The Unsuspected Dark Side of Modern Financial Products

Posted on by S.K. Chakravarthy

If you had to grade how much better off modern society is with financial products and services today versus what we had twenty or thirty years ago, what grade would you assign? A? A+? Or something even better?

Regardless of what your individual opinion is, it’s an indisputable fact that financial services have become much more democratized and widely available today than they have ever been in the past. Whether you want to invest, save money, track spending, borrow money, whether from an institution or from somebody else just like you, it’s all available right in your palm, with your smartphone.

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A Fascinating New Approach to Serving Women in Financial Services

Posted on by S.K. Chakravarthy

 

Think of the last five ads or pitches you recall seeing for any financial services products recently. What has been the primary theme or hook? My observation has been that most if not all of these products look to dangle the lure of more – specifically, of having or getting more, with the product or service being pitched. The assumption is that the prospect or intended “target” is sold because he/ she gets a better deal, and that’s the end of the story. This has always caused a low-grade dissatisfaction in my mind – I’ve always found them wanting and unsatisfactory as a pitch, and yet have never been able to pinpoint, leave alone articulate why that is the case, and what would truly make me happy or excited to try something new.

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The Five Habits of Financially Self-driven People

Posted on by S.K. Chakravarthy

 

In the last few weeks, we took a look at problems in the current paradigms in managing one’s finances. I also proposed a manifesto  of financial self-determination to help individuals of every financial stripe take control of their personal financial situation and start moving in the direction of greater strength and confidence.

This week we will take that process a step further and train our lens on what characterizes these people who set and drive their own agendas so actions and events accrue to their financial benefit. What do they do differently? How can we also learn from their habits and begin to take those first few steps towards greater financial self-determination.

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The Missing Holy Grail in Personal Finance

Posted on by S.K. Chakravarthy

 

Along with resolutions to lose weight, get healthy or exercise more, getting a better handle on personal finances has to rank up there among the most ardently undertaken and broken resolutions of all time. Each time the lure is unfailing, with books, programs and magazines promising the utopia of fully balanced checkbooks, low credit card balances, and bulging wallets and retirement accounts.

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Financial Nonprofits – A Unique Example

Posted on by S.K. Chakravarthy

 

The personal “re-birth” stories of many personal finance bloggers on the web looks very similar: a crisis triggered by unmanageable debt, the “come to Jesus” moment, and the redemption, usually through hard-won frugality, thrift and penny-by-penny savings. The virtues usually extolled are the need to get out of debt, the importance of understanding the math behind money, and of course, the magic of compound interest in investments.

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