Will Technology Rule the Future of Personal Finance?
Will the future of personal finances be done completely through the use of technology?
The more financial problems and crises our country encounters, the more those problems affect the finances of individuals, families, and businesses in our country. Consumers have to be forced to save more, or be more efficient with their money. As it stands now, our country is at a record low for retirement contributions—USA Today recently shared data from a Wells Fargo survey showing that that middle-class people in the USA have a median of $20,000 saved for retirement. Those same people think they need at least $250,000 to retire. Something’s not adding up!
So what can people do? Well, for starters, the use of the internet has helped create plenty of tools and resources for consumers who need advice on their personal finances, such as how much they need to save or invest.Take life insurance as an example. LIMRA (Life Insurance Market Research Association, 2013) stated 86% of consumers prefer using the Internet to research and shop for life insurance.
Thanks to this kind of technology, consumers can now even completely complete the process of obtaining life insurance online. Companies like Securing Life Today (my own company) are allowing users to research and choose their life insurance—people can shop, compare and apply at their convenience, instead of experiencing the hassle of calling someone 10 times just to get a quote. Securing Life Today connects the consumer directly with the company that has the best price, and life insurance is just one of their offerings; they also deal with health insurance, dental insurance, comparing investment fees, and several other important areas of personal and business finance.
Life insurance isn’t the only product that has become much easier to compare and research online—FeeX is a free online service that lets consumers link their online investment accounts to see what fees they’re charged in their investment accounts. So many people say they have no idea how much their investments are costing them—FeeX allows the consumer to see their fees, plus where they can save money.
Consumers are tired of paying for financial advice, then having to also pay to get the service or product that is being recommended, especially when individual financial companies tend to have an inherent interest in soliciting their own company’s brand or product, even thought it may not always be the best fit for each customer’s needs. Research has also show that consumer confidence in financial advisors has declined due to the financial crisis, as well as the news stories of fraud and white-collar crimes with the companies we’re supposed to trust.
So will technology and the Internet provide the transparency and trust that consumers desire and demand? Time will only tell, but as it stands for now, the financial industry sure could use a fresh and new approach that would allow the people in our country with better access to financial success.
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