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Top Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Financial Planner

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Top Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Financial Planner

Top Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Financial Planner

Top Mistakes To Avoid When Selecting A Financial Planner

Choosing a financial planner is not as easy as a walk through the park. It is important to find someone who you can trust to handle your financial decisions. There are many types of financial planners, and it can be difficult to know which one is the best fit for your needs. You will also want to research the planner’s background and credentials to ensure they are qualified to help you. Nevertheless, there are some mistakes that you need to avoid when choosing a financial planner.

Who Is A Financial Planner?

A financial planner is a professional who helps you manage your money and plan for your financial future. Financial planners help you create a plan that takes into account your current financial situation, your goals, your risk tolerance, and any other factors that may affect your finances. They can provide advice on investments, retirement planning, estate planning, taxes, and insurance.

How Is A Financial Planner Different From A Financial Advisor?

A financial planner is a professional who helps individuals and businesses create long-term plans for their finances. Financial advisors, on the other hand, are more focused on providing short-term advice on investments and managing money. Financial planners provide a broader range of services, which can include creating financial plans, budgeting, and providing advice on estate planning and taxes.

Financial planners are also able to provide advice on retirement planning, college savings, insurance, and other topics that may affect an individual’s financial future. They are able to look at the big picture and provide guidance on a variety of topics, not just investments.

Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing A Financial Planner

Although choosing a financial planner can be difficult, it is necessary that you avoid some red flags and take note of some things when making the choice.

Some of the mistakes to avoid include:

 

  1. Mistaking a financial advisor for a financial planner:

Earlier, the difference between both has been stated. If you hire a financial advisor when what you really need is a financial planner, you may end up with advice that does not take into account your longer-term goals and objectives. A financial planner will assess your current financial situation, understand your goals and objectives, and develop a comprehensive plan to help you reach those goals.

 

  1. Hiring the first planner you meet:

Patience is necessary when hiring a financial planner. You should take the time to do your research and make sure you find someone who is knowledgeable and has experience in the areas that you need help with. Interviewing multiple planners and doing your due diligence can help you find the right fit for your needs. One of the biggest mistakes people make is rushing into a hiring decision without taking the time to vet the planner. Even if a planner looks good on paper, it doesn’t mean it will be the right fit for your individual circumstances. Taking the time to interview multiple planners and do your research can help you find the right professional for your financial planning needs.

 

  1. Hiring a planner without the necessary qualifications:

Anyone can claim to be a financial planner. This is why you need to check qualifications when hiring one. Although it may appear that anyone can provide financial advice, professional financial planners must have at least a bachelor’s degree in finance or economics and have passed the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam. Additionally, they must complete continuing education on a regular basis to stay up to date on the latest developments in the industry. Furthermore, professional financial planners must abide by the Financial Planning Association’s Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility, which sets out standards of conduct and ethical behavior for financial planners. This is to ensure that financial planners are providing the best advice to their clients and acting in their best interests.

 

  1. Picking a financial planner that does not put your interest first:

A financial planner should put the interest of the client first. A financial planner who does not prioritize the client’s interests may be tempted to make decisions that are not in the best interest of the client, such as recommending investments with high fees and commissions that benefit the planner more than the client. A financial planner should be focused on what is best for the client, not what is best for the planner.

 

  1. Assuming you know a lot:

You might know quite a bit about finance, but when hiring a financial planner, you should not assume you know so much. Even if you have a good understanding of finance, it is important to remember that a financial planner has a much more comprehensive understanding of the market and its trends. They can make informed decisions that you may not be able to, and they can help you plan for the future more effectively.

 

Hiring a financial planner is great. Financial planners are also more experienced in dealing with financial institutions and can help you find the best rates and deals. They can help you develop a personalized plan that takes into account your individual goals and needs. As well, they can provide guidance and advice on how to manage your finances and make the best use of your resources. However, if you hire the wrong financial planner, you may be taken advantage of, lose money, or end up paying more than necessary. It is important to do your research to ensure you are hiring a reliable and trustworthy financial planner.

 

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BUSINESS

Resilient Future: The 2023 West Africa Property Investment Summit

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Charting a Resilient Future: Insights from the 2023 West Africa Property Investment Summit

In a significant gathering of real estate influencers, the West Africa Property Investment Summit 2023, which took place on Wednesday, 23rd November, brought together leading figures from Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, and Nigeria. Under the theme “Rewriting the Narrative: Positioning & Strategies for the Future,” the summit served as a vibrant forum for in-depth discussions and strategic planning, aiming to shape the trajectory of West Africa’s real estate landscape: “Industry Leaders Chart Course For Resilient Future At The 2023 West African Property Investment Summit.”

Resilience in the Face of Macroeconomic Challenges

One of the key speakers, Mr Tola Akinhanmi, the Head of Real Estate Finance at Stanbic IBTC, took centre stage to address the challenges posed by the current macroeconomic environment. Despite grappling with inflation, exchange rate volatility, and fluctuating interest rates, Akinhanmi’s message was one of resilience. He underscored the real estate sector’s intrinsic strength, characterizing it as a long-term asset class that provides essential business infrastructure supporting people’s livelihoods, work, and recreation. Akinhanmi highlighted Stanbic IBTC’s commitment to working closely with sponsors, understanding assets, and structuring solutions that ensure stability, allowing these assets to remain relevant through various economic cycles.

Optimism for 2024: A Balanced Outlook

Oladapo Runsewe, the Projects and City Reports Lead at Estate Intel provided a positive outlook for 2024. Citing statistics from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics that indicated an increase in the real construction sector’s contributions to the GDP in the last quarter, Runsewe foresaw a balanced and positive effect on the market. He emphasized the inevitability of construction and development continuing, driven by the ongoing demand for housing and real estate investments. However, Runsewe highlighted the imperative for collaboration, urging industry participants and the government to join forces on a larger scale to address the substantial housing deficit, particularly in urban centres like Lagos.

Sustainability as a Driving Force

Temilola Shonola, Head of the Edge Program at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), brought attention to the importance of sustainable building practices. Shonola urged developers to embrace green building, dispelling the misconception that it is an expensive endeavour. She introduced the IFC’s free App designed to simplify the green certification process, making it accessible for builders looking to contribute to environmental sustainability. Shonola stressed that more of the market need to adopt green building practices, not only for environmental reasons but also as a means to reduce utility costs and ensure long-term impact.

Navigating the Commercial Real Estate Cycle

Pepler Sandri, the Director of Capital Markets at JLL, delved into the complexities of the commercial real estate cycle. Acknowledging the sector’s challenges and the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Sandri painted a picture of recovery and resilience. He noted that Nigeria, like many other countries, faced unique macro issues affecting its recovery. Looking ahead, Sandri expressed optimism as interest rates stabilize, predicting a potential recovery in the next 6-12 months in global developed markets. However, he cautioned that Nigeria might experience a longer recovery period, echoing sentiments from Stanbic’s chief economist, who suggested a year or two before a strong trajectory toward recovery becomes evident.

Conclusion: A Call for Collaboration and Sustainable Growth

The West Africa Property Investment Summit 2023 provided an invaluable platform for industry leaders to share insights, strategies, and collaborative approaches to propel the real estate sector forward. As the summit concluded, attendees were left with a renewed sense of optimism and determination to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of West Africa’s property market. The resounding message from the summit echoed the need for collaboration, sustainability, and strategic planning to ensure a resilient and prosperous future for the region’s real estate industry. Read More

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BANKING

How Kora Payment Link Helps Online Businesses To Grow

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How Kora Payment Link Helps Online Businesses To Grow

The advent of technology with the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the adoption and popularity of online businesses. This is owed to the ability to operate small and medium-sized businesses from anywhere across the globe – which alludes to the fact that the world is now a global village: How Kora Payment Link Helps Online Businesses To Grow.”

Therefore, there has been a meteoric increase in the number of online shoppers seeking products or services from the available businesses in the digital space.

This is evident in the emergence of e-commerce platforms that operate as an online marketplace for both buyers and sellers. It is also playing out in social commerce through the use of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or X (Twitter) that people continuously use for their shopping experience.

By and large, online business is today a thriving venture that continues to generate a staggering income for businesses and the local economy.

One of the major perks of online businesses is the flexibility of their payments, such that merchants can offer a range of payment methods. The most common options are bank transfers or card payments, in which businesses provide their customers with bank account details to pay.

But as innovation continues to meet the evolution of online businesses, Kora is making payment strategy seamless for both merchants and their customers. This is through the Kora Payment Link.

What Is Kora Payment Link?

A Kora Payment Link is a clickable link that enables business customers to complete a purchase. This is offered as a digital link, which can be used across various social media platforms, websites, or other messaging tools.

How this works is that a customer is directed to a merchant’s online checkout page to complete their transaction anytime they use the Kora Payment Link. This link can be used for both a single transaction, as in a customer invoice and for multiple transactions, as a buy button on social media platforms.

It should be noted that the Kora Payment Link facilitates simple online payments as it does not require a website or code to create and use the link. Therefore, online businesses can easily create a payment link that takes customers directly to the online checkout page of the merchant.

Furthermore, the Kora Payment Link can be used for fundraising, donation, and subscription purposes.

Benefits Of Kora Payment Link To Online Businesses

  • Accept Payments Anywhere

You can receive payments from your customers across the globe through the payment link that you can easily share on social platforms or websites. This is also a “call to action” strategy to compel your customers to complete their purchase with you without delay.

  •  Keep Payments Simple

Customers do not have to log into a mobile app or website before paying. This is because they can easily click the link anytime and from anywhere to take them to the checkout page to complete their purchase.

  • Flexible Payment Options

Kora Payment Link provides online businesses various payment options tailored to their preferences. This can be bank transfers, payment cards, or other digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay.

Therefore, it is the volition of online businesses to design their payment links towards their preferred payment options. Hence attracting customers to complete their purchase with the knowledge that they can use certain payment gateway.

How Online Businesses Can Use Kora Payment Link

Here is a quick step for using the Kora Payment Link:

  • Create a Kora account and log in.
  • Navigate to “Payment Link.”
  • Enter your details and customize your link with certain preferences.
  • Preview your link and activate it.
  • Share your Kora Payment Link on social media platforms and other messaging tools.
  • Start receiving payments.

Conclusion

We can not overemphasize the importance of having a sustainable payment strategy for online businesses to attract more customers who would complete purchases with them. That is why Kora introduced a payment link which merchants can easily share with their customers for transactions.

Kora Payment Link is easy and free to use, and you can get started by creating a Kora account now. [site]

 

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BANKING

How Kora Improves Cross-Border Transactions For Businesses

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How Kora Improves Cross-Border Transactions For Businesses

Cross-border transactions are increasingly becoming popular without the concern of waiting days or transfer fees. This is due to the emergence of a fintech company like Kora, which makes cross-border payments simple, cheaper, faster, and easily accessible for businesses: How Kora Improves Cross-Border Transactions For Businesses.”

A BCC Research of January 2023 revealed that the global cross-border payments market is expected to grow from $176.5 billion in 2021 to over $238.9 billion by 2027. The vehicle for this growth is fintech disruptors like Kora, which offers a digital platform and innovative messaging and settlement layers to improve cross-border business transactions.

Ways Kora Is Changing Cross-Border Transactions For Businesses

  • Improved Convenience

Kora enables you to make transactions fully on its platform, unlike the traditional method of visiting physical branches. This allows you to use the platform anytime and from anywhere without a glitch.

A simple user interface and streamlined onboarding characterize this platform to simplify cross-border transactions. It means you can use Kora to receive funds from your customers or transfer with its bulk payout, multicurrency payout, or mobile money options.

  • Speed And Efficiency

Kora enables instant or same-day cross-border transactions, which is in the converse of the traditional settlement layers that can take days. Therefore, businesses can complete their transactions in less than one hour on this platform. You do not experience any form of delay in sending or receiving funds on this platform, irrespective of the amount. This is due to its high scalability and optimization of Kora.

  • Lower Fees

This platform eliminates the meddlesome of third parties like banks and agents in the cross-border transfer chain. As such, it offers a relatively low transaction fee, which is often less than 1% of the transfer amount. This is a major perk of Kora compared to its contemporaries.

  • Enhanced Transparency

Kora offers an advanced tracking dashboard that provides real-time access to your funds and the estimated delivery timelines. This is because the platform has state-of-the-art blockchain technology that provides complete transparency in the tracking of your funds. It helps to reconcile your income with expenses.

  • Security And Compliance

Kora employs features like two-factor authentication (2FA) and other security measures to add extra security layers and protect user transactions and funds. This platform is in total adherence to global compliance standards to protect users’ funds and data.

  • Reduced Foreign Exchange (FX) Risk

Cross-border transactions often involve multiple banks and currencies whose operations result in significant foreign exchange fees and currency volatility that create discrepancies between transferred and received funds.

This is largely the case when businesses in a particular country receive payments from another country.

However, Kora reduces foreign exchange risks that are associated with cross-border transactions by routing funds efficiently at the best exchange rate. On the other hand, Kora users can avoid foreign exchange concerns by using the multicurrency account on the platform that allows them to receive payments in currencies other than their local currency.

Conclusion

Cross-border payment is important to businesses as it enables their growth in the global market. But as digital payments continue to gain traction, there is a need for businesses to know how to leverage the technology to boost sales.

One major platform you can use for your cross-border transactions with your customers is Kora. This is due to the simplicity and scalability it offers you.

You can also start making cross-border transactions seamlessly when you create a Kora account now. [site]

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