The current recession is adding to the burden of all professionals. We need to communicate more with our clients and their other advisors. Attorneys, accountants, bankers, financial planners, insurance agents; all of us have more to do just to stay even. This means even more time in the office and more work at home, right?

Wrong. As I write this, I am fishing in Eastern Canada (over 3000 miles from my office). If I need to review a client's trust, check a tax return, securely communicate with a client or the client's advisors; no problem. I am in touch with my office and have direct access to client information no matter where I am. As one of our licensees said: "FamilyOfficeNetwork is more than a valuable tool, it has become our online satellite office and contains 200+ clients currently... I call it the "beach project," it allows me to conduct business from any beach with internet access." Beach or river, you can be more effective anywhere in the world. The tools are out there to make us all more efficient, it's just a matter of us implementing them correctly.