• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RobBerger.com

Digital Marketing for the Professional Blogger

  • Morningstar User’s Guide
  • Personal Capital Review and User’s Guide
  • 11 Free Personal Finance Tools & Resources

Blogging

7 Best Mint Alternatives in 2021 (Free & Paid)

April 2, 2021 by Rob Berger

Mint was one of the first free online budgeting apps when it launched in 2007. Intuit purchased Mint in 2009, and today many users are looking to replace Mint with a different personal finance app. Here are the 7 best Mint alternatives worth considering.

Alternatives to Mint.com

Top Mint.com Alternative Picks

Of all the options out there to replace Mint, three stand out among the rest:

  1. Personal Capital–I’ve used Personal Capital for years. It offers the most robust budgeting, cash flow, investment tracking, and financial tools of any app out there. And it’s free.
  2. Tiller–For those focused on budgeting (but not investing), Tiller is my favorite budgeting app. It connects your financial accounts (banks, credit cards, and even investments) with Google Sheets. It offers a wealth of tools to analyze everything from your monthly budget to even business expenses.  You can try it free for 30 days, then it’s $79 a year.
  3. CountAbout–This is the Mint replacement of choice if you want to import your existing Mint data into a new budgeting tool.

Best Alternatives to Mint Budget Tracker

1. Personal Capital

Personal Capital can easily replace Mint. Like Mint it’s free, and it offers far more tools to keep track of your finances and analyze your investments. You can link just about any financial account to Personal Capital’s app. Once linked, the dashboard gives you a complete snapshot of your money.

Personal Capital Dashboard

Beyond a high level view, Personal Capital offers a number of useful features:

  • Track spending by category or account
  • Plan your retirement with the Retirement Planner
  • Understand how investment fees erode your wealth
  • Monitor your portfolio’s asset allocation
  • Track your net worth
  • Get alerts when bills are due
  • Save for emergencies
  • New: Track Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and thousands of other tokens without giving access to your crypto wallet

I’ve written a detailed review and guide of Personal Capital that you can check out.

2. Tiller Money

For those focused primarily on budgeting, Tiller Money is the best Mint alternative on our list. Along with Personal Capital, I use Tiller every single day. There is, however, a bit of a learning curve. But once you understand how it works, it’s a breeze to use.

In short, Tiller enables you to connect your bank accounts, credit cards and even investment accounts to a Google Sheet (or Excel). It then gives you templates and tools to do everything from create a budget to track your spending to save for retirement.

TillerMoney - Quicken Alternative

The more I use Tiller the more I appreciate the simplicity and ease of use. If you like spreadsheets, you’ll like Tiller. To get an idea of how it works, check out this video I created:

Some of Tiller’s features include:

  • Track all your accounts in one place
  • Make a budget, track spending
  • Track your net worth with flexible, automated dashboards
  • Create your own category rules so every expense is automatically categorized accurately
  • Use flexible templates for budgeting and retirement planning
  • Works with 2FA (2-Factor Authentication)

You get a 30-day free trial. After that Tiller costs $79 a year.

3. CountAbout

If you have a lot of data in Mint, CountAbout may be the budgeting tool for you. It has a feature enabling you to import data from Mint. In fact, you can import your entire Mint history into CountAbout.

CountAbout Quicken alternative

Unlike Mint, CountAbout doesn’t pummel you with advertisements. It does enable you to download transactions from your bank and customize both income and expense categories. You can save receipt images and attach them to the appropriate expense if record keeping is important.

Key features of CountAbout include:

  • Import from Quicken or Mint.com
  • Automate Transaction Downloads
  • Fully customizable income and spending categories and tags
  • Invoicing for small businesses
  • Attachment capability for receipts and images
  • Recurring transactions
  • Graphical and text-based “widgets” provide quick view of financial activity
  • Easy to use on web and iOS/Android apps

For the features you get, the cost is very reasonable. The basic plan costs just $9.99 a year (not a month). If you want automatic downloading of bank transactions, the cost is $39.99 a year.

4. Simplifi

Simplifi is Quicken’s version of a mobile budgeting app. It’s not a mobile app for Quicken. It’s a new app built from the ground up. It uses automation to help you better manage your money.

For example, Simplifi can create a spending plan for you by analyzing your income and expenses. You can identify recurring expenses and subscriptions, which Simplifi then incorporates into the plan. It also includes a calendar view showing you upcoming expenses.

Key features of Simplifi include:

  • See your banking, credit card, loans and investments all in one place
  • Have your transactions automatically categorized
  • Find and track recurring bills and subscriptions so you can cancel what you no longer use
  • View upcoming bills, income, transfers, and see how they affect your balances
  • Set up custom watchlists and limits by category, payee, or tags to help stay on track
  • Set up savings goals for every milestone you are trying to reach
  • Track refunds on returned items

You can try Simplifi free for 30-days, then the cost is as low as $2.99 a month.

5. You Need a Budget (YNAB)

YNAB is ideal for those looking just for a budgeting tool. YNAB’s interface is similar to a spreadsheet. The tool makes it easy to budget by category based on the money you actually have in the bank. It’s not useful as an investment tracking app, however.

YNAB’s key features include:

  • Access to real-time information, from any device, anytime
  • Track goals
  • Excellent charts and graphs

It’s not free, however. You can try it free for 34 days. After that it costs $11.99 a month or $84 a year for the annual plan. The cost is the biggest downside to YNAB.

6. PocketSmith

PocketSmith started out as a calendar to plan upcoming income and expenses. Today, it’s a full-fledged budgeting app. You can sync your accounts with PocketSmith. Once synced, you can track your budget and you’re net worth. You can also see your income and spending in a handy calendar view.

Key features of Pocketsmith include:

  • Manage multiple income streams
  • Forecast your cashflow, including tools to help you reach FIRE (financial independence, retire early)
  • Track Airbnb earnings
  • Create and track savings goals
  • Integrates with Xero
  • Multi-currency

7. Fidelity Full View

Fidelity’s Full View is powered by eMoneyAdvisor, a tool used by financial planners. While Fidelity’s Full View doesn’t come with all of eMoneyAdvisor’s features, it’s still a robust tool, free, and available even if you don’t have an account at Fidelity.

Fidelity Full View

Fidelity Full View includes the following features:

  • Consolidate accounts in one place
  • Track your net worth over time
  • Create and manage a budget
  • View transactions
  • Integrates with Fidelity’s planning tools

Mythodology

My first step in evaluating Mint alternatives was to use dozens of budgeting and investment tracking apps. I’ve used each of the tools in our list extensively, with the exception of Pocketsmith and CountAbout (I’m working on those two now). I’ve also undertaken indepth research into these and more than 25 other options.

In evaluating these apps, I focused on the following key criteria:

  • Cost
  • Ease of use
  • Mobile app availability
  • Ability to consolidate all accounts in one place
  • Budgeting tools
  • Investment tracking tools

Mint Alternatives FAQs

What is the best free alternative to Mint?

Personal Capital is the best free Mint replacement. It comes with nearly every feature Mint offers, and many additional tools. It’s particularly well suited for those who want to manage all of their money in one place, including investments.

What is the best option to migrate Mint data to new app?

If you want to migrate Mint data to a new budgeting app, CountAbout is a solid option. It has features enabling users to migrate data from Mint.

What is the best Mint replacement for calendar budgeting?

PocketSmith is a good choice as it offers a calendar view of your budget.

Which Mint alternatives allow you to schedule bill payments?

With both Tiller Money and YNAB, you can plan future bill payments. Tiller offers a Bill Payment Tracker template and YNAB enables you to allocate funds to bills you plan to pay in the future.

Whatever tool you choose, the key is to pick one that works for you. For me, that’s Personal Capital. One or more of the above Mint alternatives, however, should suit the needs of most looking to better manage their money.

Filed Under: Blogging, Personal Finance

Mutual Funds vs ETFs–Here’s Why Mutual Funds Win

December 11, 2020 by Rob Berger

In this article, we’re going to look at the differences between exchange traded funds (ETFs) and mutual funds. In past videos (check out my YouTube channel) I’ve mentioned that for long-term buy and hold investors, I don’t see any reason that we need to bother with ETFs. That’s sparked some emails and comments from folks wanting to understand why I believe that for most investors, all you need are mutual funds.

We’re going to start by looking at mutual funds. And then we’ll turn to ETFs. And then we’ll get into the differences and why I don’t think ETFs are necessary for most of us.

Table of contents

  • Mutual Funds
    • Actively Managed vs Passively Managed (Index) Funds
    • How Mutual Funds are Bought and Sold
  • Exchange-traded Funds
  • ETFs vs Mutual Funds
  • Why Mutual Funds are Better than ETFs for Long-term Investors
  • VFIAX vs VOO
  • When an ETF may be a Better than a Mutual Fund
  • ETFs vs Mutual Funds Video

Mutual Funds

So I want to begin by looking at the Vanguard 500 index fund (VFIAX). Here’s a snapshot of the fund from Morningstar (it’s one of my favorite investing tools).

Vanguard 500 Index Fund (VFIAX)

Morningstar User’s Guide

Check out my video series on how to get the most out of Morningstar

Watch Now

This is an example of a mutual fund. To better understand mutual funds let’s look at the problem they were designed to solve. Before mutual funds, if you wanted a diversified portfolio you had to research companies and governments and then buy enough stocks and bonds to create a diversified portfolio. It was very time consuming and expensive. You could hire a broker, which many people did, which just added to the cost.

Mutual funds made it easier and less expensive for investors to create a diversified portfolio. Rather than having to go out and research all these companies, you can just invest in a few mutual funds and get instant diversification. Your money is divided up among hundreds, if not thousands of stocks and bonds at a relatively low cost.

Actively Managed vs Passively Managed (Index) Funds

There are two types of mutual funds–actively managed and passively managed.

An actively managed fund is one where the management of the fund picks specific stocks or bonds based on fundamental or technical analysis. A passively managed fund, also called an index fund, simply tracks an index such as the S&P 500.

How Mutual Funds are Bought and Sold

There are two important thing to understand about mutual funds. First, shares of a mutual fund are bought and sold directly with the mutual fund company. If you want to invest in a mutual fund, like our Vanguard 500 fund above, you buy directly from Vanguard. Vanguard issues you shares of the fund and invests your money in the underlying assets of the mutual fund.

In contrast, when you buy a share of stock, the transaction is with another investor. This distinction is going to become important when we get to ETFs.

Second, with a mutual fund, you always pay what’s called the Net Asset Value (NAV). The NAV represents the value of the stocks and bonds the fund owns. NAV is reported on a per share basis. You can see in the above screenshot that the NAV for the Vanguard fund was $342.68.

Unlike a stock price that fluctuates throughout the trading day, a mutual fund’s NAV is adjusted just once after the market closes. When you buy or sell shares of a mutual fund, the price you pay or receive is determined after the market closes. That means, as a practical matter, that when we submit an order to buy or sell shares of a mutual fund, we won’t know the price until after the market closes. The price, however, will always be the NAV–no more, no less.

Exchange-traded Funds

Let’s turn to exchange traded funds or ETFs. This screen shot is of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (ticker: VOO) taken from Morningstar.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)

It is virtually identical to the mutual fund above in several respects.

Just like a mutual fund, it provides a low cost way to achieve easy diversification. This Vanguard ETF, just like the mutual fund, invests in 500 of the largest US companies. ETFs are also inexpensive, just like index funds.

There are, however, some significant differences. The best way to understand these differences is to understand why ETS exist in the first place. If they’re so similar to index mutual funds, why in the world do we have them? The answer is that some investors want the ability to trade a mutual fund in ways similar to trading a stock. An ETF enables them to do that. An ETF is like taking a mutual fund, but giving it the ability to trade like a stock.

So what does that actually mean? Well, the first thing is that just like buying or selling a stock, the price of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, or any ETF for that matter, fluctuates throughout the day when the market is open. That’s why, in the above screenshot of VOO, you see the Day Range, Opening Price and so on. You also see a bid/ask spread, just like you would for an individual stock.

As a result, an investor can short an ETF just like shorting a stock. You can also buy and sell options on an ETF. That’s not possible with a mutual fund. It also allows you to sell or buy the ETF at the price that exists during the trading day. So if I want to buy VOO right now, you can see the bid/ask I could buy it at. I know what price I’m going to get at least within a couple of pennies. If I buy the mutual fund, I’ll pay the NAV as calculated after the close of the market.

ETFs vs Mutual Funds

ETFsMutual Funds
Low CostYesYes, for index funds
DiversificationYesYes
Trades at NAVNoYes
Trades like a stockYesNo
Options tradingYesNo
Required minimum investmentNoSometimes
Automated monthly investmentsNoYes

Why Mutual Funds are Better than ETFs for Long-term Investors

At first glance ETFs may seem like the better deal. You get all the benefits of a mutual fund, along with some extra trading features of a stock. Not so fast.

First, long-term buy and hold investors don’t need the features ETFs offer. We have no need to short a stock or an ETF. We have no reason to buy or sell call or put options on an ETf.

Second, buying ETFs adds complexity because of the bid/ask spread. In the case of VOO, the bid/ask spread is not significant–Just a few pennies. For other ETFs, it can be much wider . The result is that we would pay more than NAV when we buy and receive less than NAV when we sell. There’s simply no good reason for long-term investors to take this haircut.

Finally, if you want to set up monthly contributions, mutual funds are the answer. You can automate contributions or withdrawals to or from an ETF.

VFIAX vs VOO

To underscore why EFTs are not necessary, let’s compare VFIAX and VOO. Their portfolios are identical. Since they both track the S&P 500, it makes sense that they would hold the same investments. For example, they both have 99.04% in U.S. equities. The both have a P/E ratio of 19.59. The price to book is 33.17 and the price to sales 2.31% for both.

Now, if we look at the expense ratios we see a small difference. The mutual fund is four basis points (0.04%), while the ETF is three basis points (0.03%). So I suppose one could say why not go with the least expensive option, even if it is just one basis point.

There are two reasons. First, you still have to deal with the bid/ask spread, it’s not significant, but it will add costs as you buy and sell above and below the NAV.

Second, we need to look at each fund’s performance on an after-fee basis. A comparison of performance from Morningstar shows that the mutual fund more often than not actually outperforms the ETF. It’s not by much, just a few basis points most years. But it’s enough to erase the one basis point difference in expenses.

When an ETF may be a Better than a Mutual Fund

I will concede that there are a few times when it may make sense for long-term, buy and hold investor to consider an ETF. The first reason deals with the required minimum initial investment of mutual funds. VFIAX above has a minimum investment of $3,000. In the case of the ETF, there is no minimum investment. This could be a hurdle for some. In my view, one should save up the $3,000 and then invest. Alternatively, there are other S&P 500 index funds that have no minimum investment, such as those offered by Fidelity.

Second, you could want exposure to certain very unique asset classes where ETFs are the better option. A friend of mine likes to invest in country-specific ETFs rather than developed and emerging market funds. For the vast majority of investors, however, this is not necessary.

If you have already built a portfolio of ETFs, I’m not suggesting you should exchange them for mutual funds or that you’ve made a mistake. As we’ve seen from the Vanguard funds, they are virtually identical in terms of fees and portfolio. Certainly, there’s no reason to make any changes if it’s going to trigger tax liability in a taxable account. But for those that are just beginning or thinking about this question, I think for most buy and hold long-term investors, mutual funds are our ideal.

ETFs vs Mutual Funds Video

Filed Under: Blogging

The Rob Berger Show

May 1, 2020 by Rob Berger

Welcome to the Rob Berger Show (RBS), the podcast edition. The show goes hand-in-hand with the YouTube channel. Both offer content designed to help you make the most of your money. Why? Because the best thing money can buy is financial freedom.

Filed Under: Blogging

Primary Sidebar

Get your copy today!

 

Amazon

Walmart

Barnes & Noble

Apple Books

My latest video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRfRqtCMMOE

Latest Artricles

8 Best Investment Tracking Apps in 2021

7 Best Mint Alternatives in 2021 (Free & Paid)

7 Best IRA Accounts to Open in 2021

11 Best Quicken Alternatives in 2021 (#1 is Free)

Personal Capital Review and User’s Guide

© 2021 RobBerger.com. All Rights Reserved. Contact | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT