Cash Is King

“Cash is King” is a snarky way of commenting on a tough economy and/or business deal where there are few interested parties.

That is, you can own 34 percent of whatever.com, but nobody wants to take the shares of it for much of...well, anything. You go to the car dealer asking to pay for that Beemer with 1,200 shares of whatever.com (yes, it's a private company), with no liquid way to turn it into cash. So you and the car salesman just stare at each other. Had you cash, you'd be able to actually have a productive, salesy conversation, and maybe make a deal happen.

Cash talks. Cash walks. In essence, cash is the most important finance tool. For the most part, this reflects that cash is immediately accessible, and has no interest attached. There is no loan with tedious requirements to satisfy either.