Comments on: Mint.com – Where the Hell is my Money Going? http://blog.bradhubbard.net/2008/10/20/mintcom-where-the-hell-is-my-money-going/ Technology and Me Sun, 05 Jun 2011 00:40:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Brad http://blog.bradhubbard.net/2008/10/20/mintcom-where-the-hell-is-my-money-going/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Brad Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:38:09 +0000 http://blog.bradhubbard.net/?p=37#comment-5 You make some good points. I tend to always be willing to follow the money trail back to figure out who's got the most to gain from giving me advice. However, if a company like Mint wants to establish itself in the market, it needs to offer better advice than, say, your average H&R Block rep, and it needs to be reliable first and concerned with its own commission second. If not, you end up with another search engine I realize that doing this through software will be difficult, but that's precisely what makes it valuable. Perhaps they can provide a level of even intermediate financial planning that most people lack. And if they're passing you off at a pre-qualification level to another company, those guys are of course going to give you a more thorough look. As for the advice, it is quite sound. I'm actually in pretty good shape right now, all my money is tied up in one asset. Not the smartest, but it has kept me out of the stock market. Yeah, Chase doesn't offer bill notification, just alerts when payment is overdue. It's a little odd, but their site is also pretty poorly designed. You make some good points. I tend to always be willing to follow the money trail back to figure out who’s got the most to gain from giving me advice. However, if a company like Mint wants to establish itself in the market, it needs to offer better advice than, say, your average H&R Block rep, and it needs to be reliable first and concerned with its own commission second. If not, you end up with another search engine

I realize that doing this through software will be difficult, but that’s precisely what makes it valuable. Perhaps they can provide a level of even intermediate financial planning that most people lack. And if they’re passing you off at a pre-qualification level to another company, those guys are of course going to give you a more thorough look.

As for the advice, it is quite sound. I’m actually in pretty good shape right now, all my money is tied up in one asset. Not the smartest, but it has kept me out of the stock market.

Yeah, Chase doesn’t offer bill notification, just alerts when payment is overdue. It’s a little odd, but their site is also pretty poorly designed.

]]> By: Ted http://blog.bradhubbard.net/2008/10/20/mintcom-where-the-hell-is-my-money-going/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Ted Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:19:05 +0000 http://blog.bradhubbard.net/?p=37#comment-4 Having an automated system come up with "yakno, you could save some cash if you consolidated your line of equity with a 5yr fixed, low-APR loan from these guys" would be very difficult, as that's essentially what a financial planner does, and it's hard enough to do that as a human. Having the full view of ones financial assets that comes from Mint or Quicken helps, but the scope of advice you'd want from such a system is so wide and the laws surrounding it so complex, and the important information about your products so unavailable (does your loan have a pre-payment penalty, etc.), it isn't feasible right now. Also, I don't like taking advice on financial stuff from people who are funding themselves by the advice you take from them. It gives them a big incentive to recommend the options that pay the biggest commission, even if they aren't the best thing for you. However, if you want some places to look, here are my recommendations: 1) Disability Insurance. 2) Retirement, in particular Roth IRAs and 401(k) matching. 3) Taxes (heh). For example, if you have losses in a taxable stock portfolio, now may be a good time to sell a little to generate a $3000 taxable loss you can take against your income. 4) Fixed-Rate Mortgages are where you want to be as rates are pretty low these days, historically speaking. 5) Term Life Insurance, if you have kids or big expenses that you'd want to cover if you die. If not, most companies pay for a few tens of thousands of dollars on their employees, which will cover funeral expenses and the like. 6) Estate Planning. Without kids or substantial assets, wills and the like aren't really that important, but Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Powers of Attorney are very important if you want your wishes honored when you are not capable of stating them, like if you've been in an accident and are in a coma. In other news, your credit card won't warn you your bill is due and hasn't been paid? Weird. Most companies will do that, and many will even text your phone with that data these days. Having an automated system come up with “yakno, you could save some cash if you consolidated your line of equity with a 5yr fixed, low-APR loan from these guys” would be very difficult, as that’s essentially what a financial planner does, and it’s hard enough to do that as a human. Having the full view of ones financial assets that comes from Mint or Quicken helps, but the scope of advice you’d want from such a system is so wide and the laws surrounding it so complex, and the important information about your products so unavailable (does your loan have a pre-payment penalty, etc.), it isn’t feasible right now.

Also, I don’t like taking advice on financial stuff from people who are funding themselves by the advice you take from them. It gives them a big incentive to recommend the options that pay the biggest commission, even if they aren’t the best thing for you.

However, if you want some places to look, here are my recommendations:
1) Disability Insurance.
2) Retirement, in particular Roth IRAs and 401(k) matching.
3) Taxes (heh). For example, if you have losses in a taxable stock portfolio, now may be a good time to sell a little to generate a $3000 taxable loss you can take against your income.
4) Fixed-Rate Mortgages are where you want to be as rates are pretty low these days, historically speaking.
5) Term Life Insurance, if you have kids or big expenses that you’d want to cover if you die. If not, most companies pay for a few tens of thousands of dollars on their employees, which will cover funeral expenses and the like.
6) Estate Planning. Without kids or substantial assets, wills and the like aren’t really that important, but Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Powers of Attorney are very important if you want your wishes honored when you are not capable of stating them, like if you’ve been in an accident and are in a coma.

In other news, your credit card won’t warn you your bill is due and hasn’t been paid? Weird. Most companies will do that, and many will even text your phone with that data these days.

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