Personal finance software is one of the best ways to achieve your financial goals. Personal finance apps are an alternative way to learn how to manage your personal investments, while money management programs will help you keep track of your finances and organize them.
Most Secure Personal Finance Software. Reading this article, you will discover the most secure and best personal finance software programs. There are some great free personal finance software available to manage your finances so you can avoid getting in debt or maintain a healthy financial situation.
Why most secure personal finance software? The question arises because of the chance that your personal data can be stolen by viruses or identity thieves. When developing a mobile application, you have to take into account all possible ways for bugs to get inside and then find easy solutions to avoid those methods. Mobile apps should be developed in a way so that the security of user data can really be guaranteed.
Most Secure Personal Finance Software is a very important thing to choose as without it it is likely you will fall behind on your bills. Personal Finance software is what helps you keep track of your budget, savings and income. In 2015, 73% of American adults said they would feel ‘a great deal of financial stress’ if they missed a payment on their credit card bill. With 71% of Americans saying that they struggle to get ahead financially, mainstream public opinion seems to indicate the need for Personal Finance Software.
What to consider with the best personal finance software
If you’re in need of some organizational clout, especially if you’re running a small business, picking a personal finance software package can help a great deal. Depending on your needs you’ll find that the best personal finance packages allow you to keep on top of things like receipt logging and managing expenses, all from within one program.
The other bonus is that most of the personal finance software packages allow you to share your data with your preferred tax and accounting software. That means you’ll be much better placed when it comes to tax filing time. There are personal finance packages tailored to both online and offline needs, with many having apps that let you track spending day today. Cloud-based personal finance packages let you keep all of your data in a safe place too, so all bases are covered.
Quicken
Quicken is one of the most established pieces of personal finance software for a good reason. If you want to be able to handle your investments, taxes, and budgeting in one app, then you can’t get much better than Quicken.
You’ll be able to do everything from calculating your net worth to paying your bills automatically.
This comes for a price. You can choose between a starter ($35.99), quicken deluxe ($51.99), premier ($77.99), and home & business ($103.99).
If all you want to do is track your finances, then the starter pack will suffice, but if you want to perform more sophisticated functions, then it might be worth investing.
Upgrading to deluxe will give you more customization, and the premier will provide you with more help with investments, taxes, and savings.
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Personal Capital
Personal Capital offers a way to track your investments alongside your other accounts within a single money dashboard.
Just as with budgeting software, you can connect each financial institution you have an account with and view everything in one place. Personal Capital helps you analyze your money, track your investment portfolio, monitor your net worth and also track your credit score.
Unlike most budgeting software, the options for monitoring your investment accounts are more specialized. You can track whether you’re in line with investment goals such as retirement, check how well your portfolio is performing, and find out if you’re paying unnecessary fees.
If you have an extensive portfolio (worth $100,000 or more), you can pay a fee to receive personalized advice from financial experts. The core software is completely free.
Topia: Financial Independence
Topia is the first financial independence app, with an explicit focus on helping you increase your savings rate and acquire more freedom in your life. For years, members of the FI community have used spreadsheets to track this information, but Topia tracks, monitors, and helps you optimize your FI journey all in one app.
This completely free app for Apple and Android works by allowing you to link your bank accounts, so it can automatically analyze and then pinpoint the areas of your financial life you should optimize to make the most of your money.
The truly unique app is worth testing whether you’re just starting your financial independence journey or well on your way.
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Best Budgeting Software
Creating a budget should be an essential part of everyone’s financial plan, and budgeting software is excellent to track where your money is going and how much you’re managing to save. Generally, once you sync your software with each financial institution, your incomings and outgoings will sync automatically.
This is ideal for helping you save for a specific financial goal or to have simpler money management.
YNAB
YNAB is short for ‘you need a budget,’ and it’s a program designed to help its users set one up. You’ll be walked through the process of allocating your money between different areas of your life and helped to stay on track.
This is great for people who are struggling with debt or managing their finances, but if you feel you’ve already got to grips with the basics of budgeting this may be unnecessary.
The software costs $99 a year, but you can take part in a 34-day free trial first and there’s a 100% moneyback guarantee. YNAB claims its software pays for itself, as users save an average of $6,000 in their first year.
As well as the software itself, you’ll get to take part in fifteen workshops to help you manage your money better.
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Mint
The primary function of Mint is to view all your bank accounts and cards in one place and track finances. It’s also a great budgeting app, as well as helps you keep track of your credit score. Mint is owned by Intuit, which also owns Credit Karma and TurboTax.
You can even add in loans and investments. A great thing about Mint is that it includes a phone app as well as a website so that you can track your finances on the go.
You’ll be able to track spending by categories using graphs and charts and receive personalized recommendations.
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Pocketguard
Pocketguard is an app that allows you to make sense of your finances and save money. It has an attractive interface and is extremely simple, making it perfect for those who want to track their finances without any of the added frills some other apps have.
However, if you want to know more than simply incomings and outgoings, you might want to consider upgrading to Pocketguard Plus.
The paid version gives you more sophisticated features such as creating categories for your spending habits (similarly to YNAB), tracking money manually (that you may receive in cash) and creating categories for a financial goal.
The annual subscription is $34.99, but you can get the first week for free.
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Albert
Albert is a personal finance app that acts like a personal money advisor.
As well as being able to track spending, you can receive personal budgeting recommendations through the Albert Savings feature and use a custom portfolio for guided investing. This all comes for free.
There’s an additional feature called Albert Genius that gives you one-on-one guidance from an advisor about how to improve your financial management.
This comes for some extra money – but the amount you pay is up to you past the minimum contribution of $4 a month.
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Mvelopes
Mvelopes get its name from traditional envelope budgeting systems, breaking down your budgets into different ‘envelopes’ or categories. The program uses this approach, with users allocating amounts to separate envelopes.
Like most of the other pieces of software, you can connect various bank accounts and track your spending in one place.
All the plans are paid for, but some are more expensive than others. The basic version is only $6 a month, the premier version is $10 a month, and the complete version is $20 a month.
If all you want to do is track your spending, then the basic version is fine, but if you feel coaching would be beneficial, then the pricier options might be worth considering.
Mvelopes Plus gives you quarterly coaching, while Mvelopes Complete includes coaching monthly. Luckily, you can have a 30-day free trial before choosing.
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Buddi
Buddi is open-source software designed for those who struggle with more mainstream personal finance programs due to their complexity.
You can even find plenty of free guides on the websites, letting you know how to make the most out of the program.
Buddi is ideal for setting up your accounts and tracking your spending and income. You can then generate reports or budgets for you to stick to.
However, be aware that you need Java to run the program.
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Best Investing Software
You may be concerned about saving for retirement, a house, or something else; investments can help you reach that goal.
You’ll typically need software to help you trade. Investment platforms are generally free to sign up for, but you may have to pay to make trades.
Acorns
If the idea of investing scares you, Acorns could be a great place to start. Instead of putting aside a huge lump sum, you can let Acorns invest your loose change. You might find that the loose cents add up to more than you’d expect!
You’ll be given a dedicated Acorns card that automates the investment of your loose change. You can also access tips and money management advice straight from the money dashboard, which is why it’s one of our favorite best investment apps for beginners.
It’s ideally suited for those who want to save for retirement, as there’s a dedicated service called Acorns Later that will match you up with a suitable IRA account.
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Stash
Stash Invest is another great option for beginners or would-be traders. It’s a one-stop shop for everything related to money and is designed for you to learn as you go; due to the dedicated app, this has never been easier.
You can choose between a banking, investment, retirement, or custodial account, depending on your needs.
Unfortunately, you’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $1-9 to use Stash; as you pay more, you can access more features. It can be a great place to start off due to the educational content, but may not be worth your while for much longer after learning the basics.
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Robinhood
If you’re beyond the auto-savings like Acorns but not quite to full-fledged trader status, then Robinhood is a great option.
Their real-time quotes, customizable watchlist, and research tools make it one of the best online brokers for both experienced and new investors. They also recently opened up fractional shares, allowing you to invest in any company – even if you can’t afford a whole share.
Moreover, their app is easy to use, allowing for advanced trading without being overwhelmed.
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TD Ameritrade
TD Ameritrade is another platform for stock trading, and it also offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and ETFs. However, the commission for other types of trades is higher than average.
The platform includes a range of resources you can use to educate yourself about trading, including a curriculum and streaming news.
You can open an account for a variety of purposes, including saving for retirement and education. If you’re unsure what you want, you can open a standard account for greater flexibility.
Something that sets TD Ameritrade apart is the ability to also have a Cash Management Account. This allows for an online banking experience, allowing you to pay bills and make transfers all from one account.
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TradeStation
TradeStation is suited for more active and experienced traders who don’t need to learn the basics. The big pull of TradeStation is the technology offered, which is designed for professional traders.
Features include advanced order management, automated strategy trading, and customizable charts.
You can open a variety of accounts, including an IRA, and fund it through either futures or equities. A major disadvantage is that ETFs and mutual funds aren’t free of commissions, unlike other platforms.
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E*Trade
E*Trade is one of the most popular trading platforms around, partly due to its benefits for both regular traders and beginners. Stocks, options, and ETF trades are all zero-commissions, which is ideal for those who trade regularly and want to save money doing so.
However, for those who feel less confident, there are plenty of resources to give you the grounding you need. You can even opt out of investing entirely and choose to let E*Trade do it for you with automated trading.
You can set up an account that best suits your needs, whether that’s investing for your retirement or running a small business account. All accounts are geared towards trading stocks rather than giving guidance or education.
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Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers is another platform suitable for experienced traders. They claim to be the lowest-cost broker of all their competitors due to low commissions and high interest.
It’s less suitable for beginners as there are few resources, and you may wind up incurring a fine for inactivity.
There are two plans: IBKR Lite and IBKR Pro. The Pro version offers the lowest cost access to the widest range of stocks (125 markets in 31 countries), while the Lite option is slightly less comprehensive.
There’s also the chance to option an integrated account to be able to manage your investments directly from your main bank account and put the income you receive to its best use.
This is ideal if you know what you’re doing when it comes to trading.
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Personal finance features to look for
Desktop or mobile?
Have a think about where and how you’ll use your personal finance package. Most of us tend to spend money on the go, so having a software package that allows you to log and track outgoings means a mobile and app-based solution makes a lot of sense. Most packages offer both desktop and mobile solutions however.
Reporting capability
While personal finance package are great at helping you manage money and track spending, they’re also vital for producing reports. This data can subsequently be used for tasks such as filing your taxes or for sharing with an accounts person who does the job for you.
Easy integration
You’ll want to check that any personal finance software you’re considering will ideally work in tandem with other packages. This is crucial when it comes to logging items like expenses. Check your package can be used to move figures from one place to another for much more efficient tax filing purposes.
Help and support
As is the case with any software package, it’s always good to check there will be help at hand should you need it. Some personal finance packages come with free support, while others have it as part of a paid-for plan. How much help you will need depends on your confidence with the software.
Conclusion
If you’ve decided to organize your finances, you’ve probably realized that there are many options for personal finance software. This can make the decision-making process difficult. The objective is to find a financial management system that suits your needs and provides a straightforward way of staying on top of bills, expenses, and investments.
Most of us are guilty of spending money we don’t actually have. Whether it be on new clothes, a vacation, or even face cream. It’s one of the reasons why so many of us are in debt. Thankfully there are some personal finance software out there to help you manage your debts. Learn more about the most secure personal finance software and how it can save you from going broke!