Marinelle Adams
Remote working and adapting generally to this new way of life over the past year-or-so has been eye-opening for many working professionals, entrepreneurs, and businesspersons. Many are starting to build and formulate their own businesses, operating from their own front rooms, while others are getting better in-tuned with their finances, saving and investing their money efficiently using the wide range of different apps, software, and technologies available to them.
Want to come out of lockdown in 2024 with a better grasp on your finances? Perhaps you want to make sure that you’re doing the most you can to be productive with the equipment you have around you at home? Well, if you want to adopt a better savings mindset and perhaps look into the investment world, here are a few investment apps and software that could help you to get started on your financial journey.
Starting with savings
When wanting to become more financially aware, perhaps building up a savings buffer, or even just generally starting on your journey towards financial freedom, savings apps can be a massive help. You likely use a whole host of apps already to streamline a bunch of life admin and daily tasks, and it’s estimated that the average person spends over three hours on their phone each day, so why not use some of this time to try and positively influence your finances?
There are hundreds of savings apps out there for you to try out for yourself, but a couple of specific popular examples at the moment include Plum, an easy to use platform that allows you to closely monitor your spending habits and segment outgoing payments into different categories, and Cleo, a smart AI assistant that gives you financial advice based on your spending habits in the form of a social messaging app.
Tip – Of course, most people are already doing this already, but if you’re completely new to the concept of managing your money through a smartphone, then make sure that you sign up for your bank account company’s respective app. That way, you can instantly access key information on the go, and never be in the dark about how much money you can afford to spend.
Investing for the future
Once you’ve got your finances in order (if you haven’t already, of course), you then should look at how you can expand and grow your finances further through smart, smartphone usages. Rather than leaving your savings to stagnate and accumulate dust in an account somewhere, why not invest them, or have a platform invest them on your behalf while you go about your day-to-day business?
Some savings platforms have settings that allow you to round up change from purchases and put them into pre-determined investment strategies, while others such as Trading 212 and RobinHood allow you to trade on the stock market in an instant, with a sleek, user-friendly interface.
Tip – New to investment, and unsure of where to start? If you’re not comfortable putting money into stocks and shares just yet, there are a bunch of apps/games that allow you to test out different ideas that you might have without any consequence. Trading 212, for example, has a virtual model that allows you to invest virtual money on the stock market, and experiment with your hunches without risk of losing actual capital.
Long term investment growth
Want to invest in something a little more secure and long-term? Property investment is one of the most popular asset classes among those with secure investment portfolios, due to the fact that it’s a tactile, hard-wearing investment that isn’t as volatile as some other investment methods.
Tip – You might think that property investment is something that you can’t really get involved with from the comfort of your own home or through a smartphone app, seeing as it’s an investment in a physical, tactile property that you’d want to go and visit, but during the pandemic many companies have been innovating with technology-based solutions, making it easier than ever for savvy investors to secure great additions to the portfolio completely remotely.
RWinvest for example, an award-winning property investment company with offices around the entire UK, offers VR virtual tours of their different apartments and investment prospects, allowing those interested to get a first-person perspective of what their potential investment might look like in person. They also offer a ton of informative (and mobile-friendly) guides, podcasts, and videos that can be accessed completely for free as a way to get started in learning about the ever-changing property investment market in 2024.
Other helpful productivity apps
To finish, of course, financial and investment apps are the main focus of this article, but it’s also crucial that you use a range of productive apps on your phone in general. Here are some specific popular apps that you might want to consider installing:
- Zoom/Teams/Skype – A good team meeting software is an absolute must for any professional working remotely or as part of a team, particularly now, where we find ourselves in the middle of a pandemic. Not only will this allow you to quickly communicate with members of your team when you need to, featuring not just call functions but also standard text chats and group chats, but you can also make the most of your mobile phone’s camera and microphone, which is ideal if you don’t have access to a webcam on your home PC setup.
- Audible – Spend most of your day sitting in front of a screen and want to rest your eyes for a bit? Audible is a great way to get a good chunk of daily reading done, while doing other chores, tasks, or simply taking a break. You can get a free trial which gives you a book of your choice, and it’s perfect for learning new stuff on the go as you take a break from your regular schedule.
- Headspace – Again, another app that is proving extremely popular lately is Headspace, a simple meditation app that reminds you to take a bit of time each day to collect your thoughts, unwind, and destress. Again, making this a regular fixture in your day can be extremely helpful in breaking up the monotony, and keeping you 100%.