Are you looking for apps or tools to help you manage your day-to-day finances?
In 2021, Canadians spent an average of just over four hours on their phone (mainly on mobile apps).
If you are spending a lot of time on your phone daily, having several apps and tools to help you with your finances can greatly improve your financial well-being.
I will cover the best personal finance apps and tools in Canada below and outline some of their features.
1) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Self-Directed Investing
2) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Saving Money
3) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Tracking Credit Scores
4) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Estate Planning
5) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Savings Accounts
6) Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Robo-Advising
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools in Canada
The best apps and tools will be divided into several categories based on what each application does. These categories are:
- Self-Directed investing
- Saving money
- Tracking credit scores
- Estate planning
- Savings accounts
- Robo-advising
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Self-Directed Investing
1. Wealthsimple Trade
- Trading commissions: zero
- Account variety: low
- Asset class variety: low
- Account minimum: no
- Account fees: low
Wealthsimple Trade is a Canadian discount brokerage offered with a highly-rated mobile app.
It allows you to invest in or trade North American stocks and ETFs without paying trading commissions. As a discount brokerage, it puts you entirely in charge of your investment affairs.
The ability to avoid paying trading commissions allows you to save a lot of money, especially if you do a lot of trading.
Make sure to take a look at my Wealthsimple Trade review to learn more about the platform.
2. Questrade
- Trading commissions: below-average
- Account variety: high
- Asset class variety: high
- Account minimum: $1,000
- Account fees: average
Questrade is another independent discount brokerage that is a great option for managing your personal investments. It allows you to trade a wide range of investment asset classes at lower trading commissions than most bank-owned discount brokerages.
Although Questrade has a $1,000 minimum deposit to open an account, it supports a wide range of investment accounts and offers more flexibility than Wealthsimple Trade.
I also have an in-depth Questrade review if you would like to learn more about the brokerage and its features.
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Saving Money
3. KOHO
KOHO is a spending and savings account that also offers the ability to access a prepaid Mastercard. The mobile application allows clients to budget, spend, and save.
Using KOHO when shopping allows you to earn 1% cash back on groceries, bills, and services. KOHO members can earn up to 5% cash back when shopping online or in-store from retailers that partner with KOHO.
The app is free to use and helps you to avoid paying hidden fees.
4. Rakuten
Rakuten is a cash-back application that allows you to continue shopping at a lot of major retailers while saving money (through the cash that the application returns to you). Currently, Rakuten has paid members over $2 billion in cash back since 1999 and has more than 15 million members.
Cashback is offered when you do your regular shopping through the app. Rakuten allows you to be paid through either PayPal or a cheque. The average cash-back amount per member in 2020 was $63.50.
Rakuten is currently offering a $10 welcome bonus for new members that spend at least $25 through the app (before taxes) within 90 days of becoming a member.
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Tracking Credit Scores
5. Borrowell
Borrowell is a credit score application that offers free weekly credit score and report monitoring. Checking your credit score through Borrowell will not affect it. The app also offers credit improvement tips and education all for free.
Borrowell was the first firm in Canada to offer free credit scores and currently has roughly two million members.
The app helps members to make informed financial product decisions across more than 75 financial partners. These recommendations are made according to your specific credit profile.
6. Credit Verify
Credit Verify is another quick and simple-to-use credit monitoring tool. This tool is not available as an app and will have to be accessed through your internet browser. Credit Verify works together with TransUnion to monitor your credit file nonstop.
Credit Verify grants clients access to a credit score simulator which allows them to see the impact of future financial decisions on their credit score. When you check your credit score through Credit Verify, this is a soft inquiry that does not affect your credit score.
Click here to sign up for a Credit Verify account.
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Estate Planning
7. Epilogue Wills
Epilogue Wills is an estate planning tool that allows you to quickly and efficiently create your will online. Creating a will online through Epilogue Wills is done through three steps:
- Answer questions about you and your wishes.
- Your will generates automatically in several seconds.
- Follow the signing instructions to make your will legally binding.
Having a will in place is an extremely important part of having your estate in order. Using Epilogue Wills is significantly more inexpensive than working with a will and estate lawyer to have your wishes drafted into a will.
Epilogue Wills offers you the option of creating just a will or both a will and incapacity documents.
8. Legal Wills
Legal Wills is another online tool that you can use to create a will as well as other important elements of an estate plan.
The website offers several packages at various prices, depending on the complexity of your wishes.
It also allows you to create a power of attorney for finances and provides other important services such as a life locker (information for your executor) and a digital vault (for uploading important files and documents).
Legal Wills is once again substantially more inexpensive than creating a will and power of attorney through a will and estate lawyer.
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Savings Accounts
9. Equitable Bank – Savings Plus Account
Equitable Bank offers an excellent high-interest savings account that is a valuable addition to any personal finance toolkit. It also offers very high GIC rates as well, with a 1-year GIC at 5.35%.
Equitable Bank’s Savings Plus Account offers a substantially higher interest rate than major Canadian bank peers. The account comes with:
- No monthly fees
- Free Interac e-Transfers
- Free electronic funds transfers (EFTs)
- Free bill payments
- Free Equitable Bank transfers (internally)
Equitable Bank offers CDIC deposit insurance and does not have a minimum balance requirement. Like other high-interest savings accounts, the Equitable Bank Savings Plus Account acts like a chequing account and does not lock up your money in any way.
10. Neo High-Interest Savings
Another excellent option for a high-interest savings account is the Neo High-Interest Savings account.
Neo’s High-Interest Savings account is trusted by more than one million Canadians and does not charge clients any annual fees. Currently, the account is offering a 2.25% interest rate as well as a $5 bonus for signing up.
Neo offers unlimited free transactions. This includes direct deposit, auto-pay, and free Interac e-transfers. Neo’s High-Interest Savings account is covered by CDIC insurance and does not have an account minimum balance.
You can fund your Neo account through:
- Interact e-Transfers
- Linking existing accounts
- Setting up direct deposit
Best Personal Finance Apps and Tools for Robo-Advising
11. Wealthsimple Invest
Wealthsimple Invest is Wealthsimple’s robo-advisor service that is offered alongside the company’s self-directed brokerage. Wealthsimple Invest asks you questions once you sign up to determine your investor profile and then automatically generates a portfolio for you.
Robo-advisors are an invaluable tool for investors that are looking to grow their wealth but do not have time to invest or trade on their own. Robo-advisors are an alternative to working with a human investment advisor and come with substantially lower fees.
Wealthsimple Invest comes in three tiers based on the amount of money that you are looking to invest:
- Basic – $1 minimum
- Black – $100,000 minimum
- Generation – $500,000 minimum
Higher tiers come with additional benefits and services, including reduced management fees (Black relative to Basic).
12. Questwealth
Questwealth is Questrade’s robo-advisory service that is available to Canadians. The platform again begins by asking you questions to determine your financial situation and then automatically generates a portfolio that is best suited for you.
Relative to Wealthsimple Invest, Questwealth comes with lower management fees. Although Questwealth has a $1,000 minimum account opening requirement, it only charges a management fee of 0.25% (for accounts below $100,000) or 0.20% (for accounts over $100,000).
When compared to working with a human investment advisor, Questwealth’s management fees are many times lower. This can help to grow your wealth much faster over longer periods of time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Best Tool Available to Manage your Finances?
It is difficult to recommend one tool for managing your finances because everyone has different circumstances. It is best to use several tools to target different areas of your finances that are important to you.
Is there a Mint App for Canada?
Mint is a widely-used budgeting application that is available to Canadians. The platform offers tools and resources to track your budget as your personal circumstances change. Mint is a free application.
Conclusion
Personal finance apps and tools can help you to track and work to improve your financial situation. It is important to look at your personal finances holistically and consider important elements that may not be top of mind (such as estate planning).
I recommend using a broad range of apps and tools to make sure that all of your bases are covered.
If you are looking for ways to spend less money, check out my guide offering 101 sensible tips on how to save money in Canada.
