November 20th, 2009
LearnVest Website Review
LearnVest stylishly fills a niche in the world of online personal finance management as a money management and financial education tool tailored for women. With a mission statement that claims, “Personal finance doesn’t have to be boring!,” LearnVest is a free, fresh start-up that is worth a visit for anyone interested in a new way to get involved with their finances.
The easy-to-use and simple-to-understand platform, financial calculators and advice, and the goal-oriented task organizer in LearnVest aims to guide specifically women to becoming savvy and empowered about their finances. LearnVest’s focuses on educating users with sound information and advice, and then presenting interactive action plans to walk users through key financial decisions—such as paying off student loans, paying off credit card debt, or getting ready to buy a home.
How LearnVest Works
When users first sign up and log-in, the site prompts them with a brief questionnaire (shown below) on their financial health (such as your current credit card debt), life stages (do you plan to have a family?), and financial education level (do you know your credit score?). These questions will help LearnVest assess the user’s current financial life to better help them meet their personal finance needs.
Using the site is simple, self-navigating, and surprisingly fun. Based on a user’s answers on the initial questionnaire, LearnVest gives them a personalized action plan complete with tailored checklists, articles, and tools to reach their goals. Users can also explore a wealth of financial topics ranging from Checking Credit Report and Score (shown below) to I Want To Budget For A Vacation, which provides customizable checklists that track users’ progress to direct them to take the necessary steps to take control of that aspect of their financial life.
Extra Features and A Suggestion
Below is a screenshot of my personal account on LearnVest, which tracks my site activity and action plan progress so LearnVest can continuously customize my profile to recommend relevant articles, checklists, and tips to keep me on my financial track. One unique feature of this site is the rewards system, in which users earn points for every completed task on their checklists which can shows the LearnVest community what they have accomplished and can also later be traded for rewards. Other features are the LearnVest Blog, with extra tidbits on how to save money and budget, and the LV Daily,which e-mails short daily newsletters with bite-sized personal finance advice and good-to-know information. Even if you don’t want to sign up for LearnVest, you can subscribe to this newsletter separately.
While LearnVest excels on the educational aspect of personal finance management websites, it is however lacking in one feature many personal finance management websites offer, which is the ability to link and access personal bank accounts and credit cards via the site. Adding this feature would put this site on par with competitors like Quicken and MoneyStrands to make it a more comprehensive way to manage your finances. But if you are looking for financial guidance through tips and advice without the extra capability of accessing and organizing your bank account, this could be the site for you.
Conclusion
Part social community, personal financial advisor, and educational game with points up for grabs, LearnVest is a valuable resource for women. Maybe there is a female friend, sister, or daughter who needs that extra help or encouragement when it comes to learning how to handle money—or, men, feel free to use it too. It’s one small step for your current financial situation, but one large leap towards having a bright financial future.
At Credit Karma Blog, what goes around comes around… So what do you think about this post? Agree, disagree, or have something more to say? We’d love to hear your reactions!
November 4th, 2009
Credit Card Companies Offer Personal Finance Tools
Personal finance management tools aren’t new; sites like Moneystrands and Quicken Online have been around for years. These sites specialize in helping stressed-out consumers and overwhelmed spenders keep track of their money. Now, credit card issuers are countering bad publicity by becoming more and more consumer friendly in their approach, offering personal finance management tools to help customers manage their finances by emphasizing budgeting and saving rather than just credit card-charging.
This happens to be good timing in light of the entire credit card industry under tough scrutiny by both the government and the public in the last few months due to the increased interest rates, credit limit reductions, fee hikes, and more changes issuers have been scrambling to put in place before the reforms of the CARD Act go into effect in February 2010.
These controversial actions taken by the credit card issuers hasn’t made for a very good image of big names like Chase and Wells Fargo in consumers’ eyes. Getting back on the consumers’ side means showing customers that big credit card companies aren’t just out to squeeze money out of them. These personal finance management services, plus ending some of the more controversial changes in their terms and practices, are the credit card companies’ olive branch to consumers.
Check out what kind of financial management tools your issuer offers. Even if you are not a cardholder, some of the following sites are open to all consumers:
American Express Money Manager Tool – As a free benefit for American Express cardholders, the newly-launched Money Manager Tool helps you stay on top of your finances by giving you a complete view of all your accounts, credit cards, and loans in detail and have a big picture view of your money management. You can link all of your personal financial accounts in one place, and customize graphs and budgets so you can monitor your spending and budgeting the way you want to. While very similar to other personal finance management websites, the Money Manager tool is different in that it is exclusive to AmEx customers and also allows users to consolidate rewards statements for frequent flyer and hotel points. If you want all the perks of a typical money management site plus extra credit-card specific features like tracking your travel rewards points, this is a benefit AmEx customers should take advantage of. - Wells Fargo Smarter Credit– This website is open to all consumers, and has learning tools, articles, tips, and information aimed at helping consumers establish/rebuild credit, reduce debt, get more credit, and manage and protect credit. This site is useful because you can pick out the tools and tips most relevant to you according to where you are on the credit learning curve. Aside from some helpful articles and budgeting sheets, there is an interactive money management tool called My Spending Report with Budget Watch to help you track every purchase and set monthly budget goals, exclusive to Wells Fargo customers.
- Discover’s Spend Analyzer – Another newly-debuted personal finance tool that offers online tracking and spending of purchases for Discover customers. Using the standard model of money management websites, you get the run-of-the-mill features of categorizing spending, comparing spending patterns over time, and sorting transactions by detail so you can manage how you use your Discover Card. However, this online tool only tracks spending of your Discover card, and not all of your financial accounts. But, a unique feature is the “Paydown Planner”, which helps create a plan for reducing your Discover card’s balance and get you out of debt, which is one of the most effective tools a credit card-specific financial management service can offer.
- Chase Blueprint – This is a personal finance tool tied straight to select Chase cards that allows customers to determine how they want to apply payments across their statement balance. Check out my review of Chase Blueprint to see how it works and see if it’s the right kind of money management helper for you.
- Capital One MoneyWi$e – A partnership between Consumer Action, an advocacy group, and Capital One created this personal finance resource website that offers helpful tools and articles specific to your money goals, whether that is educating your teen on credit or learning how to build wealth. It has an interesting click-through format that features people’s stories as well as interactive activities. Worth checking out since its open to all consumers.
- Citibank – Citibank’s website features a “Planning” section that encompasses many categories that the other issuers’ personal finance resources don’t cover, such as Retirement Planning and Investment Planning. Click on the type of “Planning” you want, and you’ll receive a comprehensive list of articles, strategies, as well as tools and calculators to help you plan towards your goals. While there is no interactive money management tool, the information and calculators provided are very useful because they give you specific strategies and tools unique to your goals. The site is better suited for addressing specific financial goals rather than overall money management.
At Credit Karma Blog, what goes around comes around… Are these services helpful to you as a customer, and do you want to see your credit card issuer reach out with more tools, advice, and help like this? Comment back– we’d love to hear your reactions!
September 23rd, 2009
Personal Finance Management Websites: What’s Your Pick?
Picking a website to help you manage your bank accounts, credit cards, monthly budget, and track your weekly splurges of DVDs and steak dinners can get pretty personal—even Freud would agree that the way you save and spend your money can point to the kind of person you are. If you like multi-tasking and keeping busy, it wouldn’t be surprising that the way you handle your finances often looks like a juggling act; or if you lead a simple and carefree lifestyle, your money may be set on autopilot.
Whatever personality type you are, A, B, or Z, every consumer can use the following personal finance management sites—all for free!—to get their accounts and spending under control before debt drives you to the madhouse.
Complicated Spender: You are a jack-of-all-trades and you thrive under the pressure of juggling multiple bills, lots of credit lines, and an overall complex financial life. Truth be told, you like being in control, so managing your money down to the nitty-gritty details is your ideal take on personal finance. Mint and Quicken Online are comprehensive money management tools that allow you to go in-depth with your finances, categorize and organize credits and debits exactly the way you want, and create detailed budgets for your financial plan.
- Mint’s award-winning site is known for its helpful graphs and tables that track your spending by self-described categories, your net worth over time, your debts, assets, and much more. Mint’s service emphasizes a budgeting tool that shows your projected savings over a certain period of time so you can see how much you’ll save just by sticking to your budget. That tiny carrot on the end of the stick may be enough to push you forward and help you kick your latte addiction for good.
- Quicken is not as fancy-looking as Mint, but it definitely gets the job done with straight-to-the-point navigation and layout. Its innovative feature, My Wallet, helps consumers keep track of cash transactions in addition to credit card and banking transactions. Plus, set up customized email or text message alerts for when upcoming bills are due for the accounts you added, if you are nearing your budget limits, and if your Checking account goes below a certain amount.
The Minimalist: You like simplicity in life, so why should your money management be any different? For easy-to-use personal finance management, Rudder and Moneystrands are two no-fuss, no-hassle tools that emphasize user-friendly options and customization so you can tailor your money management experience to fit your needs, without the extra bells and whistles.
- Rudder boils it down to 3 steps: set up your accounts, set up your bills, and calculate what is left over. By predicting your future cash flow this way, you can figure out how to stay ahead of debt and in a state of healthy finances. Rudder enables you to design and arrange your dashboard with various financial widgets to monitor your finances the way you want it and in one simple glance.
- Moneystrands combines Rudder’s customizability with similar budgeting tools, graphs, and tables as Mint to streamline financial organizing options into an easier-to-use dashboard. With a clean Web 2.0 look and modular accounts and information, this site stands out because while it offers almost as much as Mint and Quicken, you have the choice to personalize the site and pare it down to just the options that you want.
Good Neighbor: You want to be part of a larger community that lets you share your experiences, advice, and questions with other users. If you want to get in touch with real people, not just calculators, graphics, and financial analysts, then Wesabe and Geezeo might be the right personal management tools for you. With interesting features to keep you connected with your community, you never have to feel alone when dealing with your finances.
- Geezeo is like the Twitter of personal finance management sites, with the usual features you’ll find on Mint or Rudder plus an added community forum that functions like group therapy. The Confession box is just the kind of creative outlet needed from a financial service, where you confess up anonymously to those times you’ve stray from your financial goals. Here’s a recent confession from a Geezeo user: “I love clothes too much!!! I’m broke, but at least I look cute :-/”.
- Wesabe encourages like-minded Wesabeans to discuss, ask questions, give advice, and share stories through Wesabe Groups. You can seek out other people who share the same goals and need help in the same areas as you, such as the “Spend Smarter” group, “Frugal Foodies” group, “Buying a House” group, or even the aptly named “Don’t Panic” group. Who knew you could have fun meeting new people while ranting about debt or raving about your latest cost-cutting tip?
Give these sites a shot— it’s completely free and costs you nothing, but you can gain so much in improving your finances. Do something as simple as signing up with any of these sites and making it your homepage so you can check up on how healthy your money management is every time you log-on on the internet. Seeing the budget you set out at the beginning of the month each and every morning will remind you to keep your spending in check. You’ll know before you hit the mall that you are already $25 over budget this month, and that cutting out your daily Starbucks fix has saved you $54.00 so far. Little actions like these can build and grow to become good financial habits that will make your credit report a little healthier and your credit score a little happier. It’s the least you can do for yourself, your wallet, and your mental health.
