Personal Capital: The Financial Tool You Need
Nike Run Club. TimeFree. Asana. Google Drive. Venmo. The one thing these mobile apps all have in common is they help us better our lives in one way or another. From helping you keep track of your exercises to keeping your to-do list organized to paying your friends for your share of drinks during a long weekend. We have all these apps for other areas of our life, why not have one for our personal finances, right? Of course! Although there are several apps to help you with your personal finances, the one that has the DWM stamp of approval is…. Personal Capital.
Exactly what is Personal Capital? I’m glad you asked. Think of Personal Capital as the app that gives you a 360 view of your money at the palm of your hands. It is an aggregation tool that allows you to connect your financial accounts (e.g. checking, savings, investments, loans and credit accounts) to give you a full and complete picture. Instead of having to log into each and every one of your accounts during your financial check-in, you can just log into one app to see everything at once. Did I mention this financial tool is free? And if you aren’t convinced of the benefit of having all your finances in one place for free, here are three advantages to downloading this app:
You can see the big picture. One of the key things I love about this tool is that it shows you your net worth. Net worth can be calculated by taking your assets (e.g. cash, investments) and subtracting your liabilities (e.g. credit card debt, mortgage). I personally believe having the full picture of your finances can help you make the necessary steps during your journey to financial freedom.
It has useful/visual charts. The budgeting and cashflow charts show you exactly where you are spending your money and keeps you on track from a budgeting perspective. These charts can point you to areas where you can improve your financial health. This could include cutting back on eating out and reallocating that money to one of your financial goals.
It’s an accountability partner in your pocket. If you have been on this journey with us for a while, you have noticed that Dancy With Money’s slogan is “holding you accountable”. This is the perfect application if you are looking for another accountability partner. Personal Capital sends weekly updates about your spending habits as well as how your investments are performing to help you stay on track with meeting financial goals.
If you are not completely sold on Personal Capital yet or you just don’t like the feel and look of it, there are other apps such as Mint and Clarity Money that could help on your journey as well. Whether it is today or sometime this weekend, I encourage you to take a few minutes to download an app that will help with your personal finances. As always, I want to hear from you! What is your go-to financial app and why did you choose it?
Holding you accountable,
DWM
