There is no surprise that there has been an enormous proliferation of personal financial management tools online over the last few years. Right now, it’s valued at $1975 million and is expected to grow to $5307 by 2027.
Perhaps you’ve heard the adage, “You can’t improve what you don’t track?” Well that is particularly relevant for personal financial management tools. We at 40PlusFinance.com recommend tracking your spending as a basis before you even consider investing for financial freedom.
Personal Capital, Mint, and Rocket Money are some of the top personal financial management tools that are online right now.
However, when it comes to your own personal financial tracking and management, what are the pros and cons of each and which ones might be better for you to use? That’s what we will cover in this article.
What is Personal Capital?
I’ve talked about Personal Capital before. I may have mentioned it more than once. If you have been reading this blog for a while you know that I really like this tool. I use it to review my finances every day.
Founded in 2009, Personal Capital is a financial management tool that is similar to Mint. It is one of the most popular Mint alternatives. However, Personal Capital focuses on investment tracking.
Personal Capital provides a way to increase your financial resources – not just manage them. By grow, I mean investing.
Personal Capital’s free version allows users to track their net worth, investment portfolio, and any associated fees. The software provides users with personalized recommendations for ways to improve their financial health.
And you can also set spending and saving goals. Personal Capital is a financial robo-advisor that also offers a free wealth management tool. We’re going to focus on the free version of the personal finance app in this review.
That said, both versions come with some impressive tracking and analysis tools, such as:
- Asset Allocation Tool
- 401(k) Fee Analyzer
- Retirement Planner
- Investment Checkup
What is Mint?
Mint.com is a free tool that allows you to view and manage your finances all in one place. Mint can help you gain control of your expenses.
Mint allows you to see all of your financial accounts in one place, so you don’t have to go to different websites to check each one. This makes it easier to track your spending and see where your money is going.
Mint was founded in 2006 and is free and accessible to everyone. Mint can be easily accessed with any web browser or mobile device- there is no software to install.
Mint is Intuit’s flagship product and offers users a comprehensive budgeting tool. It was acquired by Intuit in 2009 and became part of the Intuit family of products which also includes Turbo Tax and Quicken.
Mint offers you an overview of your finances and provides several personal finance tools such as:
- Spending Analysis and Budgeting Tools
- Credit Report Monitoring
- Bill Pay Reminders and Tracking
Mint offers free credit monitoring, so you can keep track of your credit score even if you don’t have a credit card. You can see your free credit report anytime.
Personal Capital Vs Mint: Linking Financial Accounts
When you can view all your financial information in one spot, it becomes easier to make decisions about your money that take your whole financial life into account.
This app makes it easy to keep track of all your financial accounts in one place. With both apps you can link these kinds of accounts:
- 401(k)
- Checking and savings accounts.
- Credit card accounts.
- Student loans.
- Mortgage
- Auto loan(s)
- Investments
- IRAs & other retirement accounts.
- Even property assets.
Both apps allow users to easily connect with their most commonly used financial institutions. The search function can help you find smaller banks, lenders, or credit unions.
Linking all your accounts together can be time consuming when you have to remember all your passwords and other security measures.
If you need to take a coffee break while you’re working, it’s easier to pick up where you left off if you’re using Personal Capital.
Winner: Narrow victory for Personal Capital.
Personal Capital Vs Mint: Synchronization
The process for using Personal Capital and Mint is similar, but Personal Capital has fewer reported issues from users.
Mint uses an internal system to synchronize with financial institutions, while Personal Capital uses the much more reliable and stable Yodlee service for its synchronization.
A similar number of institutions and financial services can be synced up, but from experience, if any issues arise, Personal Capital seems to be quicker at resolving them.
Winner: Personal Capital
Personal Capital Vs Mint: Security
Since wealth management tools require complete security, it can be risk to aggregate all your financial information in one place.
Both Personal Capital and Mint use AES-256 bit encryption, which is the same encryption used by the U.S. government), and they both offer two-factor authentication.
Winner: Tie
Personal Capital Vs Mint: Budgeting Capabilities
Mint allows you to create a budget by category and track spending across subcategories.
This is a useful feature for people who want to stop spending too much money and keep track of where each dollar is going.
Mint will notify you in advance about any upcoming bills, and you can even link your recurring online and offline bills.
Personal Capital’s budgeting tools are more cash flow based. Focusing on your overall income instead of every little expense will give you a better idea of your financial situation.
Even though Personal Capital allows you to set a budget, the program will still report on your spending habits by category.
The obvious choice here is Mint, which is no surprise given that it was designed specifically as a budgeting tool.
Personal Capital Vs Mint: Investing
You can connect your investment accounts to both Personal Capital and Mint, which is great. The app provides easy access to your performance, asset allocation, and value.
While both Personal Capital and Mint offer similar features, the main difference between the two is that Personal Capital allows users to interact with their investments. I mean that you should have access to information about your investments as well as a way to see that information with actual numbers.
This means that you can investigate your investments and see how your money is increasing. This growth can help you reach your retirement, savings, or other financial goals.
Personal Capital has an Investment Checkup tool for those who would rather not analyze investments. The tool does all of the investment analysis for the user.
The checkup will help you understand how your current investments fit with your goals, how much risk you are taking on, what sort of return to expect and what fees you are paying. It’s incredibly useful – and, again, free.
Winner: Personal Capital
Rocket Money Vs Mint
What is Rocket Money? Budget, Finances & Bills
Rocket Money is a free app that helps you track your monthly subscriptions, monitor for changes, and cancel unused subscriptions. The app is available on iOS and Android. If you pay for the premium subscription on Rocket Money, you get access to things like personal finance monitoring, your credit report and history, and protection against identity theft.
The top 5 benefits of using Rocket Money:
Some of the advantages of using the Rocket Money app are that it is a great way to stay organized and it is also very user-friendly.
- Perhaps the most obvious advantage is that it can help you save money.
- The app can track your spending limits and help you find ways to cut back.
- It can also help you stay on budget by creating a budget template with budget categories and tracking your progress.
- Another advantage of using Rocket Money is that it can help you manage your finances. The app can help you track your income and expenses, and it can also help you create a financial plan. This can be a great way to stay on top of your finances and make sure that you are making progress.
- Finally, Rocket Money can help you stay organized. The app can track your bills and debt payments, and it can also help you keep track of your financial goals. This can be a great way to stay on track and make sure that you are achieving your financial goals.
Disadvantages of using Rocket Money:
The Rocket Money app has a few disadvantages.
- First, it can be difficult to track all of your bills in one place.
- This can be especially true if you have multiple bills from different companies.
- Additionally, Truebill may not be able to track every bill you have, which can lead to some bills being left unpaid.
- Finally, the app can be a little confusing to use at first and it may take some time to get used to it.
How Does Rocket Money Compare to Mint: Negotiation Service Vs Budgeting Software
There are a few key ways in which Rocket Money and Mint differ from one another.
- For one, Mint is a budgeting app that helps you track your spending limits and set goals, while Rocket Money’s more focused on helping you save large amounts of money by identifying and cancelling unwanted subscriptions.
- Additionally, Mint gives you a more holistic view of your finances by linking all of your accounts and tracking your net worth, while Rocket Money only looks at your subscription expenses.
- Finally, Mint offers a wider range of features than Rocket Money, including the ability to track your investments and credit score.
Choosing Between Rocket Money and Mint: Cancellation Concierge and Smart Savings
There are a few key differences between Rocket Money and Mint that are worth considering. Rocket Money is better for those who want more control over their finances, while Mint is better for those who want an easier way to track their finances.
Rocket Money
- For starters, Rocket Money is focused exclusively on helping users manage their finances and track their spending.
- Another key difference is that Rocket Money offers a subscription-based service that gives users access to a team of human financial experts who can provide personalized advice and help with financial goal setting.
- If you’re specifically interested in tracking your spending and getting help from human financial experts, Rocket Money is likely the better choice.
Mint
- Mint, on the other hand, is a more comprehensive financial management tool that includes features like credit score tracking and bill pay.
- Mint, on the other hand, is a free service that relies primarily on automated insights and advice.
- If you’re looking for a more comprehensive financial management tool, Mint is probably a better option.
Summary: Comparing Rocket Money Vs Mint
I think it’s a close call and you can’t go wrong with either choice. There are a few key reasons why Truebill is a better choice than Mint when it comes to managing your finances.
- First, Rocket Money provides a more comprehensive set of features than Mint that I feel most users are interested in. This includes the ability to track and pay bills, as well as monitor your bank statements, credit card accounts, and investments.
- Second, the Rocket Money user experience is more user-friendly than Mint. The interface is simpler and more intuitive, making it easier to stay on top of your finances.
- Finally, Rocket Money offers superior customer service, with a team of experts available to help you with any questions or concerns you may have.
Rocket Money vs Personal Capital
Some benefits of using a financial tracking tool like Rocket Money or Personal Capital are that you can see where you are spending your money, set budgets, and track your progress towards financial goals. Both Rocket Money and Personal Capital can help you manage your finances, but Rocket Money focuses on helping you stay on top of your bills and budget, while Personal Capital focuses on helping you track your investment accounts and net worth. So, which is the better option for you?
If you are looking for a budgeting and bill-paying app, Rocket Money is a good option. Rocket Money is an app that can help you track your spending, set up budgeting goals, and even negotiate better rates on your bills.
If you want to track your investments and net worth, then Personal Capital is the better option. The app Personal Capital can be used to monitor an investment portfolio, keep tabs on associated fees, see how individual investments are doing, and receive suggestions on where to invest money.
The best financial tracking tool for you is the one that best meets your needs.
- If you are primarily concerned with budgeting and bill-paying, Rocket Money’s the better option.
- If you are more interested in tracking your investments and net worth, Personal Capital is the better option.
Kurt has gone from the financial lows of the ’08 financial crisis to personal financial success. He is a professional real estate investor owning properties in multiple states.
One of his passions is financial education and the pursuit of financial freedom.
You can learn more about Kurt here.
