Best Personal Finance App or Website

Non-investing personal finance issues including insurance, credit, real estate, taxes, employment and legal issues such as trusts and wills.
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jmmackin
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:44 pm

Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by jmmackin »

Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
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anon_investor
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by anon_investor »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
This forum. Post some questions.
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LadyGeek
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by LadyGeek »

Welcome! Yes, this site. :)

We'll be happy to tell you how to organize your finances.

May I suggest you start a new thread in the Personal Investments forum and post your portfolio information in that thread using the Asking Portfolio Questions format? It will make you think about the "big picture" while giving us the information we need to point you in the right direction.

If you have any questions, ask them in the new thread.

You'll get unbiased information on exactly what you need to do. You can start right away. see: Getting started
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
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Kenkat
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by Kenkat »

Yes, this would be the one
SocalLiving
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by SocalLiving »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
Wow! To discover this forum when you are 25 and earning a good income is an incredible opportunity. Start posting your questions and reading. You don't need anything else for now.

I discovered this forum in my 40s and it has been life changing.
livelovelaugh00
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by livelovelaugh00 »

SocalLiving wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:32 pm
Wow! To discover this forum when you are 25 and earning a good income is an incredible opportunity. Start posting your questions and reading. You don't need anything else for now.

I discovered this forum in my 40s and it has been life changing.
+1000
Zeno
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by Zeno »

livelovelaugh00 wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:37 pm
SocalLiving wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:32 pm
Wow! To discover this forum when you are 25 and earning a good income is an incredible opportunity. Start posting your questions and reading. You don't need anything else for now.

I discovered this forum in my 40s and it has been life changing.
+1000
+10,000

OP has me beat by about 25 years. When I was 25, I was basically trying to figure out how to operate my VCR and 8-track player

OP, you have come to the right place
Big Heart
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by Big Heart »

The app I discovered, which made it realistic for me to even think about investing and benefit from this forum, was YNAB (you need a budget). It really clicked for me.
anthonypals
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by anthonypals »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
I really like M1 finance for Roth IRA, it’s really beginner friendly, just invest in the S&P and max your IRA out every year.
ColoRetiredGirl
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by ColoRetiredGirl »

Big Heart wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:46 pm The app I discovered, which made it realistic for me to even think about investing and benefit from this forum, was YNAB (you need a budget). It really clicked for me.
OP…THIS! 100%. YNAB is the best. It is a game changer. Also, visit the FB group for help and support in navigating your budget.
brajalle
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by brajalle »

YNAB is pretty great - it now has a subscription fee since they went to a web model, so keep that in mind. It may be possible, once you've established good habits, to drop it.

Someone mentioned M1 above, I'll also mention Fidelity. You can open IRA's, brokerage accounts, HSA accounts, a cash management account (mostly a checking account), and even have their 2% cash back credit card somewhat linked all in 1 spot. If you have a spouse, you can even set it up to link/manage their accounts under your login. It's not a bad all-in-one destination and their fees/etc are pretty good.

You didn't ask for a specific budgeting or expense methodology or ratios, but I think it might be helpful to mention this also. I'd recommend checking out the 60% Solution, you can find an overview here - https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/budgeti ... le-budget/. I'm a huge fan of low management/tracking budget solutions - it is exhausting to track every expense (although useful to do it for awhile when getting finances under control to evaluate where your money is going and what your habits are). This one is about as simple as you can get. It basically says, put all of your expenses - everything - including payroll taxes, income taxes, etc - into the expense category and that it should not be more than 60% of your total (pre-tax/deduction) income. Then, from the remainder, put 10% on retirement, 10% on long-term expenses (ie over 1yr out stuff, car replacement, new roof, etc), 10% on short-term expenses (car breaks down, furnace breaks down, etc), and 10% on fun stuff. I'd probably change the 10% for retirement to at least 15% though for most jobs without a pension or such - even more if you want to retire early. Some other ratios I've heard and that have rung true (there is some overlap here) - 1-2% of a homes price set aside for maintenance & long-term replacement each year, keeping total housing cost under 25% (20% is even better) of your income (gross income here usually) helps make your cash flow feel alot better, keep vehicle purchase price to 25% of your annual income or less. Lastly, start with a $1k emergency fund, then build up to having 3-6 months of an emergency budget (expenses) available in case of disaster. Lastly, I can't help but recommend a short-term disability insurance policy - they're not super expensive, and they cover a risk that impacts many at some point in their lifetime, but that most people are not prepared for.
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BL
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by BL »

I hope you are not using any credit cards that you have not paid off when due. If you use them now, you will start owing more interest on them immediately on whatever you buy. Better to stick them in a milk carton full of water and freeze them until you have them paid off.

If you need help in budgeting, Dave Ramsey is the expert for those who can't seem to stay out of debt. There is a "feel good" part of paying off debts that encourages you to keep doing it. (We don't agree with his investment advice, so come back here for that after you get things under control.) Until then, save up a 1k emergency fund in cash, do any 401k that gets a match, and get any high interest loans like credit cards paid off, using savings you can come up with such as cutting the cord on TV, subscriptions, expensive cell phone rates, eating out, memberships, booze, etc. It is amazing what you can cut back when you realize it is only short term.
magiro
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by magiro »

Big Heart wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:46 pm The app I discovered, which made it realistic for me to even think about investing and benefit from this forum, was YNAB (you need a budget). It really clicked for me.
+1 for YNAB. My wife and I started using it about 5 years ago and instantly felt more in control of our finances.
babystep
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by babystep »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
Welcome to the forum.

Please see Prioritizing investments.

I would pay off the credit card debt as soon as possible because they typically have very high interest rates compared to student loans.

After that I would likely contribute to 401k, Roth and pay-down the student loan.
JS-Elcano
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by JS-Elcano »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
At your age, when I also wanted to get control of my finances (but was making a lot less than 75k), I made some tables in Excel to track my spending.This gave me a good idea of how much I was spending every week and on what. I saved about 10% and quickly realized that there wasn't much more I could cut (I made less than 30k in a VHCOL in SoCal). I had a career plan that included substantial salary increases in roughly 5-6 year increments so I planned for when I might be able to get a better car and eventually a house. Once I had a job with a higher income (around where you are now with your 75k) I expanded on my excel sheets to track all my investing in 401k, 457b, RothIRA, taxable brokerage account, savings account, projected accumulations in all of these accounts to reach FIRE, asset allocation, savings rate, and net worth. It's pretty neat, as I have an excel book now for every year for the past 18 years and some cumulative sheets in every annual book so I have an immediate overview of my path for the past 18 years. It's easy since I just copy/paste the excel book with the formulas from year to year. I update it on a Saturday night every 2 weeks and it takes me about 10 min to check the balances of the various accounts on my phone. I am a numbers person so I enjoy this very much :beer
I never warmed up to any of the available tracking apps like YNAB or Mint or whatever my bank was trying to do to help me track spending. I now track my spending simply by adding up my checking account and credit card balances at the end of the month since everything goes on there. I only do this to have an idea of expenses for retirement planning purposes, not for budgeting per se. Basically. what I am trying to say is: Build your own.
Topic Author
jmmackin
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Joined: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:44 pm

Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by jmmackin »

Thanks to everyone for the great input. It sounds like if I'm looking for an app/platform, YNAB is the favorite. In the meantime, I'll stick to Bogelheads to start getting immediate advice! Appreciate it!
furwut
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by furwut »

DidItMyWay
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by DidItMyWay »

I agree with everyone else: THIS is the place!

Also, you can check out the following podcasts:

Dave Ramsey: For advice regarding getting out of debt and living debt free (I wouldn't defer to him for investing advice...Come here for that.)

Suze Orman: She has an entertaining and informative podcast, so you may be able to pick some tips here and there from her as well.
Slow and steady wins the race.
long_drink
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by long_drink »

jmmackin wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 10:24 am Thanks to everyone for the great input. It sounds like if I'm looking for an app/platform, YNAB is the favorite. In the meantime, I'll stick to Bogelheads to start getting immediate advice! Appreciate it!
Another vote for YNAB from me as well. I use it personally and for my business. Nothing else really comes close.
jajlrajrf
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by jajlrajrf »

I’m a big believer in GnuCash - it’s free to use, well-supported, and allows you to keep actual books that will let you generate a balance sheet and/or income statement. You need to learn a bit about double-entry accounting to use it properly, but that’s not a bad skill to have for someone intent of growing their nest egg. I’ve tried virtually every personal finance program there is for Windows and Mac, and GnuCash is the best of the lot. It has its drawbacks - it’s sort of ugly! - but in terms of pure usability it’s the best one out there.

In terms of cloud-based solutions, my opinion is that Personal Capital is best-in-class, but using it requires a degree of trust in their security; so YMMV.

If you already have Excel (or even Google Sheets), it’s reasonable to begin using that rather than using bespoke software, but honestly it doesn’t take much complexity to outstrip your ability to keep a spreadsheet comprehensible.
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gwe67
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by gwe67 »

VTI 48%, VXUS 12%, BND 40%
J.Turkey
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by J.Turkey »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
If you have any private student loans with high interest rates (above ~3%), I would strongly recommend looking into refinancing at a lower fixed rate. Refinance rates are at record lows right now.
Student Loan Hero's page https://studentloanhero.com/featured/5- ... ent-loans/ is a good place to start with common questions and a savings calculator. Or Nerd Wallet has good resources
Ependytis
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by Ependytis »

I second bogleheads, Dave Ramsey if in debt, and mint.com. With mint.com, you can track expenses. By tracking expenses, you can find out where your spending and if it makes sense for your personal situation. For example, I realized I was spending about $400 per month in restaurants. For me that was way too much. I started cutting back, meal prepping, and eating a lot more healthy which was good for my health. The point is, being aware of where your moneys going and if it’s of value to you is important.

Another thing that I did that’s responsible for about 90% of my savings, is to reduce expenses by $50 per month or $600 per year every year for the last 22 years. I did it by combing through my expenses from my checking account and credit card statements and determining what expenses were unnecessary and would not affect my lifestyle. This for me was a lot of fun and it prevented me from getting discouraged by one time hits like having to replace a transmission. In a short period of time, I realized that the cumulative savings I was a creating every month made one time expenses a non-issue. I hope this helps you or someone else.

The value of reducing costs is that you don’t need to have the retirement savings to support those costs. For example, every $12,000 I save per year is $300,000 less that I need in retirement [25 x $12,000].
CoastLawyer2030
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by CoastLawyer2030 »

jmmackin wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 2:47 pm Hi,

I am a 25 year old and make ~$75k per year. I have some credit card debt and student loans and am looking to get my finances in order. Does anyone have a personal finance or website they recommend? If so, what do you like about it?

John
Websites

1. This Forum (easily my most visited site)
2. Mad Fientist
3. Go Curry Cracker

Books

1. Bogleheads Guide to Investing
2. I Will Teach You to be Rich
3. Why Smart People Make Stupid Decisions with Money
4. A Simple Path to Wealth

Podcasts

1. Radical Personal Finance
2. The Money Guy Show
3. White Coat Investor
blueberrypi
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by blueberrypi »

I recommend the Money Guy show.
They cover many personal finance topics, including retirement savings & investing, house and car purchases... etc. Very fun to listen to as well.
ThriftyisFun
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by ThriftyisFun »

Not an app or website, but a great audiobook:

I recently listened to "The Ultimate Retirement Guide for 50+: Winning Strategies to Make Your Money Last a Lifetime" by Suze Orman.

It came out early 2020 (pre-covid). I listened to the audiobook (read by the author). Suze adds extra tips and examples not included in the book. Easy and engaging to listen to while traveling or commuting. I got the audiobook free from library but bought my own copy plus the book. Now listening to it for a second time. I hope to get a bookclub going on it.

It really got me to thinking of where to live (is my house suitable for an "older" me?), best timing for my retirement, urgency to update my estate documents and a series of other things.

Chapters include such titles as
- How to help the ones you love without hurting your retirement
- making the most of your working years
- where to live
- power moves in you 60's
- how to pay yourself in retirement (and not run out of money)
- how and where to invest
- finding the right financial advisor
- protecting yourself and those you love

Each chapter ends with a useful summary checklist.

Definitely worth checking it out!
gowest
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Re: Best Personal Finance App or Website

Post by gowest »

My favorites are YNAB, this forum, and the White Coat Investor podcast (and website).
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