If you want to be successful with money, you need to have a good money system in place. Your money system consists of all of the financial accounts and tools you use to keep your financial life in order – things like your checking accounts, savings accounts, and any fintech apps you might use. Once you’ve got your money system set up, you’ll find that everything just sort of runs on its own. Money gets saved and invested automatically. Bills get paid. And really, you just sit back and relax while your money system does its thing.
Over the years, I’ve fine-tuned and tweaked my money system to the point where I’m pretty happy with how it works now. Of course, this isn’t to say that there’s only one right way to set up your money system. Your money system is like a fingerprint – unique to you. Still, with all of the financial accounts, tools, and apps out there, it helps to see how others have things set up.
In today’s post, I’d like to share with you all of the accounts, tools, and apps I use in my own money system. My hope with this post is that it gives you ideas for how you can set things up in your own money system. Feel free to pick and choose bits and pieces from my system that works for you. If nothing else, it should at least be interesting to see how I do things.
The Financial Panther Money System
The base of my money system consists of three layers – a checking account, various savings accounts, and microsavings apps that run in the background. Here’s how it works:
1. Checking Account
The first line of my money system is my checking account. My checking account serves as my financial inbox. All of my base income goes into my checking account first, then automatically gets shuffled off to different parts of my money system. Because my checking account is the starting point of my money system, it’s super important that I use a good one.
For my primary checking account, I use a bank called Simple. It’s an online-only checking account that works perfectly for me (and naturally, as a tech-savvy millennial, I don’t have any real need to go into a physical branch to do my banking since I can get all of my banking and look at my bank statements online). There are at least three reasons why I think Simple is a great primary checking account:
- It’s 100% fee-free (literally, they charge no fees for anything);
- They have one of the best-looking and intuitive banking apps out there (very important to me since my phone is my life); and
- In my experience, the customer service has been excellent (although there has been a bit of decline lately).
If you’re comfortable with an online-only checking account (and really, you should be comfortable – it’s the 21st century), Simple is a great choice.
A few other completely free online checking accounts that I have and that I think are worth using include:
- Ally. I’ve had a checking account with Ally for a few years now and it’s the primary checking account that my wife uses. At a minimum, Ally is a checking account that you should have because it works great as a hub bank account, which can be really useful if you like going for bank account bonuses. Unlike a lot of banks that limit how many external bank accounts you can link to it, Ally lets you link up to 20 bank accounts. They have no minimum balance and no fees, so you really don’t lose anything by having an Ally checking account in your financial arsenal. If I had to name the best overall bank in the world, it would be Ally.
- Capital One 360. This is another checking account that I still keep open since it’s free and has no minimum balance requirement. Keep an eye out for $200 sign up bonus offers – I randomly got an email once offering me this, although I’m not quite sure how you get targeted for it.
- Chime. I use Chime as a checking account for all of my gig economy income. It has a good interface, no balance requirements, and is 100% free. Transfers and deposits into your Chime account are also super fast. If you open a Chime account using my referral link and do a direct deposit of $200 or more, you’ll also get $50.
Ultimately, just make sure that whatever checking account you use is 100% free and has no minimum balance requirement. Online-only banks are what I think most people should use, but if you’re the type of person that needs a traditional bank, you can use that too so long as it’s a 100% free checking account.
2. Savings Accounts
While you really only need one checking account, you should consider utilizing multiple savings accounts in your money system. I have three main savings accounts that I use for different purposes. Two of these savings accounts are used for holding my emergency fund money. The other savings account is used for all of my short-term and medium-term goals. Here’s how it works:
Emergency Fund. I have a two-step system for my emergency fund:
- First, I keep a small buffer emergency fund of $500 to $1000 in my Ally savings account. I think Ally is a good savings account because it has a solid interest rate, no fees, and no minimum balance requirement.
- Second, after the buffer emergency fund, I store the rest of my emergency fund in mega high-yield savings accounts that earn 5% guaranteed interest. These 5% interest savings accounts are an advanced financial hack that does take some initial set up work, but once set up, the accounts run themselves. If you take the time to set up all of these 5% interest savings accounts, you should be able to put away up to $12,000 in FDIC insured savings accounts earning 5% guaranteed interest. The steps to set up these 5% interest accounts go beyond the subject of this post, but check out my guide I’ve written here for more info.
Short-Term/Medium-Term Savings. For short-term and medium-term savings goals, I recommend an high-yield savings accounts that lets you make multiple sub-savings accounts. I currently use Ally, Capital One 360, and Marcus by Goldman Sachs. All of these banks let you create different sub-savings accounts, have a solid interest rate, and are all 100% free with no minimum balance requirements.
Here’s an example of some of the sub-savings accounts that I’ve used:
I have different savings accounts for different short-term goals. Some are more concrete goals – I know Christmas is coming every year, so I automatically set aside money for Christmas on a monthly basis. Other goals are less concrete. My “stupid mistakes fund“, for example, is just a savings account where I put away a small amount of money each month to help me pay for dumb mistakes I might make in any given year. For short-term/medium-term savings, make sure you figure out a way to sub-divide it all. It makes it much easier compared to keeping all of your savings in one big pile.
3. Microsaving Apps
After the basic checking and savings accounts, I like to then add a third layer of savings with apps that can be termed “microsavings” apps. These are fintech apps that run in the background and monitor my financial accounts, saving small amounts of money for me each day that I typically don’t even notice. Over time, these small savings add up. Microsavings apps, by themselves, aren’t enough when it comes to saving, but it’s a nice way to squeeze just a little bit more savings out of my money system without even noticing it.
There are two types of microsavings apps that I utilize: (1) a “round-up” app; and (2) a “sweep” app. Here’s how they work:
- Peak Money. Peak serves as my round-up app. I linked my credit cards to Peak and it monitors all of my transactions on that card. Whenever I make a transaction, Peak rounds up the transaction to the nearest dollar, then saves the spare change into a separate savings account. It’s essentially like an online piggy bank for my spare change. These are small amounts, so I don’t notice them on a daily basis, but over time, the spare change that I save does add up. Check out my Peak Money Review for more information about this app.
- Dobot. I use Dobot as my sweep app. Dobot works by analyzing the cash flow in my checking account and then, using a proprietary algorithm, the app saves small amounts of money for me that it thinks I won’t notice. Using an app like Dobot is a great way to “sweep” out some of that excess money from your checking account and force yourself to save just a little bit more. You can check out my Dobot review for more info about how it works. Another app that you can use as your “sweep” app is Albert, which does the same thing as Dobot, although with slightly fewer features (you can read my Albert review here).
Investment Accounts
After my basic banking accounts, I’ve then got a slew of investment accounts. Obviously, a lot of what you use will depend on where you work, but here’s what I’ve got going on:
Pre-Tax Retirement Savings. I currently have pre-tax retirement savings in three different places.
- 457 Plan. The bulk of my retirement savings is in a 457 plan that I have with the state. When I left biglaw, I rolled over my 401k into this plan since the state plan was so awesome. So, my 457 plan includes my 401k contributions from my first job, as well as my 457 contributions from when I worked for the state. The state plan is cheap, and these funds are all invested in low-cost, Vanguard index funds.
- Solo 401k. Since I side hustle, I set up a Solo 401k to open up some extra pre-tax retirement savings for myself (the Solo 401k is the bonus retirement account for side hustlers). I have my Solo 401k with Fidelity, and it’s the company that I think you should have your Solo 401k with. Setting up a Solo 401k with Fidelity is free, it’s not that hard to set up, and you can invest in low-cost Fidelity index funds that are often cheaper than comparable Vanguard funds. If you’re looking to set up a Solo 401k, here’s a step-by-step guide on how I set up my Fidelity Solo 401k.
- Health Savings Account. I use Lively for my HSA. They have no fees and you can invest your funds into low-cost ETFs. You can read more about my thoughts on Lively in my Lively Review.
Roth IRA. I currently have my Roth IRA with Vanguard. I initially started my Roth IRA with Betterment since when I first set up my Roth IRA back in 2015, I had no idea what I was doing and Betterment made things really easy for me. For most people, I think it makes sense to start out with Betterment or Wealthfront, and then once you have $10k or $20k saved up in your Roth IRA, move all of it directly to Vanguard.
529 Plan (College Savings). For the past three years, I’ve been saving a tiny amount into a 529 plan in my own name. The idea is that I’ll transfer this over to my kids one day in the future. I use the New York 529 plan, which I think is the best plan for most people. The New York 529 plan uses Vanguard funds, and it costs 15 basis points, which I don’t think you can really beat when it comes to 529 plans. If you’re in a state that offers a tax deduction for your state’s specific plan, then you should use your state’s 529 plan. If you’re like me and are either in a state that doesn’t have a tax deduction or that gives you a tax deduction for investing in any 529 plan, then use New York’s plan.
Taxable Investments. Since I’m still early in my investing career, I don’t really have any significant taxable accounts. Right now, I basically do all of my investing in retirement accounts. I do have two taxable accounts that I contribute small amounts to each month as a little test.
- WiseBanyan. I like WiseBanyan because it’s a robo-advisor that is 100% free. Since it costs nothing, I really don’t see any downside to using them. Right now, WiseBanyan serves as my “computer fund.” I’ve been investing a small amount of money each month for the last 3 years, with the idea that I’ll use those funds to buy a new computer every 5 years or so. If the market tanks when I’m ready to buy a new computer, it’s not a big deal (since it’s not like I “need” a new computer).
- SoFi Wealth. SoFi has it’s own robo-advisor service now. I signed up for it because they gave me $100 to open up an account – and I can’t resist free money. My understanding is that it’s free if you have a SoFi loan, but otherwise, it’s basically the same cost as any other robo-advisor.
Fintech Apps That I Use
After all of the bank and investment accounts, I also have a number of fintech apps that I use every day. All of these apps are free and ones that I think you should use:
Mint & Personal Capital. I use both Mint and Personal Capital to monitor all of my financial accounts. Mint is better for keeping a general track of transactions and balances in all of your accounts (like a primary financial dashboard). Personal Capital is better for looking at and analyzing your investments. I think it’s best to use both apps together (they’re both free, so you have no reason not to use them both). One nice thing about Personal Capital is that they offer a $20 Amazon gift card if you create an account with them (I get a $20 Amazon gift card for referring someone), so it’s a nice little bonus for a completely free and useful financial tool.
Prism. I use Prism to keep track of and pay all of my bills. This is especially useful for people like me who prefer not to do auto-pay and like seeing all of my bills in one spot. Even if you have all of your bills set to auto-pay, it still makes sense to link them to Prism so you can see them all in one place. Prism also really helps if you’re a travel hacker and open up a ton of credit cards each year. Every time I get a new credit card, I link it to Prism and then I don’t have to worry about remembering to pay the bill. Of all the fintech apps I use, Prism is, without a doubt, the most useful app for me. I wrote a review about it a while back, so check it out if you want more info about Prism.
Credit Karma + Experian App + Bank Apps That Give You Your Credit Score. Since I open up so many credit cards, it’s really important that I keep tabs on my credit and credit score. This helps to make sure that I know what my credit score looks like, but also helps me to avoid any identity theft issues. Credit Karma monitors my credit reports for TransUnion and Equifax. The Experian app monitors my Experian credit report. Anytime there’s a hard pull or a new account appears on my credit report, I get a notification immediately through these two apps.
You can ignore the credit score that Credit Karma gives you, however. That’s a different type of credit score that is completely made up and that no one actually uses. Instead, the Experian app will give you your actual FICO credit score through Experian.
Other banks will give you your real FICO score as well for the other major credit bureaus. I have a Bank of America credit card, so I can get my TransUnion FICO score through the Bank of America app. Equifax doesn’t really have a way to get your real Equifax credit score, although Citi gives a sort of modified version of that score, which can give you an idea of where you stand.
Takeaways
There’s no one right way to set up your money system, but hopefully, this post can give you some ideas of how you can set things up. Your money system can change of course – I’ve switched over time between a traditional brick and mortar bank account and online-only bank accounts. Fintech apps like Astra and Dobot didn’t even exist a few years ago.
Really, the important thing is to figure out what tools and systems work for you. It’ll be an evolving process. But once it’s set up, things will just run themselves and you’ll find that you keep ending up with more money, without even realizing it. That’s the power of having a smooth, running money system.
How’s your money system set up? Let me know if you have any accounts or tools you use that I should be incorporating into my money system.
we switched to online checking/saving at ally a few years ago. they’re just great and they raise the interest rate without you having to ask. the one thing about not having a local bank is that we feel better keeping a slug of cash in the house above the amount you can get from an ATM. we keep a thousand bucks around in case of emergency where the power might be out and you can’t get any from an ATM. that’s just food for thought.
Yep, Ally is a good one and is what my wife uses as her primary bank account for both checking and savings. She used to have a traditional brick and mortar bank (lame).
I keep no significant cash around my house, but really, I can’t think of too many situations where I need to pull out cash immediately. I suppose it can happen in a natural disaster situation or something, but yeah, I just hate carrying cash…
Will Ally offer any cash back for signing up with them?
Can one open a CapitalOne card with even as little as $5 and get $200 cash from then for opening?
As far as I’m aware, there’s no sign up bonuses for Ally. It’s still worth having an account with them, so I recommend it.
The Capital One 360 bonus is targeted, so you have to figure out a way to get that offer. I randomly got a mailer that offered me the $200 bonus, so that’s how I got it. I’m not sure what the secret is to get targeted.
Thanks for the post! 🙂 I’m glad we could hear from you 😉
My money system is pretty simple – close to 0 apps, Mint and my spreadsheet 🙂
zzz…boring. Haha, but yeah, you seem like a streamlined dude. You know me – I like to use weird stuff and make it more complicated.
Thank you so much for your post! My money system is currently very similar to yours except I do keep two brick and mortor Bank of America checking accounts (a joint with my spouse and a personal) for the event that we need to have face to face teller assistance. I have not been inside a branch for the last five years though–(ATM banking only). Our Bank of America accounts are free so long as we commit to a direct deposit of $250.00 or more. Until literally this morning, I was using the Digit APP but found out about the new administrative fee that will be applicable after my 100 day introductory period expires (No Thank You). Thanks for the insight on other similar FREE (for now) apps on the market. I am going to look into Qapital and Albert and will likely just roll the funds that had saved in Digit right over to each of those! Your blog is awesome and I am glad that I found it.
Thanks again,
Glad the post was helpful! I used Digit for about 2 years before they switched over to the fee model, then started using Dobot before, of course, they went to a fee model. Luckily, since these types of apps are just saving money for us, it really takes no work to just get rid of them and move onto another version that does the same thing for free (I think it took me 5 minutes to switch over to Albert).
I didn’t know that I could have a 529 plan, and then transfer that to my future children. Do you know what happens to the plan if I never have any children?
Yep, you can always change your beneficiary designation on your 529 plan. I have one for myself, and my wife has one for herself (she was paying tuition for her residency, so we were running her tuition bills through her 529 plan in order to generate some credit card spend (a little extra money hack there), and to get a tax deduction too).
If you never have kids, you can always use it on yourself if you ever want to go back to school. Otherwise, transfer it over to a niece or nephew and be the best uncle or aunt ever (you can change the beneficiary to anyone, not just immediate family).
Good to see someone organizing it the way i would, actually i was glad after each section revealed that my system was similar to yours. I had started thinking that i have spread it out too much but now i have and expert’s confirmation.
I just yesterday signed up for Acorn and its charged, so i will checkout Qapital and Albert.
I do have multiple Roth Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard.
Also i like Robinhood to play a little in individual stocks, very small part of my investments but it doesn’t charge you for Equity trades so i like it.
Someone looking to diversify into Real Estate should try Fundrise.
And i recently put in the work as advised by you in setting up the Insight and Netspend cards- thanks for that tip.
Whats your view on P2P lending, who is the best player as per you?
Also what’s your view on Whole Life Insurance ?
Haha, great minds think alike! I have Robinhood too, but I don’t really mess with individual stocks – it was just a sort of test thing and I use it for triggering bank account bonuses (more on that in another post someday). If you’re going to buy individual stocks, I think Robinhood makes sense, although I really hate how they treat investing like its a game and I also do not like how they’re pushing crypto on people now.
For P2P lending – I’m anti-P2P lending now unless you just have so much money that you don’t know what to do with it. My rationale is that P2P lending is tax inefficient, has a capped return, is still correlated with general market conditions, and has a weird all-or-nothing aspect where one bad investment can wipe out the rest of your good investments. I’m too poor to mess with P2P lending, but my brother plays around with it some and it’s fine, but ultimately, a pretty meaningless part of his portfolio.
Whole life insurance is bad for 99% of people, and probably 100% bad for people who are in the Financial Independence space.
Thanks for the post. I have always had Capital One 360 savings and only recently switched to their money market account, which gives a slightly higher rate if you maintain a 10k minimum. The 5 percent return is a good hack but way too much work. Lol
Haha, yeah, the 5% accounts aren’t for everyone. Set up your system your way is what I say.
Why do you recommend moving all your retirement funds to Vanguard after betterment/wealthfront?
The common criticisms of robo-advisors is that you’re paying for a service that you can do yourself for free – i.e. just investing directly with Vanguard. I use Betterment for my Roth IRA, which many would say is not necessary, but I find its good for the early stage investor who just needs to figure out how to get started. At this point, I’ve learned enough that I can pretty much just invest it directly with the Vanguard funds I want. There’s no problem with going Robo forever – it’s just a decision I’ve made.
Right now I have both of our IRA’s with betterment. It seems to do a good job of taking care of my needs and will hopefully do so in the future. Do you just have a IRA with vanguard and then purchase low expense ETFs that meet your needs and risk level?
Are there any other fees that would be incurred that would not make that switch valuable?(ie, fund purchase fees, account creation fees)
Hi Kevin, do you still use Astra & can you do a review on it?
Thank you,
Steven
Hey Steven. I’ve had an on-again/off-again relationship with Astra. I’ve spoken to the CEO of the company before and they are definitely a small team. For the most part, it did what I needed it to do, but I had a few glitches where I would schedule a transfer, then nothing would happen. They are very responsive when you contact them and it seems like they’ve continued to improve.
I’m going to get back to using it again some more because I do see promise in it and they’ve definitely improved since I first discovered it a year (or was it more than a year?) ago.
Long story short, if you have a use case for it, then I think there’s value in it, especially since they seem to keep improving it.
Thank you for your response Kevin. This was very helpful. Be safe and well.
Thanks again,
Steven
You have a lot of moving parts to your system and I’m glad it works for you and it’s nice to have all these options. I’ve simplified my finances in the last few years and I really like that my money is in one easy to manage place.