Personal Capital Finance App Review
9/10
Basic App Info:
Name: Personal Capital
Cost: A basic plan is free; premium fees and minimums will vary
Availability: Apple & Android
What Is Personal Capital?
Personal Capital is a financial aggregation platform that offers investment, budgeting, and wealth management services and tools.
Who Is Personal Capital for?
In short, Personal Capital is catered to and is best for high-net-worth individuals, but anyone can benefit from using its free tools. Personal Capital is also ideal for those who want a simple overview of their finances in one place.
The App
Likes/Dislikes
Likes
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Free
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Two-factor authentication
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Robust money-management and tracking tools
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Easy to use
Disikes
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Annoying upsells
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High minimums and annual fees for the premium version
Overall Rating: 9/10
Unlike Mint or YNAB, Personal Capital is a rare finance app that offers all the tools you need to manage your finances securely and for free.
Cost Rating: 9/10
Personal Capital scores high marks for its free app. The negative side is that if you want to use its wealth management services, you’ll need to have a minimum of $100,000 and pay a high annual fee of .89%. These are steep prices, but the app’s wealth management service is among the best.
User Experience: 9/10
The app is easy to set up and use. Occasionally, linked financial accounts will disconnect and need to be reconnected. Although minor, the annoying upsells are another negative. Once you reach a threshold of $100,000, Personal Capital will start to contact you to try and sell you its wealth management services. These happen infrequently, and there is no obligation to sign up. You can continue to use its free services if you wish.
Tools & Features: 9/10
Most personal finance apps offer limited tools and features unless you upgrade to a premium plan that costs money. Personal Capital, however, takes an unusual approach by providing everything you need to track and manage your finances at no charge. So what are the tools the app gives you? The app lets you:
- Set a monthly budget
- Track your spending and income
- View your net worth
- Aggregate your financial accounts
- Gauge if you’re on track to retire
- Analyze fees
The limited customization of the budgeting tool is one setback. You can set a monthly budget and manage your transaction details, but that’s about it. Personal Capital mainly relies on automatically tracking your finances to give you recommendations.
Setup: 9/10
The setup process is simple. When you first create your account, the app will ask you to enter information about yourself such as a phone number, name, and email address. It’ll also ask for your age, when you plan to retire, and how much you currently have saved in cash and investments. Completing this step helps them give you better advice.
After you’ve provided this information, the app will ask you to link your financial accounts (bank account, 401ks, credit cards, etc.). You can skip this step if you want to, but you won’t have an overview of your finances until you add them in.
Linking your financial accounts is also straightforward, but it is the most time-consuming part of the setup. Some institutions are easier to connect with than others. Also, Personal Capital supports most financial accounts but not all. If you find the app doesn’t include your bank, you may have to connect it manually.
App Ratings, Size, & Category
RATINGS
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4.8 / 5
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4.8 / 5
SIZE
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41.8 MB
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47M
CATEGORY
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Finance
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Finance
Bottom Line: Everything You Need
Personal Capital is a valuable resource that gives you a helpful overview of your finances and whether you’re on track to retire. Except for a few minor issues, Personal Capital is a high-quality app that provides everything you need to manage your finances.