Managing money was my career for more than thirty years. I started managing money when I was seven (7) years old! Ā I earned my first few dollars with a business and needed to make some decisions. I made them the old fashioned way, I asked my mother. Small, but great network! Technology provides so much more information and all I have to do is access it. How do you use technology to manage your money?
Banking
During college, I earned money through summer work and managed it by writing a check each week. I had to cash the check so I could have spending money for lifeās necessities such laundry, haircuts, Sunday night supper, dating and spending money. Credit cards were not available to seven-teen old college students.
Nearly fifty years later, everything changed! I very rarely write checks or need cash to pay for something. I use credit cards almost exclusively and when I need cash I can use an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) 24/7. I pay all my bills online and even set up automatic payments for certain vendors using my credit card.
Although banking relationships are important, I rarely go into the branch. I can apply for loans online, get electronic bill (e-bill) notices, schedule payments and even go paperless. Has this changed the way I manage money? You betcha! I can control my expenses in a variety of ways. I can check my various statements daily if I want online.
It is now a mobile world and I can perform all these tasks via a smartphone. More importantly, I can compare prices of banking services such as loans, banking services and savings rates. There is so much information on the Internet all I have to do is ask the right question to access it. I used online information to buy a car recently and even beat a car brokerās price by eight hundred ($800) dollars!
Investing
Part of managing money is investing!Ā There are a lot of investing resources such stock brokers, investment research, rating services, investment companies and so much more. I use online information to help me make investment decisions. Beside all the information there are tools to compare your choices.
Instead of getting information from a stock broker (sales person) who has a vested interest in the results, you can get objective information. Next you can make use an online discount stock broker and save some money too. As you become more comfortable with the information, you will use it more often to make investing decisions.
In the last two months, I have researched four investment choices and executed them online. In the interest of full disclosure, you still need to do your home work. Not all my investments worked out well! Three out of four investments did very well, one did not. I invested various amounts and my one miss was a very small investment.
There is a great deal of information online. Having access to all this information is great, but you have to look for the right information. How do you find the right information? You start by searching for the best performing mutual funds or other historical performance.Ā Investors can also take advantage of online wealth management services like Personal Capital or Mint.
Final thoughts
There is so much technology all around us! You can use online budgeting, banking, investing and so much more to make managing money much easier. We are in a mobile world where everything is made easier through technology. In the interest of full disclosure, you still need to get personal finance skills to get more from technology. How are you managing money?
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