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Table of Contents
Financial Apps (and our top 4 favorite tools)
1. Empower – Dashboard, App & Tools, Free to Use!
Empower (formerly known as Personal Capital) is our top pick (and personal daily use favorite) for those who want a comprehensive financial overview without any costs attached. This app shines by delivering a full snapshot of your finances, helping you manage everything from budgeting to monitoring your investments plus retirement planning and projections. While Empower does offer asset management services, there’s no obligation to use them—you can bypass the pitches and still benefit from its top-tier tools. It’s perfect for users who want to stay on top of their financial health without diving into complex planning.
However, if you’re interested in moving beyond budgeting and want to explore detailed financial projections, ProjectionLab might be worth checking out. It offers advanced simulations and scenario testing for those looking to strategize their financial independence or retirement in more depth.
2. Monarch Money – 7 Day Free Trial
For the visual planner in you, Monarch Money offers a sleek, intuitive way to see your full financial picture in one place. It’s ideal for folks who want a modern, collaborative tool that blends budgeting, goal setting, and investment tracking without needing to assign every dollar a job. Use our WPF link to start your free 7-day trial and see how it transforms your money mindset.
While we’ve got a long history of love for YNAB in the WPF community (and it definitely still has a loyal fan base) we’ve been hearing more and more people fall for Monarch lately. The two serve different styles: YNAB is for the meticulous budgeter who thrives on structure and loves giving every dollar a mission. Monarch, on the other hand, appeals to folks who want a broader view, a little more automation, and an easier way to track shared finances or big-picture goals.
We know there’s no right way to manage your money, just the one that fits your brain, your life, and your values best.
3. You Need A Budget (YNAB) – 34 Day Free Trial
For the meticulous budgeter in you, YNAB offers a practical approach to give every dollar its mission. It’s ideal for those ready to get hands-on with their cash flow. Plus, use our WPF link to enjoy a 34-day free trial and feel the difference firsthand.
YNAB is much loved by money savvy users. It’s not often that we hear of people being excited about a paid product (which is $109 a year after the free trial, or a bit more billed monthly). If you do not know where to start in getting your finances in order, many would say YNAB is the place to start. Everything begins with a budget!
“YNAB has been a game changer for me. I ended an 18 year marriage to a financially irresponsible man who refused to help me budget. So, at 46 I started myself and haven’t looked back. I’ve paid off 8K+ in debt and finally feel financially organized. I follow Nick True of “Mapped Out Money” on YouTube – he explains how to use YNAB & make it work for you. I highly recommend watching his videos!”
Kim B, Women’s Personal Finance Facebook Member
“YNAB is more than a budgeting tool. It empowers you and helps you feel confident in your financial situation – no matter what yours is. It’s a paradigm shift that makes you stay in the present moment and focus only on prioritizing the actual money you have at this moment. I have spent my entire adult life so far (I’m 36) in debt and living paycheck-to-paycheck. While I’m only a few months into using YNAB and still have a lot of debt to tackle, I no longer feel guilt and shame when looking at my budget. Having full control over my money in YNAB and deciding what I want to spend my money on is helping me address the emotional spending and financial guilt that got me into debt in the first place.”
Meg C, Women’s Personal Finance Facebook Member
4. Tiller – 30 Day Free Trial
Spreadsheet wizards, rejoice! Tiller takes your financial data and puts it to work in customizable Google Sheets, offering a 30-day free trial to get your sheets in order. It’s the ultimate control center for those who love a personalized touch in their financial tracking.
“Tiller Money is a tracking and budgeting tool that is fully customizable inside an Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet. Connect all your accounts, see the transactions roll in, and customize the spreadsheet to do whatever you want it to. If you’re an Excel pro, and a spreadsheet lover, you’ll love this app. Note: Tiller Money costs $79/year, which is noteworthy because there are a lot of free tools out there. However, this price covers the fact that Tiller Money does not sell information about your transactions to other companies. Remember, if you’re not paying for a product, you ARE the product.”
-explanation from Lauren Boland, WPF Insider and creator of cFIREsim
Budgeting is Better with Support!
| As we navigate this change, remember that our community strength lies in sharing and supporting. We’re excited to hear about the tools you choose and the new budgeting paths you’ll explore. Wishing you seamless transitions and empowered budgeting! P.S. We’ve got a channel devoted specifically to YNAB over on Woven. Become a member and gain access to chat with other WPF’rs about how they use YNAB! |
cFIREsim
cFIREsim stands for Crowdsourced Financial Independence and Retire Early Simulator. At it’s core, it uses your portfolio amount, annual spending, and any other information (Social Security benefits, pensions, part-time job income, etc) along with historical stock/bond/cash/gold data to determine if your portfolio would have survived in the past. It gives you an idea if you’re on the right track to retirement, and lets you explore different paths.
Estate Planning Tools
Trust and Will
Trust and Will is gaining notoriety as a fairly priced, easy to use service for creating estate documents, which everyone should have. Early in the pandemic, they offered free services to front-line workers and health care providers, which stole our hearts.
From Trust and WIll: “Let’s face it. Estate planning can be a daunting task no matter how savvy you are. At Trust & Will, our goal is to make the process of setting up your Will, Trust, or Nomination of Guardianship as simple and straightforward as possible.”
Gentreo
Gentreo is another option for getting estate planning documents done. Their subscription based plan allows for ongoing updating of documents as needed and easy ways to share with loved ones in a “Digital Family Vault.” Gentreo’s plan comes with will, power of attorney, health care proxy, pet power of attorney and more as one package.