Personal finance on steroids for money nerds—that’s the experience of being at #FinCon18, the annual conference for people who write, blog, teach, and make videos about personal finance. For 4 days last month, I attended talks, workshops, and met dozens of other authors and financial coaches. Over 2,000 authors, bloggers, podcasters, educators, and financial advisors attended. Only once did I make it out of the resort hotel (in Orlando! Universal Studios!) where the conference took place—and then it was to meet up with other coaches at a happy hour networking event.
Greg welcomes me to FinCon!
Jean Chatzky, AARP’s Personal Finance Ambassador and Questis pal, was there to give an opening keynote address. Many other industry leaders were there to give a variety of talks on topics related to money and media, including David Rae, CFP, Kali and Eric Roberge, CFP, Kirk Chisholm from Innovative Advisory Group, Sheri Fitts from Sheridan Road, and financial coach podcasters Leisa Peterson and Garrett Philbin, who spoke about clients’ unconscious money patterns. I ran into Liz Weston while waiting to get a seated massage. Even Mr. Money Mustache and Emma Johnson of WealthySingleMommy fame were there.
One of the most interesting experiences was visiting the exhibits hall. Major organizations such as TD Ameritrade, Vanguard, and Fidelity were represented, along with quite a few new startups offering a variety of ways for people to save or better manage their money. Here are a few services that stood out to me as ones that would interest anyone starting a business, repaying a student loan, and/or looking to spend money more intentionally or save more of it.
If You Need To Start An Emergency Fund: Everyone should absolutely have one of these. Life will inevitably throw a curveball or two your way at some point, and an emergency fund helps you deal with the financial side of it. If you’ve never had one, or have trouble saving, check out SaverLife. It’s a program started by a nonprofit called EARN that helps working families and it’s sponsored by some big financial names, including Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, Prudential, and the MetLife and Intuit Foundations. If you have a savings account, and commit to saving at least $20 a month for 6 months, the program will contribute $10 a month for a total of $60 at the end of the program. The real point isn’t the money—$60 is nice but it’s hardly life-changing—it’s that it gets you into the habit of saving. Even a small cushion can help handle an unexpected expense.
If You Need Help With Managing Estimated Quarterly Taxes: For those with entrepreneurial side hustles, paying quarterly taxes can be a chore. bSolo is a startup from Fidelity Labs that automatically sets aside a portion of your self-employment income into a bSolo account until it’s time for your quarterly payment, and then sends your federal and state payments for you electronically. There are some restrictions, though. For example, the service currently supports only personal accounts at most of the larger national banks. If you have a business account at a local bank, too bad—this issue seems like an obvious limitation. Other limitations: you’ll still have to calculate how much your quarterly taxes should be, and it’s not cheap–$13/month or $35/quarter. But for those just starting out, or if you have trouble regularly setting aside money for taxes or remembering to make payments on time, paying for convenience and avoiding late payment penalties could be worth it.
If You’ve Got Student Loans To Repay: If you haven’t already heard about Student Loan Hero, visit their website for tons of free resources, calculators and tools. They don’t sell any financial products, but if refinancing is a good option for you, the site can connect you with vetted lenders.
If You Want To Make $ Selling Your Used Electronics, Or Save $ By Buying Refurbished: While it’s not the only app that provides a way to get rid of old stuff or buy used, Decluttr offers some advantages over others such as Amazon.com or Ebay. Namely, you get paid in cash for selling your items to them (which must be in good condition) instead of a merchandise credit, and there are no auctions or fees. You select the make, model and condition of your cell phone or tech device and Decluttr gives you an instant price. You can download the free app (available on Android and IOS) and scan your items with your smartphone’s camera. Shipping costs are free whether you are selling or buying. Plus, they buy electronic games, DVDs, CDs, books, and even Legos by the pound, too. You’ll need to enter a minimum of 10 items or have an overall value of $5 to complete your order.*
If You Like Rewards Cards And Want To Maximize Them: Check out Birch Finance. Whether you like travel points or cash back, this free tool can help you maximize your rewards. Link your spending accounts (they use bank-level security and don’t store your login credentials), and Birch will analyze your cards and your spending. It will tell you how much you earned in rewards for each purchase, and let you know if you could’ve earned more using one of your other cards. You can sort your transactions by rewards earned or card used, and it also breaks down your spending by category. But be sure to use your rewards cards responsibly—pay the card in full every month to avoid racking up interest fees, and only buy stuff you were planning to purchase anyway.
Company To Watch: Peak Money, a start-up from Chattanooga that is still in beta. Its stated goal is to bring mindfulness to spending and saving money. Its founders have a background in health and wellness technology, having worked at Spire Labs. Sounds interesting!
*Full disclosure: I was so impressed with their service and their charming Northern British accents that I’ve joined their affiliate program. If you decide to use Decluttr, I will receive a small commission.
Martha Brown Menard, PhD, LMT is a research scientist. She is the Senior Researcher and data diva for Questis, an award winning technology platform that allows advisors to build their own financial wellness programs. An educator and author, Dr. Menard is a financial wellness coach and member of the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education.