By Clayton Daniel

Do you know what I like most about technology? It’s that I can do less boring things, and focus more on the things I like. I’m not the only one, this has been happening for thousands of years.

Years ago as hunter-gatherers, one of the more lazy villagers looked at everyone else and said ‘why don’t we have the plants and animals we want to eat here instead of looking for them every day?’ And just like that, farming was born.

Then we started riding the animals rather than simply eating them. This turned into the horse and cart. A bit more tinkering created the steam engine, and finally the car. Technology solved the problem of transportation.

Daily annoyances to keep a tidy house have taken the same journey. Electricity and plumbing have solved many of the smaller day to day requirements we need to keep our homes clean.

As you can see, the roll of technology has been to remove us from performing grunt work. Free our time and resources up. Allow us to get more out of less.

But the interesting thing about technology these days is that it’s focus is no longer about solving physical menial work. It’s actually starting to solve cognitive problems. Being helpful in ways to help us maximise what we want to do with the free time we now have.

For example, I can simply say the words ‘hey Siri’ and my phone lights up, waiting to answer my questions. It’s not perfect yet, but it’s getting better. Raiz in a similar way have been helping us invest simply by rounding up purchases and investing the spare change. As you can see, technology is solving more than simply physical exertion.

And now, Raiz is stepping it up a notch. The suite of financial services is extending to help you get the most out of your day to day cash flow. This new update more closely resembles your own financial concierge, all from the inside of your phone.

So what does it do? Well to put simply, it takes the cognitive grunt work out of getting the best result from your day to day cash flow. And how does technology do this? Well it uses machine learning to understand your usual spending patterns. From there, it can tell you a lot.

It can tell you if your overspending compared to your normal spending patterns. It can tell you if you are overspending compared to other people your age and on your salary. If you miss a regular bill it will remind you, and it can give you insights such as where you are spending most of your money, and what days you spend the most.

It gives you useful information in the moments you need the information. It removes you from having to know everything, and outsources it to automation.

As a finance guy, my main message over the last few years has been to outsource to automation. And I’ve seen remarkable results from everyday people who reduced the amount of things they monitor and measure, and simply focused on what they want out of life instead.

Technology in the past has helped us reduce grunt work so we have more time. Technology of the future on the other hand will help us make the most of our new found time. The Raiz financial concierge is one of the first apps to help you do just that.

Clayton Daniel, author of Fund Your Ideal Lifestyle