Your retirement may be close, but you've got plenty of time to grow that nest egg. Your smartphone is a potentially untapped resource for growing your retirement money, so make sure you take advantage of the opportunities it presents.
Use Investment Apps
Personal finance apps like E*Trade let average people invest in the market without a broker. Before you jump on personal finance apps, do some research about the types of investments you want to make.
Many people later in life prefer safer investments, though there is definitely an advantage to short-term investments that could bring higher returns. As long as you understand what investment strategy you're comfortable with, you're ready to try out an investment app.
Start slowly until you get the hang of how it works. Investing is difficult even for the pros, but one piece of advice endures: invest in businesses and people, not in market trends.
If you know about or can learn about a business, entrepreneur, or an industry, center your investments there. Industry information will be more helpful than trying to analyze what the market is doing.
Save Spare Change
Getting the money to invest can be a struggle. If you have kids in college, have medical bills to pay, or are on a fixed income, you may not have much saved for investing.
A spare change app rounds up every debit card transaction you make and puts the spare change into a separate account. Then, most of those apps, like Acorns, invest or save that spare change for you.
You don't have to put in a lot of effort in the investments, because the app companies have financial advisers creating portfolios for the app users to invest in. Spare change apps have another advantage: the minimums for investing are very low.
You don't need $1,000 to open an account; the amount is more like $5 or $10, an easy amount to accumulate in spare change over a month.
Create a Budget
You're no stranger to making a budget, and you've probably had money pulled from your paycheck for your 401k for years. When you reach your 50s, it's time to make a more aggressive investment budget.
Take a look at your finances, especially your expenses and how much you're saving. If you're not saving much each month, try to trim some of those expenses so you can put away more money.
Switching from digital cable to a streaming service like Hulu can save you almost $100 each month, for example.
Use a budgeting app like PocketGuard to keep track of exactly where your money is going. A visual will help you discover places you could be spending too much. When you set aside savings each month, remember to invest some.
However you decide to invest, whether on your own or through a financial adviser, make sure some of that money is going into a higher-yield account than your savings.
Video Chat With Financial Advisers
We don't all have time to visit a financial adviser's office in person, especially with kids in high school, doctor's appointments to go to, and homes to care for.
But fitting in an appointment with a financial adviser becomes easier when you do that appointment via video chat. Let your adviser explain your financial information face to face instead of over an impersonal phone call.
For a successful video chat experience, use the right equipment and the right network. Let's face it, using new technology isn't always the easiest, and focusing on a small screen while trying to talk to another person can be frustrating.
Focus on finances, not on a bad video connection, by connecting with a quality smartphone on a good network. The Galaxy S8, paired with T-Mobile's 4G LTE network, for example, is a great combination.
The Galaxy has a 5.8-inch infinity screen with a sharp display, and 4G LTE will give you a high-quality video connection.
It's never too late to start saving for and investing in retirement. Personalize your investment strategy with your smartphone, whether you use it to connect with a financial adviser or choose to manage your own investment apps.
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