Voice-based financial planning

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  Voice, charts and buttons insteadof mouse, keyboard and computer

Inspiration

Financial planning is slow and expensive. In Australia, a statement of advice typically costs around $6,000 and can take weeks or months to prepare. Much of the delay is the result of twenty-year-old financial planning software that most advisers cannot use, and so rely on a (expensive) paraplanner who never meets the client. The adviser collects the data and sends it to the paraplanner, who creates the advice document, wading through an ever-increasing pile. There had to be a better way. What if you included the software and paraplanner in the meeting in a way that wasn't intrusive?

What it does

The app allows the adviser to ask the Alexa skill to do financial planning calculations and research using natural voice. It then creates the advice documents and emails them to the adviser. For example, the adviser could simply say "test employer contributions" and the skill will ask "what is the new contribution?" It will then update the client's retirement situation, using a chart showing how long retirement funds will last with the old and new contributions, and how they measure up to life expectancy. Easy to understand and a process followed by all categories of financial planning, such as estate planning and wealth creation.

On completion, the adviser simply says, "print the reports," and the advice document and compliance checklist are emailed to him/her.

The adviser has saved the cost of a paraplanner and planning software while dramatically reducing the time. A simple screen saver records the meeting for reference and compliance purposes.

How we built it

We used Lambda (version 20 using ES Modules), triggered by Alexa. The Lambda takes the Alexa input (JSON), does the calculation, and returns a JSON to Alexa, which renders the response. Lambda creates a chart and posts it to an S3 Bucket as a .png, which the Alexa APL accesses.

All details are stored in a DynamoDB database, so details can be used in future sessions.

Challenges we ran into

Lambda version 20 is not compatible with most chart programs we tried, and we wasted a lot of time sorting this out. We settled on Quick Chart, which isn't that quick, and the process of sending a chart image to an S3 bucket and then to Alexa has a slight lag.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We have two Alexa Skills offering voice-based financial planning that are certified and live. These are offered in both our sites, www.finchat.com.au and www.smfp.au, which is probably why both sites have recently been nominated as finalists in the Australian Wealth Management's Innovator of the Year.

What we learned

We learned AI can be very useful and found Claude helpful and competent.

What's next for Voice-based financial planning

This has enormous potential. Natural voice is the ultimate UI and not only helps advisers but can be used for general financial advice by ordinary people. It makes financial planning advice affordable and accessible. By adding APIs and LLMs, users can get accurate answers from the skill, as well as knowledge curated by other service providers and AI services.

Built With

• alexa
• amazons3
• dynamodb
• lambda