There comes a time when one begins to consider upgrading their back of the envelope budgeting and less than thoughtful investment portfolios. Naturally, people turn to personal finance software to build a more mindful financial plan. The only problem is the personal finance market has exploded with new features and players with the exponential growth in mobile apps and technology. It can be overwhelming, to say the least, when determining which service might work for you. This article is, in part, focused on giving you some perspective to that end.
The other focus addresses the use of personal finance services. Stepping outside of their budgeting and forecasting abilities, can these platforms build and sustain wealth for the average user? To cut to the chase, it appears that they can. There are just two catches. First, you must follow their advice and take full advantage of the software. Second, you have to match yourself with the right program.
What is Personal Finance Software?
The broad and ever-growing category of personal finance software includes any technology platform that assists and monitors an individual in their weekly, monthly, or life-long money management process. Some services are more general,taking a holistic approach, but most have specific targets within personal finance. These subcategories include budget creation, tracking and analysis, investment coaching and strategies, debt tracking and mitigation, savings goals, and tax services.
In the past, personal finance software could only be found at big box stores and niche finance oriented businesses. Now, they can all be found online and in the app stores and may be downloaded onto personal computers, tablets, and mobile devices. Moreover, most personal finance software links with multiple devices at a time to allow ease of use.
Common Features
Among budgeting targeted personal finance software, there are several ubiquitous services offered. First, the program will likely link to the user's bank and credit card to track spending and savings goals. Based on user preference and the knowledge built into the software budget categories will be created monthly. This allows real-time tracking of where a user is over-spending and how much they have left to spend in a particular category, like groceries. Accompanied by budget analytics, notifications of low balances and impending due dates are a hallmark of these services. In some instances, personal finance coaching and bill pay are included.
Tax service software generally includes the yearly tools to maximize savings and potentially itemize users' deductions. Some also include spreadsheets to track various expenses and tax write-offs during the year.
Investment-based personal finance software focuses on building market knowledge and managing personal portfolios. They track the real-time progression of the stock market and provide helpful articles for both newcomers and seasoned professionals.
Popular Personal Finance Software Offers
There are several great personal finance platforms on the market today. For the sake of thoroughness and brevity, this article will focus on three of the best budgeting platforms, as that tends to be the most popular service.
- Quicken: The veteran, Quicken offers everything needed to optimize budgets. Moreover, they have decades of experience doing so. Currently, their deluxe year-long subscription is $49.99, though it does have a frequently occurring 20% discount.
- You Need a Budget (YNAB): With a focus on building strong, long-term financial habits, YNAB helps new budgets create a realistic set of financial goals. It includes unlockable tutorials and knowledge articles that develop the user's financial wherewithal. This is coupled with the basic budgeting analysis described in the Common Features section. Right now, the month-long or year-long subscriptions are $11.99 or $84.00, respectively.
- Mint: The financial platform for the mobile user, Mint offers the same fundamental budgeting tools as others in its category. It is available for free on most devices.
