These 3 Trending Personal Finance Apps Could Just Save Your Money
- Author: Michael Bordonada
- Posted: 2024-12-02
1. "Robinhood"
Though this app struggled with funding initially, it's finally delivering on its promises. The stock market has always been plagued with "trade fees" that usually sit between $4 and $6 per trade. This alone keeps many people out of the investment game. There was a so-called "gentlemen's agreement" among the various finance companies to keep this fee. Well, that was true at least until Robinhood came in and shook up the market.
Robinhood allows anyone to make free trades without any "commission" or "trading fees". Yes, that means that you're free to experiment with the stock market on your own terms. Want to try buying $5 of Apple stock and see where it goes? You'll spend precisely $5 to get exactly $5 of that day's prices worth of Apple's stock!
Just be wary that this app can be addictive. While there's nothing wrong with healthy investments, nothing should be invested in the stock market that you can't afford to lose! You can withdraw your earnings in the form of "selling stock" whenever you wish without fees, as long as you keep your withdrawals to a minimum.
2. Chime
Unlike Robinhood, Chime focuses on helping provide a stable financial future for you. Unlike most of its competitors, Chime is FDIC-insured, meaning that "at least $250,000 is insured with the full faith of the United States government". That means your balances are safe and secured, unless you choose to start an investment fund, in which case it will fluctuate with the market.
Functioning as an online-only bank, it provides several advantages to consumers that other banks cannot. First, it has a huge free network of ATMs across the country. That means you won't have to deal with ever-growing ATM fees again! The app will tell you where the closest ATMs are to your current location.
Its savings interest stays well-above market average. Though it has gone down in the past few months, along with every other bank, it's still considered to have "high-yield savings accounts", which let consumers earn more than twenty times more interest on their money!
The most interesting feature Chime has to offer is that it will give you your paycheck early! Most banks receive your paycheck about two days before they make it available to you. This is because they wish to fully verify the ACH transfer, and they also earn interest solely as the money-holder for those few days. Chime, however, will make it available to you as soon as possible, which means two days early for most people!
3. Digit
The newest in the arena out of these three apps, Digit (formerly known as "Hellodigit") is a unique service. Digit acts as more of a passive money manager than anything. You say how much you want to save in certain categories, and you set thresholds for how much the app can move around each month. For example, once you receive a paycheck, the app will look at your current debts and prioritizations and allocate a certain percentage accordingly.
The hardest part of saving money for most Americans is the idea of instant gratification. Of course, it's natural to want to access your money as soon as you've earned it. After working 40 hours a week, it only feels right. However, Digit can work just as effectively as existing paycheck deductions for things like health insurance and your retirement plan. Before you even see that money, it gets allocated to high-yield savings accounts for various causes.
In other words, you can afford that Summer vacation you've always dreamed about but could never afford!
The Best Personal Finance App of 2020?
These three apps are the top trending apps at the moment. However, they all perform vastly differing functions. Robinhood makes trading accessible to all, Chime re-invents banking and allows early, easy money access, and Digit is a free and effective Robo-Adviser. The best app depends on what your goals are!
