We live in a world where we have unprecedented access to technology and tools that can make our lives easier and more efficient. In fact, there are so many choices that it can be overwhelming to choose among them without advice and guidance.
We’re big believers in online money management and we always want our members to have access to the information and tools they need to achieve their financial goals. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite personal finance software with some help from financial experts. Here are the tools we recommend.
Download Now: The Online Money Management Tools Comparison Chart
Mobile Wallets
Whether you make most of your purchases online or in person, you need a secure way to pay – something that doesn’t leave your credit or debit card open to theft or fraud. Mason Miranda of Credit Card Insider told us that a mobile wallet is his favorite financial tool.
“Mobile and digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal are great ways to pay online. These offer enhanced security features like tokenization and contactless payments, and can make it faster to check out with an online order.”
Tokenized payment methods create a one-time digital token for each transaction and that’s the only information stored. If there’s a security breach, the token is useless and will not compromise your card or identity.
Pocketguard
Where does your money go? If you don’t know, then our next money management tool, which comes from Deborah Goldberg of EffortlessInsurance.com, might help.
“One of the best budgeting tools out there is the app Pocketguard, which helps you track your monthly spending. You can track individual and recurring bills and find savings with the tap of a finger.”
It’s easy to overspend if you’re not tracking what you buy and comparing it to your financial plan. We’ve all had the experience of holding onto a subscription that we don’t use and using Pocketguard can help you streamline your spending and do a better job of managing your cash.
You Need a Budget
Deborah Goldberg recommended a second budgeting tool – here’s what she told us:
“Another great personal finance tool is You Need A Budget, an app that lets you assign each dollar of income a specific ‘job.’ These jobs can be to pay for living expenses, boost savings, or invest in stocks. This app helps users easily see where their money is going and allocate it better.”
Creating a household budget makes it easy to set and attain financial goals such as buying a new car or saving for retirement. By allowing people to allocate their money to specific jobs, You Need A Budget can help you put your money to work for you.
HomeZada
If you own a home, you know that it can be challenging to keep track of your mortgage payments, home equity and insurance. If you’re planning to remodel or renovate, the job gets even more complicated. John Bodrozic is the co-founder of HomeZada, a personal finance app designed to help homeowners with these challenges. He told us:
“HomeZada is a personal finance software app that helps homeowners manage, maintain, protect and improve their home. Homeowners get updates on the value of their home, their balance on their mortgage, and their home equity. A home maintenance schedule is created for you to remind you of preventative maintenance and templates help you manage budgets and costs for all your home remodel projects. Homeowners can also create a home inventory and store all their home documents for insurance purposes.”
Whether you are preparing to buy your first home or you’ve been a homeowner for decades, HomeZada can help you fulfill your responsibilities as a homeowner.
Squeeze
We all would like to save money on our monthly bills but we don’t always have the time to shop around for better rates and deals. Tyler Boyd is the Chief Strategy Officer of Squeeze, an app that’s designed to help people pay less each month. He told us:
“My favorite personal finance tool is Squeeze, an app that helps you stop overpaying on monthly household bills by shopping for the lowest rates on recurring bills like home and auto insurance. It also allows you to compare quotes to find the most value for your buck.”
What we like about Squeeze is that it saves time. At the end of a long day, it can feel impossible to find the time or mental energy required to comparison-shop and research your monthly expenses to save money. Squeeze offers an easy and convenient way to do just that.
Mint
If you’re looking for an all-in-one financial management tool with a ton of great features, one of our favorites in personal finance software is Mint. Mint is budgeting software that does a lot more than your traditional online banking. You can link it to your financial institution, bank account and credit card, set a monthly budget and receive notifications if you go over your budget in any category.
In addition to helping you track your spending habits, Mint will also notify you of large expenditures and potential fraud. You can use it to set due date reminders for your bills and it comes with free credit monitoring. It’s available as a mobile app or as desktop software and will even show you your Equifax credit score.
Honeydue
There’s no question that money causes a lot of arguments between couples. Managing finances as a couple is challenging whether you’re married or not and it’s helpful to have a tool that facilitates co-management of money and better communication at the same time.
Honeydue is a budgeting app for couples. You can use it to set individual and shared budgets and link it to your accounts, including bank accounts, loans and credit cards. We really like its built-in chat feature, which encourages communication. It has the potential to remove the tension from money management for couples.
PersonalCapital
PersonalCapital is a budgeting app with a twist. If you’re someone who’s interested in saving and investing for retirement, this app will allow you to create a budget and allocate some of it to an investment account.
You can also link the app to your bank, credit card and investment accounts, including 401(k) accounts and IRAs. It includes a net worth tracker and portfolio breakdown to help you keep track of your investments.
Bankaroo
It’s important to teach kids about money management at an early age and Bankaroo is financial software that’s designed for kids between the ages of 9 and 12. With it, kids open virtual bank accounts and learn how to create a budget.
What we really like is that Bankaroo sets up allowances as recurring payments and encourages kids to balance their accounts. Kids who use Bankaroo will have a head-start when it comes to managing their personal finances as adults.
Quicken
Quicken is arguably the best-known personal financial software on the market because it has been around for decades. We like it because in addition to helping users create household budgets, it does a lot of other things.
- Tracks debts
- Sets and tracks savings goals
- Pays bills
- Provides investment coaching
- Expense tracking
While you’ll need to pay for premium features, Quicken is robust personal finance software that can help you with every aspect of money management.
Acorns
It’s never too early to begin saving for retirement but if you’re someone who doesn’t have experience investing your money, it can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there’s an app that can help.
Acorns is an investment tracking app that has affordable monthly plans starting at just $1 and includes plenty of robust investment tools. You can use it to round up your spare change and add it to your savings, choose and monitor your investments and get investment advice from experts. If you choose their family plan for $5 per month, you’ll be able to create investment accounts for your kids, too.
TurboTax
We would be remiss if we didn’t include tax software that helps you file quickly and accurately. TurboTax is the leader in this field for a reason. It has been around for decades and it is updated every year to reflect changes in IRS forms and tax law. It is made by Intuit, the same company that makes Quicken and Mint.
If your taxes are simple and straightforward, you can take advantage of TurboTax’s free filing options for state and federal taxes. If you have questions or need advice, you can get what you need from their team of experts.
We also want to point out that filing your 2020 taxes can bring some special challenges. Many of our Addition Financial members have asked us how to account for economic stimulus payments on their taxes. TurboTax guarantees that you’ll get the maximum return due to you, and their experts will help you navigate changes in tax law, including how to handle economic stimulus payments.
Managing your money is an important responsibility but you don’t need to do it alone. By using the personal finance software and online money management tools we’ve included here, you can set a budget, manage your spending and meet your financial goals.
Managing your money has become easier than ever with so many online tools available on the market today. The difficult part is choosing the right platform for you! Our comparison chart allows you to quickly assess the most popular money management tools side-by-side so you can make an informed decision. Learn more here >
Do you need accounts that work for you every day? Click here to open an Addition Financial checking account now!
Posted on Mar 19, 2021
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