Person Capital is now Empower
The Mint app has shut down as of Jan. 1, 2024. For alternatives, check out CNBC Select's ranking of the best budgeting apps.
Budgeting apps are convenient in that most automatically sync to you bank accounts and credit cards so that you can easily track your cash inflow and outflow.
If you have money in the markets, however, you likely aren't able to extensively analyze your investments in the same app you use to keep an eye on your everyday spending.
The Empower (formerly Personal Capital) budgeting app is one exception that has advanced tools for all your financial planning. Out of a dozen-plus apps that Select compared when rating the best budgeting apps, Empower stood out for being the best app for investors.
In addition to being a basic budgeting app, Empower acts as an investment tool that links to your bank accounts and credit cards, as well as IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans. Its money-tracking dashboard makes it easy to see an overall view of all your personal finances in one place.
Below, we review theEmpower budgeting app to give you all the details on its features, including the tools, perks, safety, pricing, availability and ratings so you can decide if it is the right app for managing your money and investments.
Empower budgeting app review
- Budgeting app tools
- Perks
- Safety
- Pricing
- Availability and ratings
- Bottom line
Empower
On Empower's secure site
Cost
App is free, but users have option to add investment management services for 0.89% of their money (for accounts under $1 million)
Standout features
A budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth
Categorizes your expenses
Yes, but users can modify
Links to accounts
Yes, bank and credit cards, as well as IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans
Availability
Offered in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android)
Security features
Data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
Terms apply.
Pros
- Free to use
- Includes money-tracking dashboard, plus a net-worth tracker as well as a breakdown of yourinvestmentportfolio
- Offers free investing tools, such as a retirement planner and an investment checkup tool
- Syncs to your bank accounts and credit cards as well as other financial accounts
- Offers The Currency blog for financial planning tips
- Security features include data encryption, fraud protection and strong user authentication
Cons
- Budgeting features aren't as comprehensive as other apps
- Investment management services come with cost
Empower budgeting app tools
Empower is a budgeting app and investment tool that tracks both your spending and your wealth by linking to your bank accounts, credit cards, IRAs, 401(k)s, mortgages and loans.
The app includes a popular money-tracking dashboard with a breakdown of yourinvestmentportfolio included so a recap of your finances can be easily found in one place.
It also offers a net-worth tracker so users can track their financial value, in addition to seeing where their money goes and setting a budget. Empower will automatically categorize users' expenses, but they have the option to customize.
Perks
For those who invest, Empower has a bunch of perks for you.
Users can count on having access to free investing tools, such as a retirement planner, education planner and a fee analyzer to check their portfolio fees. There is also an investment checkup available where you can see how well your investments are performing and how they could improve, plus a savings planner tool to help you save for retirement, an emergency fund or debt payoff.
Investing newbies can learn financial planning tips and more through Empower's Daily Capital blog.
And, for a fee (see below), you can even access personalized investment services and wealth management advice from licensed fiduciary advisors. They will offer insights on your cash flow, spending and budgeting, as well as advise on things like your 401(k) and how to build a more tax-efficient portfolio.
Safety
Empower's security features include data encryption that sends you codes to access your information, fraud protection that keeps you up-to-date on your transactions and strong user authentication to confirm your identity.
Pricing
The Empower budgeting app is free to use.
You have the option to add personalized investment services and wealth management advice from licensed fiduciary advisors for an annual management fee of 0.89% of your investment assets under $1 million. An in-depth breakdown of these tiered plans can be found here.
Availability and ratings
The Empower budgeting app is available in the App Store (for iOS) and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Apple Watch. It is also available on Google Play (for Android).
Rating in App Store at time of writing: 4.7 out of 5 (over 29,000 ratings)
Rating on Google Play at time of writing: 4.5 out of 5 (over 14,000ratings)
Bottom line
Whether you are a seasoned investor or a beginner, the Empower budgeting app can help you stay on track while also monitoring your daily expenses and budget overall.
Its money-tracking dashboard lets you see a breakdown of yourinvestmentportfolio, and its investment checkup and fee analyzer tools keep an eye on your money for you.
Empower's budgeting features are best-suited for those with a handle on their budget who need comprehensive tools to map out their investing plan. You're better off with Mint (rated the best free budgeting app) or You Need A Budget (YNAB) to get in control of your spending and saving.
Learn more: 5 tips on what to look for when choosing a budgeting app
Our methodology
To determine which budgeting apps offer the best user experience, Selectanalyzed over a dozen apps offered by the top companies in this market and looked at their pricing, features, user reviews and ratings.
We narrowed down our ranking by only considering apps that sync transactions from users' bank accounts, come with low (or no) cost to sign up, are easy to use and can be accessed on multiple devices so are accessible and compatible for most.
The five apps we selected for this ranking are either free, offer a free version or have a free trial for users to test out before signing up.
All of the apps in our round-up have a sizable number of user reviews and high ratings. Each app on this list has at least 1,000 reviews in both the App Store (for iOS) and on Google Play (for Android), as well as a rating over 4 stars (out of 5) on both platforms.
Other factors we looked at included apps' security features, user customization and educational tools offered.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
