Tag: finance Page 1 of 2

Overrated Business Tips to Forget

On January 28, 2021

In Career, Education, Finance, fitness, health, Investing, Leadership, Nicholas Fainlight, postgraduate, Technology, Uncategorized

Wherever you go, people provide unsolicited guidance on how to grow, run, or start a business. Out of the pointers they offer, some are valuable, and you must observe them. However, others are misinterpreted, outdated, or just plain wrong for the business you’re running. Here are some overrated business tips to forget.

1. Your Service or Product Must Be Unique

Businesspersons are often advised to outline what makes them stand out. However, it is not necessary to find an exclusive approach to achieve corporate success. A subtle change may improve the entire experience.

2. Customers Are Always Right

Do you need to make the customers happy? Yes. However, if your main goal is to please people, you may end up in a world of unnecessary suffering. It’s best to pay attention to the things that bring you a long-term profit, not the things that take your energy and time.

3. Do Not Start a Business With Your Friend

Many people think it’s a bad idea to start an enterprise with a friend, but that’s not true—friends whose expertise supplements each other may build a thriving business. Establishing a company may be straining to the relationship; however, the benefits of operating with a person you trust may be worth it.

4. Promote Your Business on Facebook

Companies have acknowledged that paid advertising is the only path to increase your Facebook image, which is still one of the world’s best social platforms. However, it is not always the top place to use up your advertising budget. There are other more effective means to reach your audience for a much lower price per lead, for instance, on platforms like Pinterest.

5. Concentrate on Your Site Instead of Building the Brand

It is important to have a brand that reverberates with ideal customers. However, investing all energy and time in the “perfect” site is not how to make it.

6. Never Reject an Opportunity

It is tempting to “do it all” and take all opportunities that cross your path at the beginning of your business. Saying “yes” to all opportunities in your corporate encounters will stifle your time and dilute your brand.

7. Gather as Much Cash as Possible

Each business needs cash to start and grow; however, not all businesses must seek that through financiers. While funding may help some companies grow significantly, other lifestyle corporations are at an advantage without it.
Finally, despite all the advice that entrepreneurs receive, they should filter what is right for their business.

Group of people sitting around a table with an open laptop and graphs and papers, Nicholas Fainlight improve credit score

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.

Home with forest behind it sunlight streaming through, Nicholas Fainlight millennials save for first home

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.

How to Use Credit Cards the Smart Way

By Nicholas Fainlight

On December 13, 2017

In Finance, Nicholas Fainlight

Credit cards are something we’re likely all familiar with. You’ve probably gone shopping to a larger store and had the salesperson ask if you want to open a credit card account specific to that store. It’s likely you always brush it off, knowing you don’t shop there that often or don’t want to deal with more debt. However, many people open credit cards, whether a store card or a regular one. The average household in America carries nearly $6,000 of credit card debt. Other studies show that about a third of Americans have at least one credit card.

You’ve probably heard horror stories of people getting into insane amounts of credit card debt they’re never able to pay off. Many people completely swear off of credit cards and believe they’re sure ways to get sucked into overwhelming debt. However, if you handle credit cards in a smart way, you won’t have to worry about dealing with outrageous amounts of debt. Here are tips on using credit cards and actually benefiting from them.

Online shopping

One of the best uses for credit cards can be to use exclusively for online shopping or somewhere else you think information could get compromised, such as a small stand or other place that appears to have low security. All too often, we make online purchases and then see that our account information has been compromised. It’s much easier to freeze and cancel credit cards and get the purchases taken off your statement than it is to do the same with getting money back into your bank account. By using a credit card for a purchase you would have made anyway, you can protect yourself from fraud.

Designated purchase

Sometimes, credit cards can be useful for a designated purchase. You might receive a lower car insurance rate if you set up an automatic payment, but don’t want to save your bank information, using a credit card becomes a great alternative. It’s also easier to track spending if the only purchase you’re making on that card is one kind.

Gain rewards

You can easily find credit cards that claim they have incredible rewards programs. Nearly every card now offers some type of reward. It’s important to avoid being drawn into promises of rewards and going for every card offered; take the time to research different cards and find out which ones offer the best rewards for you. Then, use that card regularly to make purchases you can afford and build rewards that are actually beneficial.

Build credit

A very smart reason to use credit cards is because they allow you to easily build your credit. By regularly using a credit card and not making late payments, you’re able to improve your credit score. This benefit is especially useful to younger people who don’t have any kind of credit score and need to create one in order to make larger purchases or rent an apartment. Spend smartly and avoid creating debt so you can improve your credit score.

Pay on time

Finally, the smartest way to use your credit card is by paying it off on time. If you carry a balance over from month-to-month, you’ll likely have to pay large amounts of interest, often around 20 percent of whatever the balance is. If you can’t pay off a large purchase in a month (or very shortly after), do not use your credit card. The problem with credit cards is people avoid paying off the balance each month, so it just accumulates and interest builds, which results in outrageous amounts of debt and you paying more than you spent in the first place.

A credit card isn’t something you have to be scared to use, as long as you’re following these tips and being smart in your spending. It could actually be something that benefits you.

Top FinTech Companies of 2017

By Nicholas Fainlight

On December 11, 2017

In Finance, Nicholas Fainlight, Technology

Financial technology companies are growing all around the globe, especially in the United States and Europe. Many of these companies make managing your finances much easier and help people get started with money management. So many fintech companies are startups seeing immense growth within their first few years of operation in the account management, payment processing, financial assets, capital, and lending markets. During 2017, there are some major fintech players that stand out way ahead of the rest.

Stripe

In the payment processing market, Stripe is becoming a major contender for the well-known PayPal. Stripe currently operates in 25 countries around the globe and allows for both business and personal transactions via the internet. With the addition of many major retailers adopting the use of Stripe for the first time in 2016, the business has grown to be a major market leader in the payment processing industry for 2017. Most people are grateful for anything that makes paying for purchases simpler.

Prosper

Prosper is a peer-to-peer lending platform that allows those in need of financing access to investors. This takes traditional bank funding and puts it on a new level. With Prosper, borrowers can find investors that are interested in funding them with unsecured personal loans for fixed terms and rates set by the platform itself. This makes lending simple for investors and borrowers alike.

Robinhood

As we see the numbers of individuals interested in becoming more hands-on with their financial investments rise, Robinhood fills the need for a free stock-trading platform. This mobile application is built with an easy interface that allows any average joe the ability to fund their account and trade stocks and learn a little bit more about investing. There are no maintenance fees or other agency costs that are traditionally required from brokerage firms.

Lending Club

Another leading fintech company in the financing market, Lending Club, has made its mark by offering both individual and small business financing options. This peer-to-peer platform assigns borrowers willing investors who can help them out. These investors can purchase notes backed by the payments made on each loan by the borrower. There are options to purchase a diverse portfolio of notes to ensure the best financial stability possible.

Fintech companies are becoming an essential part of our society’s new digital age. People want faster ways to manage their money and businesses want faster ways to receive their profits and technology has become a part of every industry. As technology continues to advance you can expect to see massive growth in the number of fintech companies popping up around the globe to satisfying the needs of individuals and businesses alike.

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.

Piece of paper with a graph on it sitting on a table, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog about learning to invest

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.

Person holding a phone with a bunch of apps on the screen, image used for Nicholas Fainlight blog on whether or not investing apps are worth it

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.

Nicholas Fainlight- Face Recognition Technology

All About Face Recognition Technology

By Nicholas Fainlight

On October 13, 2017

In Finance

How We Pay

The ways that individuals have paid for items and services has changed greatly over the years. At one time, different cultures would do trade for services or items. Now the majority of countries use currency or credit cards in order to make payment. Many credit cards have evolved to include a chip that is supposed to make credit card purchases more secure. In China, they are rolling out a completely new way to make payments.

Face Recognition Technology

Face recognition technology is taking purchasing to a different level. It is a technology that promises to replace credit cards, passwords, and identification. In China, there is a new app that has rolled out, and it is being used by 120 million people. This is an app that allows individuals to transfer money using a facial recognition technology. This technology enables an individual to leave their currency and cards at home. All they have to do is use their smile, and they can make a purchase. This application is called AliBaba Auto Pay Experts. This face recognition technology is sure to become popular in the Western world as well because it is highly accurate.

How Does Face Recognition Work

Face recognition is a technology that has been around for years, but it has greatly improved. Face recognition is precise, and it uses advanced technology to identify the special features on a person’s face. This technology has been shown to be more precise than voice recognition. This is a technology that can identify faces in different lighting and at different angles. There are some financial institutions in China that have gone as far as using face recognition to give out loans.

What Companies Are Interested In Face Recognition

Companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple are interested in face recognition technology. These companies could use this face recognition technology to learn about their customers interest, hobbies and preferences. Also, this technology can enable social media sites to tag an individual’s face on their friend’s photos.

Face Recognition And You

Face recognition could bring huge benefits to consumers all around the world. With the huge amount of theft that occurs currently, an individual can feel secure in knowing that he or she has nothing on their person that can be taken away. Face recognition is definitely the way of the future.

Do Natural Disasters Affect Stocks?

By Nicholas Fainlight

On October 2, 2017

In Finance

A natural disaster such as a hurricane or earthquake can create devastating consequences for any human or home that stands in its way. Buildings are crumpled, water damage from flooding wreaks havoc and what was once a community becomes an area requiring total repair. However, this wreckage does not always indicate that a disruption will also take place in the stock market. While there may be short-term fluctuations in the price of oil and insurance stocks, the long-term health of the stock market is dependent on other factors as well.

Looking To The Past

To understand how natural disasters affect the stock market, it’s best to look at the past and see how it fared after the occurrence of major hurricanes. One example of a major natural disaster that caused widescale destruction was when Hurricane Katrina passed through Alabama, New Orleans and other areas near the Atlantic Ocean. This 2005 event created $108 billion in damages — still the costliest on record. Yet, the stock market continued to head higher and shake off the devastation. How could this be?

What Drives Markets Higher?

While the devastation from a natural disaster does cause a considerable amount of monetary damage, the spectrum of events that occur after the damage has taken place must be examined. In the short term, there will be price fluctuations related to equipment or buildings that have been taken out. However, the United States stock market seems to shake off disasters and continue its steady price movement upwards. This could be due to other economic factors that are already in place such as low inflation, declining unemployment or policy from the Federal Reserve.

Outcome of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

Hurricane Harvey passed through Texas in late August 2017 with wind speeds reaching 130 miles per hour. One week later, the state of Florida was hit by Hurricane Irma — a Category 4 hurricane. Both of these monsters destroyed anything that stood in their path. Yet, near the end of September, the S&P 500 was reaching new highs. One must consider the rebuilding and investment that will need to be done to create new communities. These factors may be part of the reason for the continued gains seen in the stark market as well as other economic factors that are already in place.

While one would think that major hurricanes or other natural disasters would cause the stock market to fall — that’s not the case — the stock market has continued to rise after these devastating events.