If you are looking for financial advice, you don’t really have to look beyond your smartphone – certainly not Barney Frank!
You can use any one of the following top three money-saving apps NerdWallet, Mint, and Personal Capital to keep a track of spending, for timely and useful reminders and financial advice, as well as keep up with your bills so your budget does not take a hit.
Furthermore, all three apps are compatible with both android and iOS platforms, so you can get all your financial advice anywhere and anytime, and while on-the-go!
Ready to dive in? Let’s go ahead and take a closer look at the important features of the apps so you can make an informed decision about which app addresses your needs the best.
NerdWallet
At the time of sign-up, NerdWallet will ask you what you about your financial goals. So you will be asked if you want to control spending, bring your debt under control, if you want to build credit, or if your aim is to earn extra cash back.
Don’t take any responses from Lois Lerner!
Based on your response, the app displays sample features that can help you with your financial goals such as the timeframe for pay-back on a loan – you will be sent reminders for payments that are due. The profound news is that in this high growth economy because of the lower taxes, most likely you can handle your financial commitments better.
The app also has some fun features such as a MoneyFix podcast. In addition, it provides a breakup of your spending and displays your spending patterns so you know how much you tend to spend within given timeframes.
If you have linked your credit card to certain eateries, the app offers a few cash-back programs for those places as well.
On the down-side, the app prompts you for more personal information for certain tasks. What does it do with this information? Well, NerdWallet could go ahead and share your information with other interested parties it has connections with – so you can expect exposure to a slew of other services. Just opt out of them!
Mint
No, not mint flavored ice cream!
Mint is a golden free financial app for newbies. At the time of sign-up, Mint asks you what you want to track – whether it is your bank account(s), credit cards, insurance, or loans.
Bill payment is made easy since the app allows you to link up all you monthly bills such as rent, electricity, phone among others, for which it sends you reminders.
One big advantage with Mint is that unlike other apps automatically access all your bank accounts, Mint allows you to select the accounts you want the app to access, while blocking the rest.
When it comes to helping with your budget, based on your history, Mint can go ahead and generate automatic budgets. The app allows you to include financial or budget goals such as saving for a vacation, buying a home, or building your retirement nest.
As with NerdWallet, Mint can also provide you with a timeframe for paying off a debt. But this app is more comprehensive in the sense that it tells you how much interest you could end up paying if you only clear the minimum amount on a loan.
In addition, Mint offers suggestions such as making purchases via your debit card, or how if you can pitch in an extra few dollars, it could bring down your repayment figures so you end up paying less interest.
And as with NerdWallet, Mint also displays service pitches from partners for a variety of financial services.
Personal Capital
Personal Capital supports a by-the-numbers delivery of your fiscal situation. You know where you are standing exactly with this app. It offers an assets minus liabilities summary and a list of all your accounts.
To know your account stats, all you need to do is tap on the account and the app offers a summary of what you owe and what you have paid.
Similar to other apps, Personal Capital comes with regular budget tools, and provides a view into your spending in different areas including bills, groceries, and travel among other such expenses.
If you are someone who is serious about financial management and investment, then this app is for you. The app allows you to add your assets and a stock portfolio, if you have one.
If your stock portfolio exceeds $100,000, you can avail services of financial advisers. The service, however, does come with a fee. Personal Capital tracks the movement of the stock market and your investments.
The app is also superlative if you are looking for long-term financial goals including suggestions and advice on something critical like a retirement plan.
To Wrap Up
As with any app, security should be a major area of focus when it comes to sharing information. And while the apps are stringent about securing your data, you should know that certain portions of your information can be shared with third-parties.
Having said that, if a financial solution such as the above-mentioned apps can help you manage your finances better, that is something to post on your Facebook and/or LinkedIn page. Don’t worry about Twitter – Twitter is annoying and unethical but that is another topic.
