Personal Capital is a name you’ve probably heard if you’re involved in personal finance.
If you’re new to investing, this tool may not be well-known.
Personal Capital, its pros and cons, and how it can be used to your advantage will all be covered.
You will have a good understanding of the product by the end of the post and whether it’s the best option for you.
Let’s get started!
Personal Capital is a great tool to track your spending, investments and net worth. I give it an 8.5/10. Create your free account and start visualizing all of your finances.
Table of Contents
What is Personal Capital (Pension)?
Personal Capital Financial Tools
Personal Capital Wealth Management Services
Personal Capital Pros And Cons
When Should You Use Personal Capital
FAQ
What is Personal Capital?
Personal Capital, a tool for managing your financial wealth, gives you an overview of all your finances. The platform allows you to track your finances in one place, including investments, budgets, cash flow and net worth.
Personal Capital offers a desktop platform as well as an app that allows you to monitor your finances and discover new opportunities on the go.
Personal Capital makes it easy to do your own financial calculations and create spreadsheets.
The platform provides recommendations, finds hidden fees, gives investment analysis and data visualizations in charts and reports to give you an insight into where you are on your financial journey.
The data for these numbers is gathered by connecting all bank accounts, investment accounts, and credit cards.
Wow, stop. How secure is all this account linking stuff?
Security is a major concern for me, too. I am a tech worker.
I don’t understand everything, but their security information is very comprehensive and guarantees the highest quality.
You can read more about their security features here. Read more about the security features of their website.
How popular and trustworthy is Personal Capital? In July 2019, Personal Capital had $10 billion in assets under management, and 2 million users using their platform to manage their wealth. Some impressive numbers.
Would you like to try it for yourself? Create Your Free Account
Personal Capital Dashboard Example
Personal Capital Financial Tools
We’ve already talked about Personal Capital, so I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of their specific features. They are free with your account. This is a pretty cool feature and the main reason people use the software.
Retirement Planner – Ensure that you’re on track and can see the growth of your retirement accounts in one location. The fee analyzer can also show you hidden fees and give some basic suggestions to maximize your return.
Net Worth Calculator: I use Personal Capital to calculate my assets and liabilities. The platform makes it easy to monitor your net worth and then displays it in cool charts and visuals.
Personal Capital has some budgeting tools that will help you save and spend more. You can, for example, track your spending and see which merchants are receiving it. You can also set spending goals to help you keep on track.
Personal Capital Wealth Management Services
They offer a wealth management service in addition to the free tools for analyzing your financial situation.
Investor Services: Investors who have up to $200k in investments can access personal portfolio strategies, 401k advice and tax planning. They also get direct options to speak to financial advisors. This tier offers 24/7 support every day of the week.
Wealth Management: This tier includes everything in the Investment Services level, plus two financial advisors who are dedicated to you. Your assets must fall between $200k and $1M.
Private Client: This tier is the highest and includes Certified Financial Planners ™, estate and legacy portfolios and private banking services. These cool benefits are only available to investors who have $1M+ of assets.
Tiers of Personal Capital Wealth
Fees for Wealth Management Services
You should be aware of the costs involved if you decide to use their wealth management service. You want to minimize fees when you use any financial or investing services.
It may seem like a small fee – 1-1.5% – but it can add up. Over time, compounding fees can be thousands of dollars.
Personal Capital charges are straightforward, however, and range from 0.49% to 0.89%. There are no hidden fees or trade commissions.
Personal Capital Fee Structure
You need a minimum account of $100,000 to use these services. While their fees are low, you can find cheaper robo-advisors.
You can still access some of the best experts in the world, who may be able to negate that cost for you if you have assets that fit within their ranges.
It’s something to consider, but it is ultimately your choice if you decide to use this feature.
Personal Capital Pros And Cons
There are pros and cons to any financial software.
Personal Capital has been my go-to investment platform for more than a year. I have also recommended it to others. I always try to give my honest opinion and there are some cons (but no platform will be perfect).
Let’s start with the basics of the platform.
Personal Capital Pros
First of all, it’s awesome that you can sign up for this platform and use many features.
What are the pros and cons of Personal Capital in general?
Many financial tools are free to use
Support for 401(k), 529 plans, IRAs, and Trusts
Accounts automatically rebalanced
Tax-loss harvesting help
You can reach certified financial planners and advisors 24/7 via phone, email, web conference, or live chat.
Budgeting and Cash Flow Tools
Calculators and investment simulators
FDIC-insured high-yielding online savings account now available.
Personal Capital Cons
There will always be cons to any software platform.
What are the cons to Personal Capital?
Some platforms charge higher management fees for paid services
Access to these services is restricted for accounts with less than $100k, alienating smaller accounts
Wealth Management requires a large account minimum ($200k-1,000,000)
Platforms with limited budgeting capabilities
When Should You Use Personal Capital
Personal Capital is a powerful tool that can help you manage your wealth, discover your net worth, and monitor your investments.
It’s easy to use, and you get all the data visualizations in one place.
Personal Capital has some limitations, so I would recommend looking elsewhere if your main focus is budgeting.
The fees for some services, while good, are still higher than those of other roboadvisors. It’s ultimately up to you to decide if the services are worth it and if they meet your goals.
You can try out their services and tools to see if you like them. There are many free tools and services to try out. You can delete your account at any time.
You want to start? Personal Capital is free to try
Personal Capital has recently entered the high-yielding savings account market. This is a relatively new trend that seems to be taking off. It’s not something I have used, but the FDIC insures it (which is always a good thing), and there are no fees or minimums. Other platforms offer slightly higher rates, but if Personal Capital is already your go-to platform for all other things, then this could be the best option for you.
FAQs
Personal Capital frequently asked questions: What are they? Here are some quick answers to common questions.
What is Personal Capital Capital?
Personal Capital, a tool for managing your financial wealth, gives you an overview of all your finances. The platform allows you to track your finances, including your cash flow, net worth, budget and current investments.
Personal Capital is it really free?
Personal Capital can be used for free. They do charge a fee for their wealth management service. You do not need to use this service. Instead, you can continue to use their free apps to track your net worth and performance of your investment accounts, expenses, and spending.
Personal Capital is it safe?
Personal Capital is a safe application. Personal Capital does not allow anyone to access your credentials. The company also doesn’t sell your data.
Personal Capital: How do you make money?
Personal Capital doesn’t make money from their free applications. Personal Capital generates its revenue by charging an annual fee for the assets that they manage as part of their wealth management service. There are no hidden fees, trailing fees or trade commissions.
