What to Look for in Personal Finance Apps
Mobile applications have become ubiquitous. While many of these apps are games and social media platforms, an increasing number have been developed to help individuals with their personal finances. Which leads to an interesting question: what should you look for in a personal finance app?
Category
One of the first things to consider is what type of financial apps may be most useful. Five basic categories of these apps exist:
Budget tracking apps allow users to record expenditures as they are made, in order to keep track of bank balances and budget categories. Some allow users to make a budget and then watch how closely expenditures are tracking to it.
Financial assistant apps collect, store, and report information from users’ various savings and investment accounts, providing a single place to keep track of asset performance.
Loan calculator apps estimate payments and current balances for loans. Some also track how long it will take to pay off one or more loans.
Spending and saving apps allow users to perform a wide range of activities, including “what-if” scenarios.
Banking apps offer FDIC insured banking options, including (in some cases) faster direct deposits, bill paying, and other choices for your account.
Criteria
Once a user has decided on a category of app that may be useful, there are additional criteria to consider.
Credibility. As everyone knows, not everything written on the internet is true. For example, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are generally considered more credible than an anonymous blog. The same principle applies to apps: understand who’s providing the information.
Security. Before using any financial app, read the privacy or security statement. This can typically be found at the bottom of the company's web page or in the “About” section of their website. If you don't find one online, contact the company to request a copy.
Clarity. A personal finance app should provide information that is easy to understand. There are some apps that provide detailed charts on stock performance using a wide variety of financial analyses. However, if you don’t understand the underlying analysis, the app may be useless.
Relevance. Remember the old saying: “I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.”1 The same applies to financial information. A mutual fund company may be a great source of information about investing concepts, but it may be less useful at providing information about tax management.
Free Apps and Data Usage
It's essential to note that many personal finance apps are free, but the product is often you. The long disclosure you agree to likely grants the app creator the right to sell or use your information. Always review the terms of service and privacy policies to understand how your data may be used.
Let's Team Up
Using an app to help with your personal finances may be a great first step in becoming a better money manager. However, asking yourself a few key questions before you download may help you select the app that best fits your personal finance needs.
1. Abraham Maslow, quoted from “The Psychology of Science: A Reconnaissance (1966)” confirmed https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow, 2019
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Late last week, Israel launched airstrikes aimed at Iranian nuclear capabilities. In response, gold prices surged as investors fled for safety while oil prices, given that Iran produces ~4% of global oil supply, surged over 7%. From an economic perspective, this comes at an interesting time. Weaker energy prices have been a steady source of disinflation amidst elevated tariff uncertainty. In May, for example, the 3.5% y/y decline in energy prices helped lower headline CPI inflation by ~0.25%. However, the recent oil spike may leave investors wondering how the economic backdrop could evolve from here?
Oil shocks are often considered stagflationary. Higher oil prices weigh on economic activity by slowing consumption while also stoking inflation. In fact, we estimate that every $10 increase in the price of WTI adds ~0.3% to CPI inflation. Oil prices are lower on a year-over-year basis, even after the recent spike. However, the upside risks to inflation could grow greater the longer this conflict persists. From a growth perspective, the United States is less exposed to oil shocks than it once was. Whereas U.S. oil imports reached as high as 3.1% of GDP in the early 1980s, the U.S. is now a net exporter of oil. As a result, any hit to consumers’ disposable incomes should be offset by higher revenues for U.S. oil producers, allowing the U.S. economy to meander along until fiscal stimulus kicks in in late 2025 or early 2026.
For investors already grappling with policy uncertainty, elevated tensions in the Middle East add an extra layer of complexity. In a time of increased uncertainty, investors must remember to stay the course. Diversification across stocks, bonds and alternatives can help investors stay invested, and better prepare portfolios for any headwinds that may lie ahead.
Chart of the Week: BEA, FactSet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Thought of the Week: BEA, FactSet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Index: Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Index; PCE: Personal consumption expenditures; Philly Fed Survey: Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey; PMI: Purchasing Managers' Manufacturing Index; PPI: Producer Price Index; SAAR: Seasonally
Adjusted Annual Rate
MSCI EAFE is a Morgan Stanley Capital International Index that is designed to measure the performance of the developed stock markets of Europe, Australasia, and the Far East.
Bond Returns: All returns represent total return. Index: Bloomberg US Aggregate; provided by: Bloomberg Capital. Index: Bloomberg Investment Grade Credit; provided by: Bloomberg Capital. Index: Bloomberg Municipal Bond 10 Yr; provided by: Blomberg Capital. Index: Bloomberg Capital High Yield Index; provided by: Bloomberg Capital.
Key Interest Rates: 2 Year Treasury, FactSet; 10 Year Treasury, FactSet; 30 Year Treasury, FactSet; 10 Year German Bund, FactSet. 3 Month LIBOR, British Bankers’ Association; 3 Month EURIBOR, European Banking Federation; 6 Month CD, Federal Reserve; 30 Year Mortgage, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA); Prime Rate: Federal Reserve.
Commodities: Gold, FactSet; Crude Oil (WTI), FactSet; Gasoline, FactSet; Natural Gas, FactSet; Silver, FactSet; Copper, FactSet; Corn, FactSet. Bloomberg Commodity Index (BBG Idx), Bloomberg Finance L.P.
information from FactSet's Pricing database as provided by MSCI. Russell 1000 Value Index,
Style Returns: Style box returns based on Russell Indexes with the exception of the Large-Cap Blend box, which reflects the S&P 500 Index. All values are cumulative total return for stated period including the reinvestment of dividends. The Index used from L to R,
top to bottomare: Russell 1000 Value Index (Measures the performance of those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to book ratios and lower forecasted growth values), S&P 500 Index (Index represents the 500 Large Cap portion of the stockmarket, and
is comprised of 500 stocks as selected by the S&P Index Committee), Russell 1000 Growth Index (Measures the performance of those Russell 1000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values), Russell Mid Cap Value Index (Measures
the performance of those Russell Mid Cap companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values), Russell Mid Cap Index (The Russell Midcap Index includes the smallest 800 securities in the Russell 1000), Russell Mid Cap Growth Index (Measures the performance of those Russell Mid Cap companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values), Russell 2000 Value Index (Measures the performance of those Russell 2000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values), Russell 2000 Index (The Russell 2000 includes the smallest 2000 securities in the Russell 3000), Russell 2000 Growth Index (Measures the performance of those Russell
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