Amidst the pandemic, something joyous finally arrives. You are correct, it’s the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S. Everybody is still excited and looking forward to it, despite the scenario being completely different from all the previous years. Years ago, in 1776, the Declaration of legal separation from Great Britain of 13 colonies was approved, and here we are today, living independently and on our own terms. Well, almost on our own terms. Even though we attained independence years back, can we really say that we are financially independent? A lot of us cannot! An article by Renegade Networks states that only 4% of the U.S citizens retire independently. Today, it is not only a desire but also a necessity to have robust financial investments that come from stronger financial planning. The COVID-19 pandemic is further straining the financial independence of people today.
“You become financially free when your passive income exceeds your expenses.” – T. Harv Eker, Author of #1 NY Times bestselling book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind.
But what exactly is financial independence? Think of it this way, you are at the stage of your life where you retire early, and still, have enough earnings and income that can afford your lifestyle and your expenses without having to work for that income or asking someone else for it. The present generation aspires to be retired by 45-50 and keep on living an uncompromised life. And that is one of their biggest motivations to invest. According to Investopedia, for 64% of affluent millennials, retirement is the main reason to invest. There are a number of financial services and practices that can be taken advantage of for being financially independent, even during the pandemic situation.
“Financial Independence is about having more choices” – Robert Kiyosaki, investor and author of The Rich Dad Company.
Let us look at some of the ways to achieve financial independence –
1. Safety Net Maximization – We all must and should have a contingency fund, set aside for some future expenses that we do not anticipate. This fund acts as a safety net during difficult times as such, when there might be a cash crunch and limited flow of income. So, to ensure that you are financially independent even during unprecedented situations, and not at the mercy of others, make sure that you keep adding on to this safety net of funds, which will catch you and supply enough money when there is a need. A part of any additional income or savings should go to this emergency fund. Cut down on any unnecessary costs and add on to this stack.
2. Health Package Deals – If even a pandemic doesn’t act as an indicator of getting a solid health package and insurance, I don’t know what will. There are a variety of insurance deals available in the market that give you different coverage and if you cannot afford to pay a large sum at the moment, there are also some very creative deals that are also quite affordable. It will take you a little bit of research to find out a package deal that best suits you, but it will definitely help you cover a huge portion of your medical costs that are going to make you live longer and see a couple more 4th of July’s than you originally intended to.
3. Benefit from the Bear Market – Even though a lot of people have lost their jobs and also many businesses have shut down, as a result of the pandemic, there have also been instances when people have earned quite a bit from their previously invested stocks. The market currently is fluctuating and there are times when it is bearish in nature, at times like these, do not panic and sell off your stocks. In fact, if you can, do take advantage of the market conditions and buy stocks that show potential and growth in the future. It is the time to buy and hold, and when the market goes up, you reap the benefits by selling them off.
4. Tax Saving Practices – If the 4th of July has taught us anything, it is the significance of our nation and efforts taken to make it independent. Similarly, for us to be independent financially, we must benefit from the wide range of practices and services that are available in the fintech industry and will save us additional bucks that we might spend on taxes. These are all legal ways and are put in place to be leveraged. HSAs, Investments, Donations, Retirement Plans, and Accounts, etc. are all ways in which you can cut down on the amount that you are going to pay in taxes.
5. No deviations from the budget – Now that we have come so far, one tip that is very essential to benefit from all the above-mentioned practices is to not deviate from the original plan of action for financial independence, unless it is adding on to the future income without taking away the present invested amount. It is quite essential to follow the set budget and not lose focus. One miss and the entire plan can come crashing down, like a house of cards.
We live in a world where we take care of ourselves now, and in the future. So, to ensure that we sustain and remain in the position to do so, let us take the oath that we will all follow these steps and achieve financial independence.
Tegra118, a top provider of wealth and asset management technology solutions – and a portfolio company of Motive Partners, a specialist private equity firm – announced it will release version 8.5 of its comprehensive, cloud-based billing and revenue management solution Advantage Fee™ that includes new enhancements to further simplify fee billing and invoice operations for financial institutions across the globe.
The enhancements are an addition to significant investment in technology modernization including investments in APIs, state of the art UI/UX and move to the cloud FinTech News.Starting on June 30, 2020, the new release will include:Greater operational, persona-based UI functionality for an enhanced user experience and increased operational efficiencyNew cloud compatibility with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in addition to Microsoft® Azure for comprehensive enterprise-level deploymentEnhanced REST API catalog and additional endpoints for better upstream/downstream integrationGreater process automation with new invoice automation in addition to account onboarding built using Appway technology“Our clients and prospects are looking for a state of the art billing and revenue management solution,” said Tito Singh, Chief Revenue Officer, Tegra118.
“Our investments and enhancements to Advantage Fee provide the solution they are looking for, leading to a stronger pipeline and increased client satisfaction.” The new enterprise enhancements to Tegra118’s Advantage Fee platform help reduce total cost of ownership for financial institutions with simplified cloud-based and API integrations, a more intuitive persona-based user experience, and automated invoice and account onboarding.
The powerful calculation engine in Tegra118’s Advantage Fee is used by leading wealth management, custody and trust firms around the world to aggregate and process high volumes of financial transactions, calculate fees based on fee agreements, and automate invoicing for financial services.“We have been partnering closely with our clients to identify new use cases where we can provide solution enhancements and continue to guide the industry forward with our platform,” said Kashyap Kapasi, Director, Product Management and Strategy, Tegra118.
“Our collaboration has yielded significant enhancements to our offering with each subsequent release, creating a powerfully compelling and holistic package that resonates well with our clients.”
Digital has been a buzzword in the ever-evolving banking industry across the globe.
This evolution focuses on designing a seamless, versatile and collaborative experience for the end consumers.
Technological advancement anchored this transformation by upgrading retail and mobile banking to neobank startups, propelling banking into a digitalized future.The rapid advancement in technology has created many challenges for the traditional brick and mortar branches.
Though they are well equipped with financial resources and consumer relationships with a decent reach, they need to adopt digital ways for banking to stay relevant in the future.Here are some ways how digital can shape the banking landscape:Frictionless banking through utilization of B-a-a-S or API Banking: Legacy institutions are best positioned to succeed if they commit to full-fledged digital transformation by introducing extremely adaptable solutions and can utilize Open APIs to integrate new financial systems and open banking software, allowing faster expansion.
The most common of these solutions is Banking-as-a-Service (B-a-a-S), where digital banks and other third parties can connect with the bank’s system directly via APIs.Emergence of Personalized banking tools — The emerging digital banking solutions focus on providing self-learning digital banking software tools sensitive and intuitive to customer needs by utilizing a range of cutting-edge technologies to increase consumer engagement, including AI-powered chatbots, wearable assistance, personal finance Management, P2P Payments through voice bots, and QR code scanning.Data Analytics for Customized Solutions: — Financial service providers will get a deep insight into customers’ lives owing to Big Data, IoT, Blockchain and Open Banking.
They can better the lives of their customer by employing the following techniques: -The technologies such as IoT tend to track the real lives of customers rather than relying on manual submissions, the customer data will be safe and secure through blockchain technology which would be further authenticated via AI.
Advancing technology has started influencing the BFSI sector, and we witness innovative app solutions in financial services.
These solutions fall under the fintech category and contribute to improving services.
Mobile wallets, banking apps, and cryptocurrency-related apps are some of the most popular examples of fintech apps.
In this blog, we are going to understand the role and benefits of cross-platform app development for a fintech firm
