While not a minimalist personal finance app, Empower (formerly Personal Capital) helps you track your net worth, manage budgets, plan for retirement, and bring all your financial accounts into one place. The initial setup does take a little time since you need to link your bank, credit, and investment accounts. Once that is done, the payoff is clear. The dashboard shows you everything side by side: your assets, liabilities, transactions, your progress toward retirement, and even how your investments are holding up over time.
Why we like it: Empower keeps everything in one clean dashboard. You see what you own, what you owe, and how your investments are really doing. The retirement and fee tools give a useful perspective without overloading you with data. It feels practical, especially if you like seeing the bigger picture.
The cash flow tab shows where your money is going each month, though the budgeting side is fairly basic with just one monthly limit. To make up for that, the Savings Planner nudges you toward bigger goals like building an emergency fund or paying off debt. Plus, there is also a high-yield cash account built right in, with no minimums and strong FDIC coverage, so you can keep savings in the same place you track everything else.
But if you ask me why I’d choose Empower, the answer is simple: safer retirement planning. Its Retirement Fee Analyzer uncovers how much advisory and fund fees could cost you over a lifetime. Sometimes it even shows you the losses in the six- or seven-figure range. This builds real awareness of the hidden risk in your portfolio and shows how fees can quietly erode long-term growth.
Empower’s core tools are free, including its dashboard, budgeting, and retirement planner. Wealth management clients pay a 0.89% annual advisory fee, which drops for portfolios over $1 million.
Who it’s for:
-People exploring free investment tools before committing to a paid advisor
-Individual investors who want a clear view of net worth and portfolio health
-Families juggling multiple bank, credit, and investment accounts in one place
-Professionals in their 30s and 40s planning for retirement and monitoring fees
Who should look elsewhere:
-Anyone hesitant to link sensitive financial accounts online
-People who prefer desktop-based or offline budgeting software
-Students or young adults who only need simple day-to-day budgeting
-Beginners who are not yet focused on long-term investing or retirement
Empower features: Free financial dashboard | Net worth and cash flow tracking | Investment fee analyzer | Retirement planning simulator | Savings and education planners | Optional wealth advisory services
Source: Robotics - zdnet.com
