Sign up for Wealthfront today and start tracking your net worth » It seems to be the most reliable at keeping track of my accounts and expenses, and doesn't need to be reconnected every few weeks like with other programs I've tried. ![]() I've tried a lot of automatic financial trackers, but Wealthfront is my favorite so far. The concept of the planner/tracker tool is simple: It automatically syncs with all of your financial accounts, including investment, bank, and debt accounts, to provide you with a current estimate of your net worth. It also offers a few other features, such as a high-yield cash account and the free planner/tracking tool that I use. Even when the world seems like it's crashing down around me (a far cry now from what it used to be), all I have to do is log into my Wealthfront planning account and see that everything's OK with my finances.Ī "small" setback of a few thousand dollars doesn't mean we'll be living off cat food in retirement, and seeing that in black and white on the Wealthfront app brings me peace of mind.Īt its core, Wealthfront is a robo-adviser. Even to this day, four years later, when I hear my husband's cell phone ring I panic, thinking it's the property manager calling to tell us they need another few thousand dollars.Īnd that's where Wealthfront comes in. Given our backstory, you can understand why we have financial trauma. Soon after that, we saved up a $10,000 emergency fund, and now we're working on paying off our remaining student loan debt. ![]() We paid off the personal loan a few months later, about the time my husband got a swanky job as a software engineer. We paid off all of our credit cards (thankfully, most of our debt was from personal loans even in the thick of things I somehow knew enough not to load up the credit cards too much) and in six months, we saved up a month of expenses, effectively breaking out of the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle. We thought it would be tough to rein in our old spendy ways, but, honestly, we were so sick of all of the financial stress and excited by our future that spending less wasn't a hard sell. We were both on the same page: get the heck out of debt, save up an emergency fund, save up to buy our next house the right way, and save for retirement. The first thing I learned about was setting financial goals with my husband to drive our decisions going forward. I started listening to personal finance podcasts to see what we were doing wrong, and how we could get better. I was lucky that I worked by myself all day, cleaning up in an animal research facility. The deed-in-lieu of foreclosure gave us some breathing room it was an opportunity I was determined not to waste. I was finally sick and tired enough to make a change. But we ended up drowning in debt - over $30,000 - from the ongoing repairs it required we dreaded every phone call from the property manager.Įventually, we gave the house back to the bank in a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. Later, we moved to Colorado so my husband could attend school but couldn't sell our house before we left, so we rented it out instead. Unfortunately, we didn't realize we'd bought a house on permanently frozen ground (in Alaska) and that it would need constant, expensive repairs. When my husband came back from a tour of duty in Iraq, we decided it was time to buy a house. In fact, we started out on the opposite end: We were chronic overspenders and under-planners. My husband and I haven't always been good with money. ![]() And Wealthfront is helping us see those changes. We've flirted with bankruptcy, actual depression, and given up our first home in a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.īut we picked ourselves back up, dusted ourselves off, and we're making real strides forward. That's because my husband and I have gone through financial hell together - and come out the other side. Now, though, I've developed a curious habit: Instead of stressing, I log into my free Wealthfront app, and I feel fine. ![]() A week later, my truck started having problems shifting into gear, signaling that an expensive transmission repair might be on the way.Īt one point in my life, these crises would have sent me spiraling through the first few stages of grief: denial, anger, depression. Last month, I found out my cat had hyperthyroidism and needed a $2,000 radiation treatment to cure her. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept our
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