As a financial coach, people often ask me, “what’s the best tool for budgeting?”

And it’s a fair question! There are hundreds of budgeting tools out there, from free ones like Intuit’s Mint, to intricate tools like You Need a Budget (YNAB).

While everyone has their own opinion, my personal favorite tool for budgeting with clients and for managing my own budget is definitely Tiller Money.

What is Tiller Money?

Tiller Money is fairly unique among the budgeting tools. Rather than having an independent app, it pulls your transactions into a spreadsheet (either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) each day and helps you plan out and organize your finances from there.

So if you’re working with a client who absolutely hates spreadsheets . . . then Tiller Money may not be for them. But I’ve found that for most of my clients, Tiller Money is a flexible, collaborative, and intuitive way to keep track of money.

Tiller Money provides pre-built templates for monthly budgeting, tracking transactions, and monitoring account balances. And it provides innovative additional functionality, such as debt payoff plans, through free “Tiller Money Labs” templates and tools.

Using Tiller Money As a Financial Coach

My favorite part of Tiller Money is the ease with which you can review and plan out spending with a client.

Tiller Money provides a good setup for the client to get started and link their accounts. From there, the client can just share their spreadsheet with you via Google Sheets or Excel to collaborate.

When working with a client in Tiller Money, I start by helping them choose their budget categories and set achievable spending goals for their first month. From there, we review their actual spending vs. plan each month using Tiller Money’s pre-built Monthly Budget tool.

In addition to this budgeting functionality, I love helping clients set up automatic categorization using Tiller Money’s powerful “AutoCat” (automatic categorization) feature. My clients absolutely love “AutoCat” and find that it saves them time on categorizing transactions each month.

Taking Tiller Money to the Next Level

The beautiful thing about spreadsheets is their unlimited possibilities. Once my clients have their transaction and account balance data flowing into Tiller Money, I build custom sheets for them that help them stay on track towards their goals.

For example, I’ve built a custom spreadsheet tab for student loan paydown that shows a client their expected payoff date based on their monthly savings and payoff prioritization vs. other goals. Something like that simply isn’t possible in a less flexible tool like Mint.com. Even YNAB, heralded for its planning capabilities, doesn’t let you account for interest rates to determine a student loan payoff date.

I also use the client’s Tiller Money spreadsheet to help us track progress on their credit scores and on other goals we established at the outset. Seeing that progress over time is super motivating!

Finally, I’ve even started customizing the colors of the spreadsheet tabs to match Savings Academy, my brand. Clients say that they enjoy the cohesive feel of the “spreadsheet suite!”

Considerations Before Using Tiller Money

Cost and data linkages are two important considerations before recommending Tiller Money to clients.

Tiller Money costs $79/year after a 30-day free trial. I find that pricing very reasonable considering the value that my clients receive from using Tiller Money. However, I always give clients a heads up about the pricing when recommending Tiller Money.

If a client wants a free solution, you could recommend Mint instead. Though keep in mind that Mint makes money through ads, so your client will frequently see recommendations for credit cards and financial products that may not be ideal for them. In comparison, Tiller Money does not sell customer data to advertisers or third parties.

Data linkages are the second important consideration. Like most modern budgeting tools, Tiller Money pulls in your transaction data through a secure connection to your bank. That means clients will need to enter their bank logins when setting up Tiller Money.

The good news is that from my experience Tiller Money takes data security very seriously. For bank connections, they use Yodlee’s API, an encrypted industry-leading bank data aggregation service used by most of the major US banks.

Another thing to note is that account connections sometimes disconnect. This disconnection is caused by either:

1. The client having two-factor authentication at their banks, which requires that clients  re-authenticate each time Tiller Money pulls new data.
2. A temporary connection issue with the bank.

The good news is Tiller Money customer support communicates excellently when these issues arise. And every budgeting tool that connects to banks runs into the same issues, so they’re not unique to Tiller Money. Over the next year Tiller Money is also moving towards a new Open Banking architecture with financial institutions which will improve the quality of data feeds while avoiding two-factor requests.

Is Tiller Money Worth Trying?

Despite the considerations I mentioned, I still highly recommend trying out Tiller Money. Start by setting it up for your own personal budget to get comfortable with using the software. Tiller Money includes a free trial. 

Once you’re comfortable, choose one client to try Tiller Money with. Once that’s successful, gradually roll it out to other clients (or perhaps just your new clients). You’ll be an expert by the time you’ve fully rolled Tiller Money out! And if you’re struggling to figure out your Tiller Money workflow, the Financial Pros group in the Tiller Money Community is a handy resource. Just reach out to Tiller Money’s support team via chat for more details on gaining access to this group.

Using Tiller Money has transformed my coaching business. It has saved me time compared to the days when clients had to share their screen or manually enter information into a spreadsheet.

Most importantly, Tiller Money has allowed me deeper insights into my clients spending and saving – which is foundational to what we do as financial coaches!

Guest Contributor: Vineet Prasad, AFC®
Founder of Savings Academy
https://www.savingsacademy.com/

The post Why I Use Tiller Money as a Financial Coach appeared first on AFCPE.

The Equifax data breach forever changed the landscape of consumer data protection. For consumers, it was the first time that a breach exposed at one time essentially all the components an identity thief needs to commit a variety of crimes. Because the hacked information included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some instances, driver’s license numbers, the steps recommended for consumers to protect themselves were no longer easy or quick. From that point on, it became clear that people need a more comprehensive strategy to reduce the likelihood that they will be victims in the future. One approach that may help is to look at what a thief can do with your information and possible steps to take:

1. Steal Your Information – Thieves might steal your personal information to either sell it to others or use it themselves to commit a variety of crimes. Check to see if Equifax thinks your information was compromised and to sign up for one year of free credit monitoring (available whether or not your information was compromised). Sign up for credit monitoring before freezing your credit.

www.equifaxsecurity2017.com (Equifax Security Breach Site)

2. Commit Existing Account Fraud – The thief may use your existing credit card, bank account, internet payment account, etc. to get money or pay for items they receive. Monitor your accounts carefully, checking every transaction to be sure that it is yours. Report all suspicious transactions, even very small ones. Set alerts on your accounts, so that you will be notified of transactions and can spot unusual activity. Find out about fraud/security protections of your 401(k) or other investment plan company.
3. Commit New Account Fraud – The thief may open a new credit card account, bank account, internet payment account, wireless service, or auto, personal, or student loan in your name. Opt out of pre‐approved credit offers. Consider fraud alerts and/or freezes at each of the credit reporting agencies and bank account verification agencies:

www.optoutprescreen.com (Opt‐out of pre‐approved credit offers.) https://www.freeze.equifax.com/Freeze/jsp/SFF_PersonalIDInfo.jsp  (Equifax Freeze) https://www.experian.com/freeze/center.html (Experian Freeze)

https://freeze.transunion.com/ (Trans Union Freeze)

https://www.innovis.com/personal/securityFreeze (Innovis Freeze)

www.chexsystems.com (Chexsystems Freeze – Click on “Security Freeze” on the menu.)

https://www.firstdata.com/content/dam/FirstData/telecheck/telecheck-file-report.html (Request Telecheck report – no freeze information listed.)

https://www.earlywarning.com/consumer-information.html (Request Early Warning report ‐ no freeze information listed.)

https://www.askcertegy.com/FACT.jsp (Request Certegy report ‐ no freeze information listed.)

4. Commit Criminal Identity Theft – The thief may use your name and information during interactions with law enforcement, leading to arrest warrants or court proceedings in the victim’s name. (Seek professional/legal advice if this occurs.)
5. Commit Employment Identity Theft – The thief may get a job using your name and Social Security number. Activate your Social Security account online to confirm the accuracy of your earnings and benefits statement. Periodically check to be sure that only your own earnings are being reported. A security freeze at Equifax will block the ability to set up an SSA account online but will not affect existing accounts. If you already have an account, consider blocking electronic access to at the link listed below.

www.ssa.gov

www.socialsecurity.gov/blockaccess  (Block all electronic access to your Social Security information.)  

https://blog.ssa.gov/protecting-your-social-security/

6. Commit Medical Identity Theft – The thief may use your information to get access to health care. Sign up for an online account through your insurer. Monitor your healthcare accounts and statements carefully. Report any medications, treatments, or providers that are not consistent with care you have received.
7. Commit Mortgage Fraud – The thief may get a mortgage in your name or pose as your home’s owner to get the deed transferred into his/her own name. See new account fraud above.
8. Commit Synthetic Identity Theft – The thief might use your Social Security number in combination with another person’s name and birthdate to create a new, fictitious identity. Monitor your Social Security records for possible fraudulent activity.
9. Commit Tax Fraud – The thief might file a tax refund in your name to receive a refund or other funds owed to you. File your taxes as early in the year as possible. Adjust your withholding so that you get the smallest refund possible, in case a thief does try to steal your refund. File an Identity Theft Affidavit with the IRS to flag your account for extra monitoring.

I know all of this sounds scary. Since the information of everyone in my immediate family was compromised in the Equifax breach, I understand. My intent is not to cause fear, but to encourage vigilance. We are wise to take the specific actions recommended after any data breach. But we can’t stop there. We need to carefully check every statement we receive, request and review every consumer report that is available to us, and verify the credibility of every request for personal information we receive, unfortunately for the rest of our lives. Nothing we can do is guaranteed to prevent a thief from committing these crimes. However, the sooner we notice a problem, the better our chances to resolve it before it becomes a nightmare.

Other Articles and Resources:  

http://articles.extension.org/pages/74535/data‐breaches‐credit‐freezes‐and‐vigilance

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2017/09/equifax‐data‐breach‐what‐do

https://www.identitytheft.gov/

https://www.fcc.gov/smartphone-security

http://www.idtheftcenter.org/equifaxdatabreach

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0119-guide-assisting-id-theft-victims.pdf

 

Guest Contributor: Karen Lynn Poff, MPA, AFC^®, Senior Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences 
Virginia Cooperative Extension – Northern Shenandoah Valley Financial Education Program

E‐mail: kpoff@vt.edu

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karenlynnpoff

NSV Financial Education Website – http://warren.ext.vt.edu/programs/nsvfep.html

NSV Financial Education Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/nsvfinancialeducation/

June 27, 2018

The post Life After the Equifax Data Breach… appeared first on AFCPE.

When it comes to spoken word education and entertainment, podcasts are a media on the rise. Podcasts are similar to radio shows and are available in downloadable episodes. Episodes generally focus on a specific topic and can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours or more. They can be listened to on a smartphone, ipod, tablet, or computer. Unlike articles, blogs, books, or sitting down with a financial counselor or advisor (which require your full attention) podcasts only require that you turn them on and listen. You can download episodes on various interesting topics and listen to them at your convenience—while you work out, drive to work, or do household chores. It isn’t surprising why this easy-to-create medium has become increasingly popular over the past decade. In a 2016 study conducted by WONDERY and comScore, “Nearly one in five Americans aged 18-49 report listening to podcasts at least once a month, while nearly one in three men 18-34 do so.” With so many listeners, it’s no wonder that there are quite a few personal finance podcasts available. Here are some of the pros and cons of using podcasts to educate yourself on personal finance:

Pros:

• Easy to use. Anyone with a smart device can download a podcasting app. Additionally, most popular music apps have a way to access podcasts. Most apps allow you to subscribe to your favorite show and episodes are automatically delivered to your listening queue.
• Convenient. Episodes are available through multiple devices. Listeners can pause episodes to fit into their schedule or binge listen for hours. Podcasts can be listened to about anywhere. All you need is a set of headphones.
• Free (or minimal cost). The majority of podcasts rely on voluntary donations or are sponsored. This allows them to produce their shows for free. If a fee is involved it’s generally an initial purchase or subscription fee for the podcasting app itself.
• Educational. Podcasts offer a variety of subjects and financial information levels. This includes everything from beginner budgeting to advanced investing strategies. Once listeners find a show they like, it may open them up to learning about new topics.
• Habit building. Most podcasts release new episodes every week. This allows regular listeners to get in the habit of thinking about money, money habits, and financial topics. Listeners can also replay episodes at anytime to refresh information they previously learned.
• Widespread. Compared to financial journals, podcasts can effortlessly reach a larger portion of the population. With a simple search on your podcasting app, you can pull up a list of finance related podcasts, complete with reviews.
• Unobtrusive. Podcasts provide a passive way to learn about personal finance. Listeners don’t have to share personal information and aren’t judged by their lack of knowledge.

Cons:

• There is no outside review or oversight to ensure the presented information is accurate and unbiased. Fact checking is left up to the listener, and there’s virtually no way to verify they understood the offered information in full.
• Complicated topics may be covered in a way that leads listeners to feel overconfident in their knowledge. If the average length of a podcast is 15 minutes, a host might be able to tell listeners about a savings account, but it’s unlikely they could fully cover all the pros and cons of different retirement accounts.
• Most shows have sponsors and take commercial breaks to advertise products. It may be difficult for listeners to discern a trusted show host recommendation from an advertisement. This becomes especially problematic if a show is sponsored by a financial service or bank.

While these factors could lead to some serious consequences, hopefully most listeners will do their own research or critical thinking beyond the podcast. Podcasts can be excellent gateways to exploring more traditional financial education tools like articles and research journals, and ultimately seeking financial advice from a trusted financial counselor, coach or planner. Overall, podcasts seem to provide an easy way to educate a variety of people on personal finance. Why not try listening in?

What are some of your favorite personal finance podcasts?

Guest Contributor: Jennifer Grudis Ader AFC^®

Image by file name “Podcast Blog Photo.” Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/desk-phone-notebook-office-602980/

June 12, 2017
Personal Finance Podcasts

The post Did You Hear? appeared first on AFCPE.

6 Tips to Help You Find Your Smartphone Budgeting App

These days I feel like I have an app for everything. Whether I’m grocery shopping, getting directions, or just killing time, I have an app that helps me with all these things. With all that time we spend on our smartphones, why not incorporate them into our budgets? We can no longer use excuses like “I don’t like excel”, “It’s too much work”, or “I don’t have the time”. These apps are quick and easy to use, so tracking how much you spent on that cup of coffee takes less time than playing a game of Angry Birds or checking your Twitter feed.

Luckily for smartphone users, there’s a variety of budgeting apps with a number of different features to meet your needs. Here are some things to consider when looking for a mobile budgeting tool.

1. Is it available for your phone platform?
   Luckily, most apps can be used on both Apple and Android phones, but it’s always good to start by narrowing your search to apps that are compatible with your phone. Check to see if you can also access the app from your computer or tablet for more flexibility and ease of use.
    
2. Does the app cost money?
   Some apps are free while others require an initial purchase or subscription fee. If the app costs money, read some reviews to see if it’s worth the value. Or even better, look for a free trial so you can try it out firsthand.
    
3. What do you want out of your app?
   Do you only want it to record your purchases, or do you want it to keep track of your budget or bank accounts as well? Do you want the ability to customize your budget categories or pay bills? Think about what you are trying to accomplish. Do you want to save more, prevent overspending, or make sure you pay bills on time? Consider how the app and its features will help you achieve these goals. If you can’t find an app that does everything on your list, prioritize what’s important to you when making your final decision.
    
4. How much do you want to share?
   Some apps require that you provide bank or financial service information. If you want to be able to check your bank balance or have your credit card purchases automatically recorded, then you will need to supply the app with account information. If an app does require you to share this information, do your research to ensure that they have appropriate security and whether or not they share your personal data. If you aren’t comfortable sharing this information, look for an app that allows to you input data manually and doesn’t require this information in order to operate.
    
5. Does the app allow for multiple users?
   Decide if you want to share the budget app with other members of your household. It’s good to have everyone on the same page, but not everyone likes the same budgeting method. A shared budget can impact relationships in addition to just finances. Try and make the experience positive and ensure everyone involved communicates their financial goals, intensions, and habits.
    
6. Once selected, are you using the app?
   After a few weeks, re-evaluate your financial progress. Is the app helping you reach your goals, or did you not even open it during the trial period? If you chose a more manual app, did you actually enter the data? Based on how well you did, you can decide if that particular app is for you. If not, don’t worry! Make a list of reasons why you did or did not like the app. Then see if there’s a better option available that incorporates the items on your list. There are plenty of other budgeting apps that can help you achieve your goals.

I wouldn’t suggest downloading multiple budgeting apps at once as it can become frustrating to enter the same data multiple times. Getting started takes time and effort. Don’t get discouraged if you become overwhelmed. Take a break or ask a family member for help so your budget is set up in a way that works for both of you. Remember, adhering to a budget is one of the best ways to help you achieve your financial goals!  

What budgeting apps do you use?

Guest Contributor: Jennifer Grudis Ader AFC^®

Image by file name “Budget Blog Photo.” Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/mobile-phone-money-banknotes-buy-1595731/

June 02, 2017

The post There’s an App for That! appeared first on AFCPE.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”

In other words, we learn the most by doing.

Up until now, most financial education has attempted to “tell” or “teach”.  Even in today’s digital world, financial literacy has mostly consisted of transposing to computer screens the content of courses and books about managing money. Video tutorials are more entertaining than text and can replicate some of the experience of a physical classroom, but they are still a one-way teaching method.

Some have ventured into the world of interactive games, all the way to letting players navigate inside 3D virtual worlds.  Role playing can let users manage some fictitious wealth, pretty much like the game of Monopoly. However, these games do not get you involved in managing your actual finances.

Budgeting tools like Mint or Money Desktop do connect to your actual money by reading information out of your bank accounts and credit cards. However, they remain separate from the online management access that your bank may have given you, so they duplicate some of the functions while not allowing you to actually initiate any movement of money.

I believe that the holy grail of efficient financial education is going to be smartphone apps that combine financial guidance and budgeting with the full management of your money into a single application.

GoBank is an example of bundling budgeting with full access to a payment card within a single app. It is currently limited to one single payment instrument, so it does not help you manage other bank accounts or cards, but it is a promising first step.

Smartphones and tablets will replace laptop and desktop computers very soon as the mass medium of choice to reach consumers. An application on a mobile device allows financial education to be actionable: you can move money into your savings account or suspend one of your credit cards immediately, as you receive the advice to do so.

Smartphone apps also support the most efficient way to communicate with consumers: mobile push alerts. Have you noticed that certain apps will display alerts on the home screen of your phone, even if the application is not active and running? This is because you authorized the application to send you alerts when you installed it for the first time on your phone or tablet.

Here is an example of how mobile alerts can be used by a financial guidance application linked to a credit card:

Alicia is a 24 year-old sales assistant in a department store and just got her first credit card with a $1,000 line of credit last week. She received a message on her smartphone to congratulate her when she activated the card. That message also advised her not to use the card to “consume” but only to pay for things that she already has to pay, like bills. Alas, she could not resist a trip to the electronics store over the weekend to buy one of the 42” fat screen TVs that was on sale for $499. On Monday, during her lunch break, she receives a new message on her smartphone which starts with “Alicia, you could do better than that. You have just used up half of your line of credit in one single transaction…”. When she clicks on the message, she is advised to stop using her card for the rest of the month and prepare to pay at least 70% of the card balance when the bill will come at the end of the month. The application also offers her the option to avoid further temptation by putting her card on hold until the end of the month.

The mobile application described above does not exist yet. But all the components required to build it are available today; so expect to see very soon the advent of just-in-time, actionable financial guidance delivered to consumers through their mobile devices.

Patrice Peyret is the co-founder and CEO of Banking Up, an online and mobile financial services company, providing businesses, banks and their consumers with smart, technology-forward personal finance products. Banking Up’s vision is that everyone deserves good everyday banking services no matter their level of income, age, education and bankability. AFCPE Executive Director met Patrice at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) this past June and invited him to share his vision with our readers.

October 23, 2014

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