Finance at your fingertips. If you are looking to budget, invest, or anything in between, there's an app for that.
Apps for Managing Your Overall Finances
Mint:
- No monthly subscription
- Offers multiples tools for:
Budgeting
Managing debt
Tracking investments
Paying bills
Albert:
- Free for self-managed option
- Choice of monthly subscription for Albert Genius - which includes team of human financial experts – for minimum of $4/month.
- Offers tools for budgeting, savings, and managing bills
- Investing features will be available in the future
Apps for Budgeting
You Need a Budget (YNAB):
- First two months free, then $6.99/month
- “Every Dollar Has a Job” – whether it’s savings, paying down debt, or investing.
EveryDollar:
- “Zero-budget” concept where each dollar is assigned to a specific goal
- Automated expense tracking
Apps for Savings or Investing
Acorns:
- Free for students with a .edu email address
- Others have a monthly subscription ranging from $1-$3/month
- Automatically rounds up purchases and invests the change
- Uses low cost exchange-traded funds
Robinhood:
- Investment app allowing investments in stocks, ETFs, options
- Commission free
- Desktop and mobile compatible
Personal Capital:
- Requires a minimum of $100,000 and combines robo-advisor algorithms and human advisors
- Fee is based on your account value and starts at 0.89%
- Additional fees for different types of investments
Apps for Managing Debt
ReadyForZero:
- Free
- Helps design payoff strategies to manage various debts
- Uses the “snowball method” – pay off the smallest balance first.
ChangED:
- $1/month
- Any purchases is rounded up to the next dollar and the amount by which the purchase is rounded up is taken from your bank account and put towards student loans.
How do you choose the right app?
Consider your goal – are you trying to pay down debt, budget, invest, or just get a big picture view of your finances? This will determine which features are important and which are not.
Security – Ask about their security practices and encryption. Look for 256 bit encryption, one of the most secure encryption methods. Research and ask about any data breaches – how were they handled?
What fits with your personality? How involved do you want to be with the app? Do you want to have the option of interacting with people? Or do you want it all automated?
Disclosure:
This TV appearance provided on this website are provided for personal finance and investment information and are not to be construed as investment advice. Under no circumstances does the information in this content represent a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. The views and opinions expressed are John Caserta’s own and not necessarily those of HTK, and there is no implied endorsement by John or HTK of any advice or investment strategy. Mint, Albert, Acorn, and ChangEd are unaffiliated with HTK and John Caserta. Investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are subject to market volatility. When buying or selling an ETF, you will pay or receive the current market price, which may be more or less than net asset value.
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