Category: Investing

Remote Leadership Mistakes

On September 14, 2020

In Career, Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight, postgraduate, Technology

Just when you think you have the whole leadership process figured out, a pandemic completely changes everything. Today, instead of face-to-face interactions, you are forced to conduct meetings and catch-ups on video calls. The most important thing is adjusting to the situation and learn how to motivate and manage your team remotely. Understandably, there are new skills you will have to learn. However, many leaders are continuously failing their remotely-working teams by making the following mistakes:

Lack of clear priorities, goals, and directions

As a team leader, you have to set clear priorities and goals to improve team performance. It’s not easy to do this remotely; however, ensure you review your team’s priorities and goals from time to time. An effective team will quickly outline goals, and a good leader will give team members clarity on their roles. Use virtual meeting platforms to update your team about any changes and hold catch-up meetings regularly.

Being Extremely Rigid

Today, most managers are tracking team members’ hours and monitoring daily activities to determine if the employees are working the agreed number of hours per day. Everyone can benefit from a flexible work schedule. Having a better integration of personal and work life can lead to a healthier, more productive, and happier team. As a leader, you should stop micromanaging and tracking how many hours an employee has spent on their screens. Instead you should focus on their daily achievements Give your team some space to breathe and don’t be so rigid. They know what works best for them.

Unproductive collaborations and communication

When working face-to-face, most collaborations and communications take place through informal conversations and interactions. However, this is not there with virtual teams. You need to find ways to foster better communication. The best option is to take advantage of online conferencing platforms such as Zoom.

Unconstructive, inconsistent and non-existent feedback

Giving employees feedback will motivate and improve their performance. It also keeps the team members satisfied since it shows you have their best interest at heart. Be consistent, offer suggestions on how they can improve, and coach them. Let your team learn from you, accept their feedback, and act on it. You can offer frequent feedback to your team through short video calls and creating one-on-one time with individual team members.

TED Talks Every College Student Should Hear

By Nicholas Fainlight

On May 26, 2020

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight, postgraduate

Graduating from college is an exciting, uncertain time. For many grads, there is a world of uncertainty about achieving success in their desired field, even for those who have already secured employment. Today, there a number of ways to be inspired, from self-help books and mindfulness apps to inspirational public speakers. Perhaps the most well-renowned source of expert opinions comes from the TED organization.

TED talks stem from a conference focused on technology, engineering, and design. It has gradually evolved into short speeches written by professionals, for professionals. The aim of the original founders still holds true today – to spread inspiring, thoughtful messages about a variety of topics in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way. Thousands of TED talks later, audiences around the world have access to a unique library full of insightful tips and tricks about navigating through life.

For college grads who have anxiety about entering our current job climate, there are many good speeches reminding them of the value of living in the moment. One example is Andy Puddicombe’s lessons about meditation and taking a break from everything for ten whole minutes a day. Sian Leah Beilock offers tips on getting out of our own heads when faced with a stressful situation. Remind ourselves that we are flawed human beings and let ourselves relax about the things we will instinctively know how to handle.

Many college students remain undecided about career aspirations, despite having chosen majors. It helps to be reminded that it’s ok to not have it all figured out just because you’ve graduated. Emilie Wapnick explains that it’s completely normal to have multiple interests, even ones that might be fleeting. Not many people have one true calling. She encourages people to seek out their interests, even if it veers away from any pre-set plan. Life is short and it’s important to not have regrets down the road.

For people who think that work means an unpleasant, daily grind, Scott Dinsmore reminds us all that work can be something that you love. While it may be true that not everyone is awarded the same freedom of choice, if you are lucky enough to find a job you truly enjoy, don’t turn it down because of other seemingly important societal reasons. As an added bonus, by doing what you love you have the power to inspire others as well.

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4 Tips for Improving Your Credit Score

By Nicholas Fainlight

On April 29, 2018

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight, Technology

Once you graduate college and begin your life after school, you likely realize how important a credit score is for various decisions. You may have had to deal with issues relating to your credit score beforehand, but it’s certainly something you must pay attention to now. Your credit score affects whether or not you can open credit cards, get a car loan, or get approved for a mortgage. Many landlords also want to know your credit score to see how reliable you are when it comes to making payments. You may have a low credit score or not much credit at all, but there are certainly steps you can take to build it into a respectable number. However, you need to understand that it takes time and hard work to reach an excellent score.

Open accounts with credit

For many recent graduates, you might not have much credit at all, which leads to a low score. The first step to take is opening accounts that utilize your credit; the earlier you take this step, the better. There are plenty of student credit cards out there that are easy to get approved on, or ask your parents to add you to one of theirs. Even using the card a few times a month and then immediately paying it off helps improve your credit score. Be aware that opening new forms of credit means a credit report will be pulled for you to be approved, which often temporary drops your credit score a few points. This drop is completely normal and goes back to what it should be within a few months.

Make payments on time

Something that seriously damages your credit score is making late payments. Even a single late payment on credit can lower your score. If you’ve been notorious for this issue and it’s what caused your score to be so low, change your methods starting today. Set alerts for when your payments are due or even set up automatic payments so you don’t have to worry about forgetting at all.

Regularly check your credit score

If you want to really make a difference in your credit score, you need to be aware of any changes to it, whether positive or negative. The more you familiarize yourself with the score and see fluctuations, the better able you are to make decisions that impact your finances. It’s also important to regularly check your credit score so if a fraudulent account is ever opened in your name, you can report it as soon as possible and prevent it from seriously affecting you. Credit Karma is a great resource to use and can be downloaded as an app on your phone.

Pay off debt

If you want to see immense improvement to your credit score, pay off current debt. Even paying off a single debt can boost your score several points. Make larger payments than required and avoid paying more interest than you have to. While paying off your debt, consider using the debt snowball method in order to receive the maximum benefit.

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4 Tips to Help Millennials Save for Their First Home

By Nicholas Fainlight

On April 10, 2018

In Career, Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

There seems to be a prevalent mindset that millennials will never be able to afford a house. While the housing market is inflated in some areas, for most of the country, there are certainly affordable properties. This misconception is certainly not current for many young adults who are working full-time, even if they have significant student loan debt. There are a few steps millennials can take to save for their first home, even if that purchase is ten years down the road. Here are steps you can start taking today to help get you ready to purchase a home.

Boost your credit score

While this tip isn’t directly related to saving up money, it’s a vital one when it comes to purchasing your first home. When you apply for a loan for your mortgage, a big factor for the interest rate and whether or not you’ll get approved is based off of your credit score. If you do not have a great credit score now, you can fix this issue by opening up a credit card and lightly using it; make sure you pay off the balance each month and avoid late payments. Over time, your credit history will improve as you use more of it. Regularly check your credit score as well to make sure there’s no false information or that someone is opening accounts in your name.

Save up a down payment

The best way to make owning a home feasible and less stressful is by saving up an adequate down payment. The rule of thumb is to have 20 percent of the home’s value as your down payment, though many people do not follow this number. You can get approved for a home if you have less than a 20 percent down payment and there are programs out there to help make up the difference and navigate buying your first home, but it’s still best to put as much money down initially as possible.

Do your research

There are major costs associated with buying a home, but you can mitigate some of these costs if you do sufficient research. Make sure you are only buying a house you can actually afford; people often get approved for mortgages that severely strain their budgets. Also shop around for real estate agents and learn what costs you can cut back on and how to get the best deal as you search for your home.

Set regular goals

Buying a home might seem far off, but saving up a down payment takes time. Set goals for yourself to achieve over the next few years. Even putting away $20 a week adds up! You can also schedule automatic withdrawals from your account to go to a separate account for your down payment. You won’t notice the money’s gone and you’ll save up a decent down payment for when you start shopping for a home.

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5 Reasons You Should Continue Your Education After College

By Nicholas Fainlight

On March 1, 2018

In Career, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

Up until your college graduation, a large portion of your time has been spent furthering your education. While post-graduation feels great because you can stop worrying about attending classes, paper deadlines, and finals week, it’s important you continue your education in some other way. You might be done with a formal education, but you need to keep learning even after graduation. There are plenty of invaluable reasons to continue your education; here are just a few of them.

Career advancement

One of the biggest benefits of continued education after official graduation is how it can help your career. No matter what your job is, there’s more you can learn and there’s someplace to advance to. Maybe you want to get promoted, but lack management skills or another business skill. You might want to pursue an entirely new career, but lack some of the necessary skills. Luckily, by continuing your education, you have opportunities to learn more skills and pursue a new direction in your career. It also showcases your work ethic to your boss and proves that you care about your job and can work hard.

Improves your mind

Plenty of studies have shown the benefits reading and continuous learning have on your mind and overall health. You strengthen your mind, which can help reduce memory loss. You’ll find it’s easier to recall facts and teach yourself other skills if you make a point to keep learning. While general learning is also helpful, you can teach yourself specific skills that help prevent other health issues, such as reducing stress or learning about proper exercise and nutrition.

Makes you interesting

The last kind of person you want to be is someone others find boring to talk to. Whether it’s a conversation with your family, friends, or strangers, continually educating yourself provides you with insightful ideas and interesting topics to discuss. You never know when some interesting fact or skill you learned could come in handy. Being able to hold an interesting conversation improves your personal and professional lives as well.

Discover new passions

You might not realize you’re incredibly interested in photography or the history of Australia until you begin teaching yourself about it. Even if a topic doesn’t seem like something you’d really want to learn about, try reading a book or taking an online class about it. You never know what strikes your interest or where it’ll take you.

Learn useful skills

Unfortunately, most schools do not teach students basic life skills. Once you graduate, you’ll realize you need to know a lot of information no one told you about, like signing a lease, filing taxes, opening a credit card, or maintaining upkeep on your home. Take time to read books, blogs, or watch videos that address these issues. Any question you might have about a certain life skill can be found either in your local library or online, so teach yourself these skills and make your life that much less stressful.

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Saving Doesn’t Have to Be Hard: 3 Tips to Get You Started

By Nicholas Fainlight

On November 21, 2017

In Career, Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

The value of saving money is pretty apparent to most people, but the actual process of doing so is a lot more difficult. As human beings we often do not actually want to save up the money we have worked so hard to get. The temptations to spend that money are all around us and it can sometimes be challenging to see the future benefits of saving it. While saving may be more difficult than spending, there are some tips on saving that can take away at least a little of the pain of doing so.

Save money from windfalls

Windfalls of cash do not happen often to the average person, but many can claim the event has occurred at least once in their life. Take the idea of a tax return as an example; most people can relate to this because so many of us elect to have a tax return come our way at the end of the year and end up with a decent sum of money.

When that money does come in, consider banking it rather than spending it. The government and economy might benefit if you spend it, but you as an individual would be better off pocketing as much of it as you can muster. A possible exception to this rule would be if you have significant debt to pay off. Then, using a windfall to get out from debt could be equally beneficial, just remember to save the money you would have used for that debt.

Use the 24-hour rule

Is one day really too long to wait on a purchase? Not when you are using the 24-hour rule to help eliminate wasteful spending. This rule says that before you make a purchase, you must wait at least 24 hours to decide if it is really something you truly need. Establishing this rule for yourself can cut out so much of the wasteful spending many of us are prone to doing. After a single day of cooling off, many purchases will seem completely unnecessary. It can also be beneficial to carefully think about how you’ll use this item, whether it’ll make you feel good for a little bit or if it’s a long term investment.

Unsubscribe from services you do not use

If you have a cable subscription but practically never use it, why do you have cable? Likewise, if you subscribe to any other services that you honestly do not get your money’s worth out of, get rid of them. It may seem like just a few dollars here or there each month, or each year, but subscriptions can add up to serious amounts of money over time. Besides, if you are not getting the intended value out of these subscriptions, then there is really no reason to hang on to them. It is fairly easy to rid yourself of these subscriptions once you put your mind to it. Spend some time today figuring out what you can cut out.

Man using a tablet with an icon that says finance pulled up, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog about finance apps

5 Apps for Managing Your Finances

By Nicholas Fainlight

On November 10, 2017

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

Everyone looks forward to receiving compensation after working hard. However, due to rising expenses, many people see their compensation vanish within a few days. Struggling with your finances is difficult, but there are ways that you can receive help. Thanks to the age of technology, there are multiple financial apps currently available to help manage your finances and get things under control.

Mint

Mint allows you to manage your monthly expenses, bank accounts, and credit cards under one joint account. You can view your net worth at any time. Mint calculates your spending each month, so you can keep track of your budget. It also provides different charts to help manage your finances without any issues. Mint will also send you notifications when you have upcoming payments.

Penny

Penny will interact with you and answer any questions you may have about your finances. It helps you keep track of your finances by showing you information about your daily spending and what bill payments are soon due. Penny also includes different financial charts and graphs to help you get a clear understanding of your financial situation.

BillGuard

BillGuard helps users understand their spending habits, while also protecting their financial information from fraudulent activity. This app can sync with your bank accounts, which allows you to see your overall balance, with a breakdown of every transaction. BillGuard also checks with you to make sure you made those transactions and not an impostor. If something is wrong, the transaction will be flagged until you speak with your bank or the merchant. BillGuard also includes analytics, such as spending per category, which gives you an enhanced look at your finances.

Expensify

Expensify is available on your phone, as well as the internet. The user interface is easy and divided into multiple sections; SmartScan, Track Time, Track Distance, and Add Expense. Track Time allows you to keep a tab on your daily earnings. The popular SmartScan option allows you to take pictures and electronically save receipts. You can also add your credit or debit card to Expensify and track your balances from there.

You Need A Budget

You Need A Budget (YNAB) emphasizes being flexible. You’ll be tasked with assigning your money to a specific category, such as food, gas, and utilities. With YNAB’s structure, you’ll be able to easily recognize patterns in your spending and see which areas need to be improved.

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The Importance of Risk When It Comes to Finance

By Nicholas Fainlight

On November 3, 2017

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight

Risk is involved in every aspect of life. The risk of taking your first steps is falling; the risk of asking a person on a date is rejection; the risk of interviewing for a job is failure; the risk of parallel parking is hitting another vehicle. So, it is guaranteed that creating a business or investing in something financially, as well as physically, involves considerable risk.

What is risk? According to Google, risk is the possibility that something unpleasant or unwelcome will happen. However, according to the business dictionary, risk is a probability of damage, liability, loss, or any other negative occurrence that is caused externally.

From a finance point of view, risk is the probability that an investment’s return will be less than expected. However, risk also offers the chance of reward. For example, a reward could be an increased return compared to a lower expectation. Financial risk is comprised of multiple categories: basic risk, capital risk, delivery risk, exchange risk, interest rate risk, political risk, settlement risk, underwriting risk, and much more.

Examining financial risk includes looking at daily finance operations, such as cash flow, transactions made by the business, and the business’ financial systems set in place. You may consider things like which clients owe the company, how the company plans to retrieve the money, insurance, and its coverage, as well as whether the business can extend credit to customers and how.

When calculating financial risk, external factors like interest rates and foreign exchange rates should be considered. Those factors can affect company competitiveness with services produced abroad; changes in interest rates and exchange rates can immediately affect debt repayments.

All businesses should extensively discuss risk management within the business’ strategic management. Doing so allows the company to identify and tackle any risks before they become an issue, which will in turn aid the chances of reaching defined business goals.

Once the risks have been pinpointed, there are several ways to address them: accept it, transfer it, reduce it, and eliminate it. Acceptance of a risk might happen if the costs are too high to handle it in any other way. The risk could be dealt with by transferring, which typically takes place with the company insurance. Reducing a risk is merely introducing safety measures to keep the risks from occurring, and eliminating the risk could be something like changing the production process. Once the risks have been determined and the type of management has been decided, take steps to put the measures into place.

Risk management is not a one time kind of deal; it requires consistent monitoring and should often be reviewed to ensure the management approach is successful. Set the plan in stone by creating a risk management policy that will identify the company’s approach to risk, and it’s management. The CEO’s and the board should all be on the same page before moving to the management policy phase.

All choices in life and business involve risk to some extent. By understanding what risk is and how to manage it, business and employees are more likely to meet their financial goals.

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How to Teach Yourself About Investing

By Nicholas Fainlight

On October 24, 2017

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight, Technology

Far too many people are unaware of the basics of investing, even though it’s one of the best ways to build your wealth. Public schools do not teach anything about it and if you go to college, you really only learn about investing if you take business or finance courses. This lack of knowledge leads to people shying away from investing and relying on a steady and reliable source of income. They often view the stock market as a way to simply lose money, especially if they lack basic knowledge about investing. This viewpoint is completely understandable, but not one you should subscribe to. If you know nothing about investing, it’s never too late to learn! Here are some ways you can teach yourself more about investing and get ready to start a portfolio of your own!

Take a look at your finances

The first step you’ll need to take is examining your finances and determining how much money you want to put into investments. If you’re heavily in debt or have no savings, you should take care of those issues before attempting to invest large amounts of money. Get an accurate picture of your finances so you know how much you have available to invest.

Learn the basics

When you first begin looking at everything that goes into the markets and investing, it can feel overwhelming. People spend years trying to learn the secret to investment success. Instead of feeling intimidated by these approaches, simply start by learning the basics of investing. Learn what different terms mean and how creating an investment portfolio works. But, don’t take too long; the sooner you begin investing, the better!

Check out online resources

After you feel like you have a basic understanding of investing, it’s time to start learning about the different approaches people take and cultivate a deeper understanding of the market. A great place to look is online, because there’s a seemingly endless amount of online resources, such as ebooks, blogs, podcasts, and many websites that offer expert advice. Check out the credentials of a source before believing everything you read, but most information on investing can be useful, even to just teach you what not to do.

Find experienced people

You might know someone who’s a financial advisor or who spends a lot of time following the market and knows about investing. These are the people you should talk to. Even if you don’t personally know anyone like this, you can certainly find a forum or website where you can chat with someone who can give you actual advice about investing.

Set your goals

Before you actually start investing, take a bit of time to set your individual goals. How much money do you want to invest? Why are you investing? What return do you hope to see? People invest for different reasons, not simply to generate wealth. Once you’ve decided what your individual goals are, you can start investing.

Start small

As you begin your journey as an investor, remember to first start small. You definitely shouldn’t take your entire savings account and invest in high risk stocks; use a smaller, manageable amount first and invest smart. Research the best types of stocks and start out with moderate risk.

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Are Investing Apps Really Beneficial?

By Nicholas Fainlight

On October 16, 2017

In Finance, Investing, Nicholas Fainlight, Technology

Lately, there’s been a rise of apps offered to help you manage your personal finances. There are various types of apps and options to choose from. Whether you merely want to work on budgeting, keep track of your credit score, or begin investing, you have plenty of apps to check out. However, many people question whether or not these apps are actually worth it, especially investing apps. Is your information secure? Are you wasting money? Will you see any kind of return? I’d like to examine whether or not investing apps actually benefit the user.

The concerns about them

One of the main issues surrounding investment apps is the security of them. When you create an investment portfolio with a recognized bank or investment company, you must go through layers of security every time you want to do anything, even if it’s simply transferring money into an account. With investment apps, it doesn’t seem as though there’s as much security. Many people are also wary of putting their information online, so creating a new account with an app seems like the perfect way to have your account information compromised. While this concern is completely understandable, all of the popular investment apps have layers of cybersecurity, very similar to that of a banking website. Many apps also guarantee insurance for accounts up to a hundred thousand dollars, so if you’re below that number, you’d still be able to recover all of your money.

Another concern is whether or not the apps are worth the cost. Some of them charge high trading fees or have regular monthly fees, which can seem like a waste of money, especially when you’re trying to grow your wealth. The answer to this issue is a little murkier than the last. While you should certainly be investing your money in some way, it’s up to you what app you choose. Research the fees associated with each app and learn what different keywords mean, such as how much the app charges per trade. Decide how much you’ll be planning on investing into these accounts and whether or not regular fees are worth it.

Benefits of investing apps

One of the greatest benefits of investing apps is how most of them are designed for beginners to use. Many people do not have the first clue about investing and the best practices for it, so these apps have been designed with this issue in mind. Most investing apps are relatively simple to use once you take some time to play around with them. Some even offer blogs and other tips to help you with investment decisions. Still others offer you direct assistance from a financial advisor.

Another great benefit of investment apps is that you can open an account with relatively small amounts of money. You can start investing spare change or a few dollars and grow your portfolio. For younger investors, this feature is great, especially since many traditional investment companies require you to have a minimum of a few thousand dollars to invest upfront.

How to make them work for you

Finally, if you decide you do want to get into the world of investing and an app on your phone is the best option for you, there are ways to make sure you make the most of it. The best thing you can do is take your time and research the various apps. Check out blogs that focus on investing, financial advice, and financial apps to see what expert opinions are on the different apps and decide which one best fits your needs.