North Wales, half Swiss (her mother was born in Zurich), and now living in County Cork, Ireland, with her husband John, she brings a perspective drawn from three countries, three cultures, and a marriage that has shaped everything she now brings to this work. She lived through a decade of menopause. And she never once turned to her husband and asked how he was coping with it all, not because she didn’t care, but because she was consumed by the intense and ever-changing journey of navigating menopause alone. That honest, uncomfortable admission is the foundation of everything Menopause Wingman is built on, and it’s also why the book hits differently than much of what has been written on this subject.

The Human Experience Underneath the Cultural Differences

Michelle A. Hardwick gathered voices from men across multiple countries to build the foundation of this book. What she expected to find were differences. What she found instead was a striking sameness at the emotional core of every story, regardless of where the man lived, what language he spoke, or what cultural framework shaped how he talked about relationships.

The confusion was universal. The desperate wanting to help without knowing how. The fear of saying the wrong thing. The quiet suffering that had nowhere to go. How men expressed those experiences varied enormously depending on where they came from. In some cultures, admitting confusion or vulnerability felt like a kind of failure. In others, men were almost relieved to be asked. But strip away the cultural expression, and the human experience underneath was almost identical across all of them.

She understood that no single book can speak to every culture, so she anchored the book in something that needs no translation: the desire to show up for the person you love.

Because underneath every cultural difference she encountered was the same essential truth, that he loved her and didn’t want to get it wrong.

What Employers Are Missing

The workplace conversation around menopause has been growing, and Michelle A. Hardwick thinks that’s genuinely worth celebrating. But there’s a piece that’s consistently missing from it, and she’s direct about what it is.

When a relationship is struggling at home, it doesn’t stay there when she walks through the workplace door in the morning. It comes with her. Concentration suffers. Emotional resilience takes a hit. Energy depletes. Brain fog clouds the simplest decisions. Hot flushes disrupt confidence at the most unexpected moments. Anxiety arrives quietly and stays.

The ripple effect of an unsupported partnership shows up in performance, in presence, in all the quiet ways a person is or isn’t fully at work.

Supporting partners through this transition isn’t a soft or optional add-on to workplace wellness. It has a real return for the employee, for the partner, and for the organization. Including resources like Menopause Wingman in workplace libraries and wellness programs, extending mindfulness and emotional support to women and their partners, treating this as the next natural step in the evolution of family-centered benefits, these aren’t radical ideas. They’re logical ones.

Michelle A. Hardwick points to what’s already been achieved in Ireland, where Loretta Dignam, Founder of The Menopause Hub, Forbes Top 50 Over 50 honouree, and Ireland’s leading menopause advocate, was instrumental in making HRT available free of charge to all women, as evidence of what becomes possible when people champion something with enough persistence. Menopause, she says, is the next step in that same evolution.

What the Men Who Didn’t Make It Through Had in Common

One of the more saddening things Michelle A. Hardwick encountered while gathering and collating the honest voices of men for the book was the men whose relationships hadn’t survived menopause. Some were angry. Some were full of regret. Some were broken by years of loving someone through something nobody had ever prepared them for.

But one thing most of them mentioned, across every culture and every circumstance, was that they could have benefited from knowing more before it started. Not the clinical details. The emotional reality. What was actually happening, why it was happening, and what they could do with that information, as well as the practical guidance and signposts for how to help and support.

The absence of that knowledge had cost some of them everything.

That’s the urgency Michelle A. Hardwick brings to this work. Not alarm, but clarity. The tools exist. The right conversation has simply never reached the right people. Until now.

What She Wants Partners to Feel on the Last Page

When Michelle A. Hardwick talks about what she hopes a partner feels when they close the book, she doesn’t reach for a complicated answer. She reaches for one word first.

Hope.

Hope that they are not alone. That other men have navigated this and come through it. That mistakes can be made and repaired. That, with the right information and a willingness to keep showing up, the relationship doesn’t have to fracture. It can actually deepen into something more honest, more authentic, and more solid than what existed before menopause arrived.

She also wants them to feel unburdened. The book is full of suggestions, but it isn’t a checklist with a grade at the end. She describes the chapters as stepping stones. Try one of the suggestions in the book. If that doesn’t work, try another. You don’t have to get it all right at once. You just have to begin.

The Legacy She’s Working Toward

The audiobook is in production, and Michelle A. Hardwick’s husband, John, is narrating the men’s voices and their experiences alongside hers. That detail matters to her. She believes hearing a real man speak honestly and from the heart about this will reach people in ways that words on a page sometimes can’t.

Alongside the book and the audiobook, Michelle A. Hardwick works 1:1 with women navigating the emotional complexity of menopause, the anxiety, panic, fear, and overwhelm that can arise during this profound life transition, as well as with partners who want to show up more fully for the person they love. For those seeking that deeper support, she can be reached through MenopauseWingman.com.

Beyond that, she’s building workshops, programs, and spaces where men can ask the questions they’ve been too unsure or too proud to raise anywhere else.

The legacy she’s working toward is simple to describe, and every conversation, every couple, every partner who picks up this book is already part of it.

She’s not waiting for someone else to make that happen.

Menopause Wingman: The Emotional Handbook for Partners by Michelle A. Hardwick is available now on Amazon and soon as an audiobook at MenopauseWingman.com. Because no woman should face this alone, and no partner should either.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical, therapeutic, or relationship advice. Readers should consult a qualified healthcare professional or licensed practitioner for guidance related to menopause, mental health, intimacy, or relationship concerns.

Who Pays for the Grid of the Future? Emily Sanford Fisher on Infrastructure Investment, Load Growth, and Grid Modernization

Kivo Daily Staff on June 9, 2026

By: Matt Emma

After nearly two decades of relatively flat electricity demand, the U.S. power grid is entering a new era of load growth driven by data centers, electrification, and industrial expansion. Energy Strategist Emily Sanford Fisher says meeting that demand will require substantial investment in transmission, distribution, storage, and grid modernization infrastructure, raising questions for utilities, regulators, large electricity users, businesses, and residential customers about who should pay for these upgrades.

The Debate Over Who Should Pay for the Future Grid

Historically, the costs of grid infrastructure were broadly shared across residential, commercial, and industrial customers because transmission and distribution systems were designed to support reliability across the broader electric network. It made sense to share the costs of infrastructure that served everyone.

However, some of the largest infrastructure investments now being planned are increasingly tied to concentrated load growth from hyperscale data centers, advanced manufacturing facilities, electrification, and industrial expansion.

“In some regions, utilities are receiving individual load requests from data center developers measuring in the hundreds of megawatts or even gigawatts, levels of demand historically associated with large metropolitan areas or major industrial corridors,” explained Emily Sanford Fisher.

As a result, regulators and utilities are increasingly evaluating how much of those costs should be borne by the customers driving the need for the infrastructure rather than shared more broadly across other utility customers. “This, too, however, is a well-understood principle of electricity rates: the entity that ’causes’ the costs pays,” said Sanford Fisher.

“The electric system has historically been planned around shared system benefits and long-term infrastructure investment,” said Sanford Fisher. “But as load growth becomes larger, more concentrated, and more geographically uneven, cost allocation questions become significantly more complicated. It is reasonable to have those who are driving increased costs, particularly for infrastructure that is not broadly useful, to pay more.”

Why Some Grid Costs Are Still Broadly Shared

Many transmission and grid infrastructure projects provide operational and reliability benefits across broader utility systems and regions. Large transmission upgrades can improve regional reliability, reduce congestion, strengthen resilience, support future electricity demand, and improve overall system flexibility across multiple states and utility territories.

According to Emily Sanford Fisher, “Large infrastructure projects, like new or expanded transmission lines, can benefit the larger electric grid, beyond those areas that are most geographically proximate.”

Even when a project is initially driven by a large new electricity user, portions of this expanded infrastructure may also provide system-wide operational and economic benefits, arguing for cost allocation beyond the new user.

“The interconnected nature of the grid is one of its biggest assets, allowing us to better share resources, support reliability, and lower costs for all customers. So, new infrastructure, even when intended to solve a specific grid challenge or for a specific customer, can contribute to reliability and resilience and reduce grid congestion that drives up costs for everyone. These are good outcomes for everyone,” continued Sanford Fisher.

While this can make cost allocation significantly more complex than traditional utility investments confined to a single service territory, “it makes sense to share costs when there are broad benefits,” said Sanford Fisher. “The real challenge is measuring these benefits and then using this to figure out who should pay what.”

Transmission Expansion Creates Additional Cost Challenges

Over the last decade, transmission development has become one of the largest infrastructure and cost challenges facing the electric sector. Large-scale transmission projects require substantial long-term capital investment not only because the infrastructure itself is capital-intensive, but also because large projects frequently cross multiple jurisdictions, require extensive permitting and environmental review processes, and must be planned years in advance of expected demand growth.

New generation resources and electricity demand growth are moving faster than transmission permitting and construction timelines, increasing pressure on existing infrastructure, transmission planning, and interconnection processes.

At the same time, utilities and regional grid operators are trying to expand systems originally designed around different generation patterns and slower load growth conditions.

“This is why there has been such a focus on siting and permitting reform and speeding up the new generation interconnection queue in the last five years. This might seem bureaucratic, but figuring out how to build new things faster actually would reduce costs for everyone, which would make the cost allocation discussions easier,” said Emily Sanford Fisher.

How Utilities and Regulators Are Determining Who Pays for Grid Expansion

Utilities, regulators, and grid operators are responding to increasing infrastructure costs through a combination of long-term transmission planning studies, interconnection analyses, utility rate cases, and large-load service agreements designed to determine what infrastructure is needed, how much it will cost, how quickly it must be built, and how those costs should be allocated.

When very large electricity users such as hyperscale data centers or advanced manufacturing facilities request service, utilities and regional grid operators typically conduct extensive engineering and transmission studies to evaluate whether existing infrastructure can support the new demand or whether new substations, transmission lines, generation resources, or local distribution upgrades are required. “

These studies and this caution are essential,” said Sanford Fisher. “The reliability of the energy grid requires that we keep supply and demand in balance at all times. This means that sometimes adding a new generation means expanding the transmission system to accommodate it. Adding new resources to the grid is a good thing if it helps us meet growing demand, but it can create challenges if not done thoughtfully or with respect for the laws of physics. These studies tell us whether a generator or new user requires that we invest in system upgrades to preserve reliability for everyone.”

At the regional level, grid operators such as PJM are conducting long-term transmission planning processes to identify infrastructure upgrades needed to maintain reliability and accommodate projected demand growth across multiple states and utility territories.

These studies can take years to complete and frequently involve debates over project scope, cost allocation, permitting timelines, and regional system benefits. “But, they are required to understand the costs and benefits of new infrastructure,” said Emily Sanford Fisher.

Beyond engineering, to address costs and concerns about energy affordability, utilities are looking to negotiate specialized service agreements and tariffs with large customers that may include upfront infrastructure contributions, minimum usage commitments, or customer-specific cost recovery structures intended to reduce the risk of broader cost shifting onto existing utility customers.

“These tools can help manage costs for all customers,” said Sanford Fisher. “Some of these are existing tools, and some of these are new twists on these tools, but they can all work to ensure that those who cause costs and those who benefit help pay for new infrastructure.”

Who Will Ultimately Pay for the Grid of the Future?

The future grid will likely still be paid for primarily through regulated utility frameworks and customer electricity rates, but the debate is increasingly about how much of those costs should remain broadly socialized versus directly assigned to the large customers driving the need for new infrastructure.

“The central question should not be whether grid investment is necessary,” Sanford Fisher explained. “It is. But the challenge is determining how to allocate those costs fairly while expanding the electric system to support larger concentrated loads, increasing electrification, and continued electricity demand growth. A mix of both old and newer regulatory tools is helping regulators, utilities, and their customers navigate this new normal.”

About Emily Sanford Fisher

Emily Sanford Fisher is the Founder of Enodia Energy, where she advises utilities, regulators, industry groups, and nonprofits on electricity market design, regulatory policy, transmission expansion, and clean energy strategy. She previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at the Smart Electric Power Alliance and as Executive Vice President, Clean Energy, and General Counsel at the Edison Electric Institute.

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