11 Finance Apps to Improve Your Financial Literacy

‘I think there’s an app for that’: it’s a phrase everyone’s probably heard at some point, or one they’ve said themselves. You’re talking with your friends about one of life’s many inconveniences and somebody solves the conversation by remarking on an app they’ve used that eliminated that problem in their own life. Trying to guess the song that’s playing in the bar, knowing when the surf is good to go on holiday, identifying the trees in your backyard—‘I think there’s an app for that’.The same is true with all things finance. Apps and finance are such an ideal pairing because they’re both with you every day of your life, and the more convenient your access to them, the better. You likely take your smartphone with you everywhere you go, which gives you ample time to better your financial knowledge and maintain control of your finances. Finance apps can do wonders for financial literacy. The versatility of app technology has led to quizzes, games, budgeting assistance, finance news, and much more. We want to help you find the apps suited to your situation, whether it be your age group, specific area of concern, or daily needs.

One of the most important things we can do with our finances is proper budgeting. The better idea we have of how much money is coming in each month and what we’re doing with it, the more likely we are to live the life we want.Budgeting can be surprisingly complex when you first approach the subject. Even if you read all the right books on the subject, you still have to draw up a budgeting plan yourself. Apps logically remove this step and supply you with a framework designed by experts, before teaching you how to use it to best suit your situation. In the end, these apps can properly teach you how to save money effectively.

YNAB helps you keep track of your finances by creating a budget plan that fits your everyday needs. Pay off debt, increase your savings and reach your financial goals faster. According to YNAB, new budgeters typically save up to $600 in their first two months and more than $6,000 in their first year on average.

Mint is one of the most popular money saving apps on the market right now and about 25 million users take advantage of its services. It is free of charge and allows users of all expertise levels to get their budget unter control. Connect your bank acount to regularily check on your balance, ste payment reminders for your rent, or have a look into your current credit score – all in one finance app.

Wallet offers you all standard functions of a budgeting app. Track your income and expenses and always keep an overview with clear statistics. The app even allows you to create shopping lists and digitise popular loyalty cards like Payback.

While news resources are useful for keeping an eye on the stock market, apps can give you a more up-to-the minute perspective. Not only this, but with the right app you can personalise your stock portfolio. This enables you to block out the noise of the stock market and remain focused on your own investments.

Yahoo finance – which also provides you with daily finance news on their website – is an app to keep track of your investments and trends on the stock market. Discover detailed financial information such as historical financials, ESG ratings, and top holders to make sense through all the noise. Subscribe to specific markets, industries, or stocks to get real-time trends and personalised news.

Ellevest was developed by women for women to help more female users become financially literate and independent. The app was the 2021 NerdWallet winner in the category “Best Robo-Advisor for IRA Investing” and offers users virtual coaching sessions in small groups, workshops, and learning materials on budgeting, saving, salary negotiation, and more.

Similar to Yahoo finance, this app also backs up the well known news portal with a mobile app that allows users to stay on top of stock market trends and their portfolio. Investing.com provides personalised notifications and alerts, a calendar view to track market-moving events and their impacts on their investments, and an individual news feed to stay financially literate at all times.

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Books and podcasts can give you a big dose of financial knowledge on specialised topics, but finance apps aiming to boost your financial literacy take a unique approach. With quizzes on financial topics, games on important definitions, and recorded progress of your financial literacy, these kinds of apps help you take an active approach to your learning. Fit time on these apps into your commute or waiting in the doctor’s office so you can improve your financial literacy without even noticing.

Zogo is one of the leading apps in the field of financial education. Complex topics are broken down into fun and easy to complete modules, making it easier to learn in your busy day-to-day life. Through partnerships with numerous financial service providers and companies, you receive rewards after completing modules, which in turn help you get a handle on your finances.

Actually, Ascendr is a mentoring platform that allows users to find a mentorship on a given topic or even hand on their skills to mentees seeking advice. Still, since Ascendr has categories for finances and investing as well, the app offers you personalised courses and mentorings to improve your financial literacy and get your money on the right track.

Your Juno not only creates an app that aims to improve women’s financial literacy, but also an environment where they can network and exchange ideas with each other. Users learn from certified experts as well as through individual courses, quizzes and action-oriented lists that they can use directly in their everyday lives. Or as the team behind Your Juno phrases it: ‘Think of us as Duolingo meets Masterclass’.

Managing your finances might not be all fun and games, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be some fun and games involved, right? More than just time killers, these finance games feature activities and challenges applicable to the real world. They’re a great way to deal with problems and enact scenarios with no real consequences, so you can learn to make mistakes without suffering financially from them.

This gamified education app was developed by the SIFMA Foundation which provides financial education programmes and tools to strengthen economic opportunities and individuals’ awareness of their finances. Users can take use of the app to investment on a virtual and fictional stock market and therefore connect the learnings to their real-life financial literacy.

Fortune City is a simulation game that allows you to slip into the role of a city’s major who needs to make the right financial decisions to keep the economy on track while manage your own real-life finances. Keep an eye on your spendings and grow your virtual city in parallel! Fortune City gamifies your bookkeeping, records your income and expenses, and let you watch your city flourishes into a beautiful metropolis.

‘Finance app’ is a broad term. It encompasses budgeting apps, games, quizzes, vocabulary builders, and many more besides. This is to say that finance apps can be educational, fun, or play an active role in your everyday life.Whatever your financial concern is, there’s most likely an app that can assist you in managing it. The tricky part is finding the ones worth your time—and sometimes your money.

Considering whether to pay for a finance app is in itself making a financial decision about whether to invest money into something. Do you expect a return on your investment which will ultimately make you better at budgeting, more financially literate, or increase your proficiency in tax calculation?Most paid-for apps will include a free trial or limited version which will introduce you to its basic features and give you a feel for using the app. This is the best way to determine whether or not you should pay for a finance app. In addition, read reviews of paid apps, consider the features offered when switching to paid, and, of course, incorporate the cost of the app into your monthly budget.

While the specificities of each finance app depend on the service the app is providing, there are certainly a few things to look for in certain types of finance apps:

Apps turn improving your financial literacy from a chore into a time-killer. The convenience and proximity of the technology almost every moment of the day make it easy to put in short bursts of time, whether it be a few minutes on a game, a couple of questions on a quiz, a quick look at how your stocks are performing, or an alteration to your daily budget. With the right finance app, you’ll never go a day without becoming just a little more financially literate. Keep improving your financial literacy with our content on finance books, finance podcasts, finance news, and finfluencers. 

_{Disclaimer: This selection of apps was made at the personal judgement of the Qonto Editorial Team. None of these apps are connected to Qonto and there is no paid advertising cooperation with the persons and companies behind the apps mentioned.}