5 TED Talks About Finance

Ted talk

Here, we discuss five very informative and relevant TED Talks about finance.

Finance issues and money affect us all in many aspects of our daily lives. Whether it comes to getting a loan, credit scores, smart spending, savings, or any other financial subject, our lives are very much shaped by matters of finance.

In the spirit of that deeper understanding of finance-related matters, we hear from five experts.

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Shivani Siroya: A Smart Loan for People With No Credit History (Yet)

In this most revealing of TED Talks about finance, Shivani Siroya highlights a very large, yet rarely confronted problem in the financial world: the inability of so many people across the globe to obtain a credit identity and subsequently obtain loans and have a chance of operating within today’s modern financial systems. Siroya shines the light on the inability of approximately 2.5-billion people to obtain a credit identity due to lack of identity, geographic location, and technological disconnects. Born of her passion for helping those dealing with this sort of issue, Siroya created InVenture. This program allows those merely possessing a cell phone to create and build a credit identity that then can be used to operate within today’s financial systems.

Joy Sun: Should You Donate Differently?

Philanthropy is a part of many peoples’ finances at some point or another. While it is a given that when we donate, we want the maximum use and impact to come of our charity, this does not always happen. In this very informative of offerings of TED Talks about finance Joy Sun helps us understand exactly how our money is used when it comes to donations and philanthropic organizations. With the help of her organization, GiveDirectly, Sun champions and ensures the provision of funds and other charity directly to those needing it as opposed to through unnecessary and wasteful avenues.

Jessi Arrington: Wearing Nothing New

Jessi Arrington is a notable designer based in Brooklyn. Before founding her design firm, Workshop, she was an integral player in the branding concepts of many companies including Tomato Records, Brooklyn Brewery, and many others. Her TED Talk, “Wearing Nothing New” is a showcase of frugal and conscious spending habits. She demonstrates how the wonders of smart spending and a little imagination can lend to an amazing wardrobe and sense of style without breaking the bank. Financial well being does not have to conflict with being hip, stylish, and feeling great.

Benartzi Shlomo: Saving For Tomorrow, Tomorrow

Perhaps the most accurate description of the importance of saving money comes from The Society for Financial Awareness, “If you are living without a safety net, you are living on the financial edge – hoping to get by without a financial crisis. This is like playing with fire.”

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In the Benartzi Shlomo’s TED Talk, “Saving For Tomorrow, Tomorrow”, we get a very direct look into this exact subject. Why should we save? Why is it so hard for some of us to save? How can we create mental patterns to reverse this issue? These are just a few specifics of Shlomo’s enlightening approach to saving.

Didier Sornette: How We Can Predict The Next Financial Crisis

Our final presenter in TED Talks about finance is professional risk economist Didier Sornette. In his presentation, Didier lays out the case for being able to predict major market crashes. Using event markers and pattern awareness, his Financial Crisis Observatory is able to foresee coming financial shakedowns such as the 2008 housing bubble and others. By understanding these patterns, one can have a much better propensity to solid investment decisions and subsequent, positive futures.

Quite literally, our finances are our future. Being wise in these areas of our lives means for a much better quality of life and future. These five TED Talks about finance give us just a few more tools in that endeavor of financial wisdom and well being.