The Top 10 Must-Have Finance Apps for 2021
Here is my breakdown of the Top 10 Finance Products/Apps you Must Have for 2021. I definitely would not have gotten to where I am today without most of these financial products. They've helped me to either budget, save and/or invest and I hope these recommendations can be a turning point for you!
*These products are Canadian based, but you can find similar versions of these in your own country of living.
1. Your Main Bank Card
Your main checking is where all your money comes in when you get paid. I've personally been using my Scotiabank card for years now and also once had a credit card with them (that's been canceled). I've recently expanded to using a BMO card for my business, but for my personal affairs, most of that money goes into my Scotiabank checking.
I've always enjoyed their perks and benefits. For example, their Scene points, where you are eligible to watch free movies after racking up a certain amount of points. This definitely was the bank to be during my teenage and college years.
2. KOHO Card
The next card that I always talk about and can't get enough of is my KOHO Pre-Paid VISA card. Check this though, it's not just a prepaid visa. It has a cashback reward system, an automated budget feature, and a round-up system included.
I initially got it for the purpose of budgeting, but then realized how many other additional benefits I could get from it. I use this as my spending card, so once money is sent to my main checking account, I pay my expenses, send money to my savings, then the rest gets sent to my KOHO. This is the card that I use for my spending and it helps me keep tabs on what I'm spending with the budgeting feature. I can look at spending patterns and decide where to cut back and even add. You can get your own KOHO card, with my special link and an additional 1% in cashback savings here.
3. Round-Up Apps (Acorns in the U.S.)
Moka is a round-up app that rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar so that you can re-invest the extra money into a savings fund that then ends up being invested. This type of investing is called micro-investing. This is a great starting point if you do not yet have the money, knowledge, or confidence to start long-term investing. It’s such a simple way to start investing small amounts of money and have it work for you.
You're not going to see great results if you're using this to save for your retirement, but just remember this is more of a short-term investment strategy and an easy way of making a bit more money in return.
Use this link here to get $5 off when you sign up for a Moka account!
4. High-Interest Savings Account
EQ Bank is where I store any of my savings accounts because it's a high-interest savings account. I don't care what kind of savings you have, whether it's an emergency fund, a sinking fund, or your rainy day. Any kind of savings should be in a high-interest savings account. Why do you ask? Because you want your savings to keep up with the rate of inflation.
Do your research as there are a couple of other HISA options out there to choose from. The intent is to find a HISA with the highest interest rate possible, but look out for loopholes and misleading features that don't paint the whole picture.
5. Wealthsimple + Wealthsimple Trade (Operates in Canada, the U.S., and the U.K.)
The best investment app to use is Wealthsimple, which I use to moreso passively invest. The fees are super low compared to other Robo-advisors I know of (approx. 0.5%) and it’s super accessible in terms of having hands-on financial advisors for help. I don't use its sister company “Wealthsimple Trade” to trade my stocks because I have a specific investment brokerage that I prefer to use. With Wealthimple it's investing on autopilot, as the software creates a custom-made portfolio for you and you simply invest as much as you need over a long period of time. With Wealthsimple Trade, the app allows you to be more active in your investing and pick your own stocks.
Here's a discount code you can use to waive the 0.5% fee of your first $10,000 by joining WealthSimple.
6. QTrade
This is my current investment brokerage firm that I use to trade and pick my investment products. The difference between an Investment Brokerage and a Roboadvisor is that investment brokerages offer a wider range of investment products. With QTrade not only can I trade stocks and ETFs, but I can also shop for mutual funds, government bonds, and a wider range of those products that Wealthsimple does not offer.
The best thing to always do before signing up for anything is to shop around! Although I use Qtrade, I actually recommend QuestTrade. I'm currently in the process of transferring over to this brokerage because their fees are simply lower and they offer free ETFs.
7. Credit Cards
I currently use my American Express and although I hate to admit I have a credit card, having debt can actually be good to help you build up credit and show proof when it's time for you to buy your first home. I hate using credit cards but I realized this year while I was working with a mortgage agent to secure a home, that I didn't have enough credit. I only had one card, and the banks like to see that you have more, at least 2+.
So with credit cards, I don't want you to run and buy more, digging yourself into deeper debt, but make sure you are someone who can manage their debt well. I went with American Express because at that time in my life I was all about travel and wanted my points to go toward my trips. Ironically, I don't like my AMEX as much anymore because I realized it took way too many points to get anything of real value for my air travel. So I still use it but I've switched to redeem Cash Miles that I can use to get free groceries or gas.
There's actually another credit card that my friends love to talk about which is a PC Optimum MasterCard. This card can be used at places like Shoppers Drug Mart and No-frills. If these tend to place you often shop at already, I would say go with a PC Optimum MasterCard.
8. Credit Score Report (CreditKarma in the U.S.)
Borrowell is hands down my go-to for checking out my credit score. The report is usually updated every week now, so you can really stay up to date with your credit utilization and spending patterns. It's free and simple to use, with just creating an account, answering some specific questions, and you’re ready to go. You can even opt-in to receive notifications when there are any updates on your score. They also provide a great educational platform for teaching you how to improve your credit score and how the credit system process all works.
9. Bitcoin
So of course I haven't really talked too much about Cryptocurrency as of yet because it's still an area that I'm meddling in, (and far from being an expert at) but I do think it's a good market to test out and to get your foot in the door before the rest of the world jumps in. I really like MOGO for buying strictly Bitcoin. It's very risk-averse and is automatically invested for you, so all you have to do is keep investing in it over time and hope to see good returns.
If you're not ready to dive deep into Cryptocurrency yet, this is a great place to start.
10. Cryptocurrencies
Coinbase allows me to actually purchase a wide range of popular cryptocurrencies in addition to Bitcoin. So this is what I use for investing in other cryptocurrencies like BAT Token, Chainlink, Ethereum, etc. Coinbase is great if you actively want to start investing in the cryptocurrency market. I see it as an equivalent to Wealthsimple's Trade App for stocks.
Let me know in the comments below if you use any of these products or maybe have other ones that you can recommend. As I said, this is the Canadian version, there are American examples like Acorn for micro-investing. You can use this roundup app to help you save on the side, and whatever money you get from those roundup purchases can go into an investment fund that automatically invests for you.