Poor financial advisors; they could well be going the way of the cotton gin with new apps that quite easily mimic not just what they offer up in terms of giving you helpful advice to keep you from burning through your savings, 401(k), IRA, or simply not being able to keep yourself in check financially.
In the fast moving world of apps, new software and smartphone applications are making it possible for users of tablets and other mobile devices to hold themselves accountable without the help of advisement from another human being. An app like SavedPlus allows you to send a portion of what you spend on each sale into your bank account(s) or retirement funds.
This app allows you to change the percentages based upon what you are comfortable letting go of, whether it’s one percent or ten. The SavedPlus app works automatically, and works across basically all platforms from Android, iPhone, iPad, and even offers an online website so you can track how much money you have accrued across the past day, week, month, and so on.
When you use the debit card associated with your checking account, the percentage you have selected via SavedPlus will be transferred into your savings account. It operates seamlessly, and for those who have used it so far, reviews are good.
For those who just aren’t into phone apps, a great answer is FutureAdvisor. This amazing software allows users to login online. What makes it different from other apps and software is that FutureAdvisor asks about your financial situation, what your aims are for investing and spending habits, as well as your estimated date of retiring.
What’s truly amazing about FutureAdvisor is that users can actually cross pollinate by having users plug in data about the stocks they are investing in, and can even link up with existing retirement accounts and other savings accounts.
After a new user has entered this information, FutureAdvisor “listens” to the information it has been provided and then—just like a human advisor—gives the user recommendations and advice based on the various aspects of your personal habits and account types.
Another online method that is really shaking things up in the financial advisement industry is Wealthfront. This web-based platform is free for those who have less than $10,000 in savings, making it a great choice for newly emerging professionals and young couples trying to save up for their first home and so on.
Wealthfront assesses your desires for financial success and also how much of a financial risk taker you are. Wealthfront then allows you to sort of surf through its recommendations on how and where to invest to create the best savings results.
Because it keeps up in real time with daily results in the stock market (and other commodities), there is an option to put it on autopilot—in effect, it is doing the job of a financial advisor that you trust because it will never step over the risk boundaries you have inputted.
Will these apps, software, and money management websites replace actual financial advisors? Probably not, but this new niche will definitely continue to grow and progress.
And as more people saving and managing stocks, bonds, IRAs, 401(k)s and other portfolios begin to place their trust in these platforms, it will probably engender a rebranding of actual face-to-face advisement from real humans.
The goal is not to put advisors out of a job; it is to make money management and saving money for retirement more accessible to those who don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars to manage—yet.
