Using Tech to Stay on Track

Using Tech to Stay on Track
presented by Sharon Duncan, a Houston Financial Advisor

The New Year is symbolic in many respects. It gives you a chance to start fresh and set some goals that can improve your life in ways large and small. But if you’re like many people, familiar resolutions like “lose weight” or “go to the gym” slowly fade into darkness by mid-February, leaving you feeling disappointed in yourself.

This year, why not try focusing on a different aspect of your life—your finances? Instead of vowing to slim down, you can work on fattening your wallet with some tech-related resolutions. (And they’re probably more sustainable than waking up at 5:00 A.M. to hit the gym before work!)

Making your finances a priority in 2017

Being aware of your finances, staying on budget, and spending less are easy resolutions to adopt. All you have to do is say these three phrases out loud: “I am going to be more cognizant of my finances this year,” “I am going to be extremely frugal this year,” and finally, “I am not going to spend as much as I did last year.” That’s it—you’re done with your New Year’s resolutions.

Only kidding! Simply making these resolutions and hoping for the best isn’t going to work. You need to take a more tactical approach to bettering your finances. Fortunately, a number of smartphone apps and other tech tools are available to help you be more disciplined in your budgeting and spending, turning those resolutions into worthwhile, maintainable habits.

There’s an app for that!
Mint. One of the first budgeting apps available was Mint—a program that allows you to see all of your accounts in one place. By creating a log of your purchases, the app helps you keep track of your spending. After building up a large enough sample size of your purchases and transactions, Mint will even start categorizing them automatically. The app will alert you when bills are due and if any fees have been assessed on your linked accounts. In addition, Mint monitors your credit card balance relative to your spending limits, and it will warn you if any balances exceed a certain threshold of available credit.

Digit. Would you like to be better about putting money into your savings account on a regular basis? If so, then Digit could be the tech solution for you. This service, which also includes an app, monitors your spending patterns via your checking account to calculate a suitable amount to transfer to savings. You also have the option of manually adding money to your savings account by initiating transfer requests. Plus, as a Digit user, you’ll receive weekly reports via text message to keep you abreast of your current balances.

Prosper Daily. Given the growing threat of cybercrime, you may be worried about protecting your identity and making sure no one else has access to your hard-earned money. Prosper Daily helps deter scammers, targeting activity that doesn’t seem quite right on your linked accounts. It can even track your GPS location to see if your cards are being used elsewhere. For instance, if your card is used and it doesn’t match up to your current location, you’ll receive an alert via the app to notify you of this discrepancy. Then, you can dispute the charge right from your phone. To provide even more protection, it also performs regular “black market surveillance”—scanning websites and hacker forums to ensure that your personal information is not being traded, bought, or sold.

Mint Bills. If you need help keeping track of when bills are due during the course of the month, this app is for you. With Mint Bills, you can see all of your account balances, transactions, and the due dates of certain bills. It allows you to view your bills (e.g., credit card, insurance, and utilities) in one centralized place, includes a reminder system to help you avoid late fees, and lets you pay bills directly from the app.

Toshl. Skeptical of linking your whole world to your smartphone? More of a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to budgeting and spending? If you’re not comfortable uploading all of your information and account numbers to the digital world, Toshl may be the right fit for you. The app allows you to manually enter and categorize transactions as you see fit. It will also notify you when bills are due, analyze trends based on your past spending habits, and allow you to easily export your data to an Excel or PDF file.

Cheers to better financial fitness
In this day and age, using technology to your advantage is a must. With the help of your Houston financial advisor and these apps that are available right at your fingertips, you can ensure that you stick to your spending and budgeting resolutions. Here’s to greater financial knowledge, organization, and prosperity in the New Year!

Houston Financial Advisor Discusses Windfalls

Unexpected Wealth Brings Unexpected Challenges, presented by Sharon Duncan

Interestingly, the word windfall comes from an 18th-century law that allowed settlers to build only with wood blown to the ground by the wind. Wood that was actually cut down became the property of the English monarchy so settlers looked forward to strong winds that allowed them to gather fallen trees and build stronger homes.

“Today, a windfall can still provide similar opportunities for the future,” says Sharon Duncan, a Houston-based financial advisor. “Whether your windfall comes from a marriage, divorce, sale of business, insurance settlement, inheritance, company stock options or even a lottery win, newfound wealth can bring major changes your way.”

The right guidance makes the world of difference for the emotional and financial success of recipients with new wealth. Without a plan, it’s possible that the recipient may find themselves in worse financial shape than before the windfall.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach that will solve all the issues that new wealth delivers. However, Sharon suggests that there are several shared principles to keep in mind:

Understand your family dynamics

Family plays such an important role in your happiness, windfall or not. The way a family interacts and functions together relative to emotions, communication, and each member’s role are all part of that happiness and bond. “Listen to what your family says about the changes and work together to address their concerns,” says Sharon.

Partner with the right professionals

Advisors who are experienced in dealing with the emotional side of finances help bridge the often stressful transition for clients. “As a financial advisor in a city the size of Houston, I have seen clients suddenly come into vast amounts of money,” says Sharon. “When this happens, we quickly create a process to help keep stress in check so that our client can focus on the big picture and their personal goals.”

Risk aversion

Whether you’re a seasoned investor or not, you’ll need to come to terms with risk—namely, with how much risk you are willing to take with your recent wealth. “It’s natural to feel risk-averse when it comes to wealth, which, if you’re not careful, can cause you to delay taking any action at all,” says Sharon. 

Preserve wealth for the long term

You may wish to pass your wealth on to the next generation—and the one after that. “You should be aware though that sometimes wealth transfer plans go awry because of problems with

financial planning, taxes, or legal issues,” says Sharon. “In order to truly build a lasting legacy with your new wealth, you’ll want to partner with professionals who do this kind of thing every day.”

There is a lot to consider when coming into new wealth. But if you understand the issues, prepare for them, and work with the right professionals, you can ease the strain and focus on the many benefits.

# # #

Sharon Duncan is president and financial advisor for Selah Financial Services, Inc., located at 1550 W. Bay Area Blvd, Ste. 101, Friendswood, TX 77546 and One Sugar Creek Center Blvd., Ste. 150, Sugar Land, TX 77478. She offers securities and advisory services as Registered Investment Advisor of Commonwealth Financial Network^®, a member firm of FINRA/SIPC. She can be reached at 281.990.7100 or at.Sharon.duncan@selahfs.com.

Partially authored by Commonwealth Financial Network