Finance apps

John J Bowman Jr Accountant - Pittsburgh PA - Personal Finance Software

January 20, 2020

The Best Personal Finance Software

In the world of personal finance, there are some software programs that stand out from the rest. These programs make it much easier to manage budget and track spending within your household. If you’re looking for software to manage your personal finance, these are the programs you should check out.

Quick Books

If there is one program that has continued to stand out over the years when it comes to personal finance, it is QuickBooks. This software has become the cornerstone of personal financing for people who want to keep up with their household spending. The program allows people to set budgets and get running totals for their spending during the month. Users can see how much they deviate from the budget each month, and plan accordingly to save more in the next month. QuickBooks even offers the ability to compare previous years and see if a user’s spending has increased or decreased. With quick references and an easy budgeting interface, this is a great program for users who don’t want tons of fancy features.

Microsoft Money

Another program that stands out amongst personal finance software is Microsoft Money. This is a program that tends to work well for those that have already utilized Microsoft Excel spreadsheets over the years. Users have the ability to create formulas, track their spending, and create easy-to-manage documents.

The ability to add different categories of expenses becomes much easier with a program like Microsoft Money. It has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for people that are not computer savvy to create documents of their personal finances. This program tends to be one of the favorites for people that like to create documents that can be saved in different formats. These documents can be exported to Excel spreadsheet or saved as PDF files, offering plenty of versatility depending on a user’s needs.

Mint

In the growing age of portable personal finance software, Mint is the finance tool that has gained a lot of attention with the younger crowd. Mint has offered the millennial generation a viable personal finance program that gives them access to an online platform that is not limited to their personal computers.

Mint users have the ability to add their credit and debit cards to track purchases without manually typing in everything that they buy. The Mint app for smartphones allows users to access their financial budgets whenever and wherever they want.

August 18, 2019

Tips for Financial Independence and Early Retirement

What do you consider to be “retirement age”? Perhaps early 60s or late 50s. What about 30s and 40s? The FIRE movement, which stands for “financial independence, retire early,” has gained traction with individuals as young as their 20s. The idea of working 9-to-5 jobs for several decades is an intimidating one, and FIRE offers the chance to work hard and, earlier than expected, play hard. However, FIRE is not an easy process, and it takes plenty of planning to truly retire early. Here are some considerations to take into account if you plan on retiring early.

Do Your Research

Monthly earnings from social security and pensions, costs of present and future healthcare concerns, and similar factors must be considered before an individual takes any steps towards early retirement. There are several complications, ones that often work against each other, to sort out during the planning phase of FIRE, but these factors help paint a picture of your financial future. Make sure you understand what FIRE really is, and what it means for you and your situation. In some cases, research may prove that early retirement isn’t the best option; rather, switching to part-time work or taking a temporary hiatus from work is better.

Speak With a Financial Advisor

Financial advisors often assist individuals experiencing drastic life changes, such as making a family or retiring. When it comes to the latter, financial advisors will examine whether a client’s current financial system sets a strong foundation for retirement. Additionally, financial advisors look to the future to predict potential issues. Taking all of this into consideration, clients and advisors can develop a plan to work towards that independence. While hiring a financial advisor does come at a cost, the benefits of receiving an expert’s advice and planning assistance can be a lucrative investment.

Don’t Rush the Process

A simple Google search can unearth a plethora of FIRE horror stories. A common trend in these tales involves early retirees jumping the gun and retiring before they’ve hit their financial goals. For some, this means retiring several years sooner than planned. While earlier-than-early retirement is enticing, it’s unwise to throw your financial goals out the window. Doing so means deviating from your financial plans, which in turn leads to increased risks of your independence returning to dependence. Remain patient and diligent as you work towards retirement, and avoid making rash decisions to save time—that won’t always equate to saving money.

Understand Your Drive

Why do you want to retire early? Is it to avoid unhealthy amounts of stress? Are you trying to spend more time with your family? Has a hobby become your life-long passion? A thorough understanding of the “why” behind your desire to retire early will help you figure out how to reach your financial goals. Anyone can say they want to have more free time. But what are you going to do with that free time? Take some time to introspect and figure out what drives you towards early retirement.

June 19, 2019

Top Personal Finance Apps of 2019

Many people struggle with managing their money. Tracking bank balances and expenses can be tedious and somewhat dull. The good news is the technology industry has made it much easier to balance checkbooks and pay bills using the power of smartphones and apps. There are hundreds of personal finance apps to choose from, so here are some of the best personal finance apps of 2019 to help narrow down the list.

Prism for Bill Payment

Prism combines all your bills and bank balances in one user-friendly platform. You can schedule bills for payment and receive due date notifications. There is no charge to download the app, and it is compatible with Windows 8, Kindle, iOS, Windows Phone, and Android phones.

EveryDollar for Budgeting

Dave Ramsey, the well-known personal finance guru, helped design this app’s budgeting features. The app features a built-in expense tracker that connects to your financial institution. Using this feature, you can see how much you have spent each month and how much money you have left to spend. The app also has financial planning that lets you contact money management experts.

Clarity Money for Managing Subscriptions

This app lets you manage all of your monthly subscriptions in one platform. Unfortunately, many people cannot keep track of all their subscriptions and do not realize just how much money they are spending. Clarity Money eliminates the need to handle monthly subscriptions individually.

The app also allows you to analyze your spending patterns and how you can improve your finances based on those patterns. You also receive a free Vantage credit score from Experian.

Acorns

This app invests money for you every time you make a purchase with a credit or debit card. For example, if you spend $3.75 using a linked card, Acorns will round up that transaction and invest the $0.25 in a portfolio of exchange-traded funds. The app makes it possible for the average person to invest without spending thousands of dollars with large investment banks.

Personal finance apps are not the only digital option you have to manage your finances. Many reputable online financial publications offer free budgeting worksheets, templates, easy-to-use financial calculators and offer tips on how to build a budget that works based on your unique financial situation.

June 23, 2017

Apps make everything easier, especially personal finance. If you’re like most people your day is usually busy, and you don’t always have the time to fire up your computer to check your bank statement. In fact, you might only check your finances once per week due to your schedule and responsibilities. Or you might be the sort of person who very rarely thinks about budget and spending. The good news is that there are many apps that can help you stay on top of your finances and track your money. Here’s a list of some of the top finance apps available.

Mint
I’ve written about Mint a number of times in the past. The site is so popular for a simple reason: it’s one of the best personal financial tools on the market. Mint’s app is just as useful as the site—if not more useful since all of the information you want to access is right there on your phone. The app gives you the ability to sync all of your accounts in one place so you know how much you spend each month. One of the most useful features is the alerts that you receive when you are close to going over your budget.

Level Money
After you enter your accounts and bills into the Level Money app, it will present set a monthly spending goal for you. Additionally, the app will give you recommendations on how much money you should save each month. The app updates in real time, so you can review your budget after every purchase to make sure that you’re on track with your spending and savings goals.

Digit
If you have trouble saving money each month Digit can help. You can connect your bank account to the app, and it will gain an understanding of your income and how much you spend on a regular basis. Once it has this information Digit will create a savings account and withdraw small sums of money from your checking account. Every month it takes into account how much you spend, so the amount that it withdraws is different each month. Digit’s savings account doesn’t earn interest, so in the long run, you should transfer your money to a better account. However, it’s a great place to start.

Goodbudget
Goodbudget gives users the ability to create “envelopes” for different categories. For example, you can create envelopes for food, entertainment, and bills. Then you decide the budget for each envelope. If you go over your budget, the app will let you know. Goodbudget doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that Mint has, but it is a simple budget app that anybody can easily use.

John J. Bowman Jr

Tag: Finance apps