Growing up in a world where the Internet, social media, and smartphones are all they know, Millennials have essentially changed the world for good, pushing companies to be more accountable and questioning previous processes. A prime example is their unique takes on money and finances, which can be of great benefit from all generations that can empower themselves through technology to have a better financial life in both their personal and professional dealings.
Millennials tend to be more frugal and less interested in buying cars and homes, choosing to spend and save their money differently than other generations. This includes how they use credit and their perspective on investments, learning from the financial crises that their parents experienced.
Here are some ways you can use technology to have a better financial life whether you are a Millennial or not:
- Consider dropping that traditional big bank with its unnecessary fees for something with more service, lower costs, and faster transactions. For example, Koho Financial offers a no-fee mobile and Web account as well as prepaid Visa card to manage financial lives. You can do everything you usually do with your normal bank account, including direct deposit, bill pay, ATM, and e-transfer but without those pesky fees. Not a bank, which would hold the funds and then charge you for it, Koho is a fintech company that empowers users to take complete control of their money.
- Leverage available apps that help you create a budget that’s easy to use so you become more accountable for how you spend money. Apps like PocketGuard and You Need a Budget can help you stop the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck so you get ahead and understand how to manage your money more effectively. Staying on budget yields greater savings to take care of those unexpected situations as well as prepare you for retirement and bigger purchases. Over time, you will realize that using a budget is actually helping you create new money habits that improve your financial life on so many levels.
- Save and invest more with apps that turn that loose change into something significant over time. Those quarters and dimes are only gathering dust in that big jar in your closet. Instead, fintech companies have created apps that let you apply that loose change to savings accounts and even an investment portfolio. Some great examples include Robinhood and Stash for investing as well as Acorns and Digit for savings and investments.
- Dive into the benefits of the sharing, or peer-to-peer, economy, which is now helping everyone to become wiser about money by creating new types of revenue streams like Uber did for our cars and Airbnb has done for homes. Additionally, we can now do the same with financial decisions and actions in our life thanks to technology that is providing a more flexible way to split bills in restaurants rather than picking up the entire tab and waiting for everyone to pay you back later. The peer-to-peer platforms are also changing how to borrow money in order to go back to the first point where large financial institutions can just be left out of the picture.
- Take advantage of all the ways to save on everything in your life. Technology has opened the door to savings on all types of purchases, including browser extensions like Honey that find coupons and deals on what you add to your shopping cart from different sites. Then, if you are buying a home, you can consider companies like Redfin that let you work with realtors in an online format that saves you considerably on the commissions you payout at closing on a home. It’s like the Internet has become one massive coupon book with technology delivering all types of discounts so you really get the most out of your financial life possible.
With these easy-to-use apps and online tools, there’s no excuse for not enjoying a healthy financial life that balances spending with saving and investing while saving money, increasing cash flow, and understanding how to best leverage its power. If Millennials have taught us anything it’s that technology offers an incredible benefit beyond just convenience; it gives us more control over the most important aspects of our businesses and lives.
