Mint Review
Mint is a personal finance service that has received numerous Editor’s Choice awards due to its simplicity, usability, and intelligent financial tools. This service allows you to connect all of your online financial accounts, obtain your credit score, and estimate your net worth. One of the best things about Mint is that it’s completely free and is financed through targeted ads for credit cards and other financial products.
The developers of Mint are always using cutting-edge machine-learning technology (AI). This machine offers a more intelligent, customized, and automated experience that provides deeper insight and intelligence.
Recently, Mint underwent a user interface overhaul to enhance responsiveness, navigation, and usability. While the new design is not as effective as the old one, which resulted in a drop from a perfect score of 5 out of 5 to 4.5, it’s still a decent design. Mint’s mobile apps remain outstanding, and all the features that have made it an Editors’ Choice winner for years are still present today.
How Do You Set Up a Mint Account?
Setting up a Mint account is straightforward. After you create your account, Mint takes you on a feature tour. Mint will later ask for your banking, credit card, and other financial account usernames and passwords.
By connecting to these accounts, Mint can obtain all the transaction details from each of them. This enables you to see exactly where and when you spent or earned money. Mint’s functionality is limited if you don’t agree to connect your financial accounts. However, you can still enter transactions manually, which is beneficial if you frequently handle cash and spend it without depositing it.
There are a few other setup tasks that you can access by clicking on the Settings link in the left vertical toolbar. These screens allow you to input your demographic information, which helps Mint provide more targeted ads. You can also view all your accounts, enable or disable features, and perform other setup tasks.
Notifications are the most critical setup task, and you can opt in or out of email and on-site updates that inform you about financial product offers. You can also request notifications if your account balance falls below a certain level.
Safety: Is Mint Safe to Use?
Mint is a safe and secure service to use for personal financial management. Mint uses bank-grade security measures. This means that it does not have access to what you enter when you connect your financial accounts.
According to Mint’s security information, usernames and passwords are stored securely in a separate database using multi-layered hardware and software encryption. Mint only saves the necessary information to save you the hassle of manually updating, syncing, or uploading financial data.
You cannot initiate transfers of money or payouts of any kind from the Mint interface, and neither can anyone else. The site participates in security scanning with VeriSign to ensure secure data transfer.
Additionally, it employs measures like multi-factor authentication to safeguard your account from unauthorized access. Generally, Mint takes security seriously and has implemented various protocols to protect its users’ sensitive financial data.
It’s entirely up to you how much information you let Mint track. If you want a comprehensive picture of your finances, you should connect to as many accounts as possible. You can also include the value of your assets like any properties and vehicles you own. Mint links to third-party sites to get estimates of their value.
Mint allows you to decide how much information to share with the service. For a comprehensive financial overview, it’s best to connect as many accounts as possible.
Additionally, you can include the value of your assets, such as properties and vehicles, which Mint estimates by linking to third-party sites. By connecting all of your financial accounts and assets, you can get a complete financial picture that can help you make informed decisions. However, if you prefer to limit the amount of information you share, Mint still offers valuable features that can help manage your finances effectively.
Near-Instant Insights
Mint provides near-instant financial insights by analyzing a few months’ worths of data from the past as soon as you set up an account. This allows you to gain valuable insights into your spending habits and trends right away.
Since Mint has access to your historical financial data, it provides an accurate and comprehensive picture of your past and current financial situation.
This use of automation and historical data to give you a head start on visualizing your finances is one of the reasons why Mint is such a superior financial management tool.
While other services like CountAbout offer instant feedback based on imported past transactions, only Simplify by Quicken rivals Mint’s insight and user experience. Generally, Mint’s ability to provide quick, accurate, and comprehensive financial insights is one of its most valuable features.
Mint’s Engine: Mint’s Dashboard
Mint has always been known for its ease of use. But as the service has grown, it has become more challenging to design pages that are both attractive and accessible while providing users with quick access to the information they need.
The Overview screen, which serves as Mint’s dashboard, and its navigation system have changed since last year. as mentioned earlier. The old dashboard displayed a significant amount of financial data on one screen. This requires users to scroll extensively to view everything.
Unfortunately, the new design doesn’t address this issue. Although the layout is more spacious, and the font is larger, it appears that the screen’s content has simply been rearranged. This has been rearranged without resolving the problem of displaying too much information in a limited space.
Simplify, on the other hand, has a more aesthetically pleasing and well-organized dashboard layout, providing an excellent user experience throughout the site. Simplifi’s content is contained within boxes, and the site employs color and graphics effectively to enhance its attractiveness. Although you still have to scroll to view everything, the design is much more polished and professional.
In Mint’s Overview, the left vertical pane contains the navigation toolbar, providing access to different areas of the site that show various slices of your finances, such as Transactions, Credit Scores, Trends, and the new Tax Hub. Mint now integrates with Intuit TurboTax, allowing users to import up to three years of tax returns, track their refund, and monitor their filing status.
The Overview page also displays a list of all your financial accounts and assets. Along with their total values and your net worth. Additionally, a couple of charts on this page highlight Cash vs. Credit Card Debt and Net Income over the previous six months.
While Mint’s Overview screen may not be as visually appealing as Simplifi’s, it provides a comprehensive overview of your financial data.
How Good is Mint on Transaction?
When using Mint, you’ll likely spend a lot of time on the Transactions page. This page shows all the data imported from your cash and credit accounts. The information is displayed in a checkbook register format, which includes the date, description (usually the payee), category, and amount for each entry.
Mint automatically guesses the transaction category, such as Food & Dining. It also guesses Shopping, Entertainment, Bills & Utilities, and it does so accurately most of the time. However, you can make changes to the category if necessary. Mint allows you to edit subcategories but not the main categories.
To modify a transaction, click Edit at the end of the row. Here, you can assign tags such as Tax-Related and Vacation, and create custom tags. You can also split the transaction between multiple categories, mark it as a duplicate, and add a note. While Mint’s transaction management tools are good overall, they are not as detailed as those found in Quicken Deluxe or Simplifi.
If you entered your Social Security Number during setup, Mint automatically retrieves your credit score from TransUnion. It then displays it on the Overview page and under the Credit Score link in the toolbar.
There, you can get additional information about your credit score and the factors that influence it. However, you won’t receive a full credit report. For that, you can use Credit Karma, which is a free service.
Bills Can be illusive: Can You Track Bills Using Mint?
Mint used to offer bill payment tools within the app, but it stopped a few years ago. However, you can pay bills through Quicken Deluxe for an additional fee. In Mint, you can still schedule and track bills in two ways. First, you can connect to your billers’ sites by entering your username and password. Mint pulls the payment amount and due date, but you must make the payment outside of Mint.
Once you have paid, you can click Mark as Paid and view your payment history with the vendor. The second option is to manually add bills that aren’t linked to a biller’s site.
Mint has added a new service for people who want to explore reducing their bills, such as utilities. Mint has partnered with Billshark, which negotiates with billers on behalf of consumers. If Billshark is successful in saving you money, they split the savings with you, taking 40% and leaving 60% for you.
However, there are no charges if they do not succeed in reducing your bill. This new service is a valuable addition to Mint. This enables users to explore cost-saving opportunities and get the most out of their money.
Money Mint: Budgeting Your Money
Budgeting can be challenging since it is difficult to predict how much you’ll spend in specific categories over time. However, Mint simplifies budgeting by presenting existing data in the form of categorized transactions it pulls from your online accounts. This way, you can see what you have spent in specific areas and create budgets based on your spending history.
The first time you select Budgets, Mint will have already created your budgets for you). You can edit budget categories and add your own as needed.
Mint presents each budget category as a colored vertical line, with green indicating that you’re within your budget and red indicating that you’ve exceeded it. The site displays your budgeted amount vs. what you’ve spent (or received) by filling in the line proportionally and displaying the actual numbers (such as $185 of $200 spent).
If you need to adjust your budget, you click the Edit button. This will increase or decrease the budgeted amount by entering a number or modifying an existing one. You can also specify whether you want the budget to occur once, every month, or every few months.
If you select Monthly, you can begin each new month with the previous month’s leftover amount. Finally, a line graph displays your spending history. Generally, Mint’s budgeting tools make it easy to stay on top of your finances and manage your money more effectively.
Financial Goals Can Be a Headache; How Does Mint Help You?
Mint’s Goals section includes nine predefined financial goals and the ability to create custom ones. You can use this feature to plan to save for a vacation. You can also use this to set aside money for a down payment on a house or pay off your credit card debt, among other things.
Mint provides multistep calculators that assist you in creating a plan. A plan to achieve your goals and link it to your existing Mint account or create a new one. This feature is a tool for setting and working towards specific financial objectives. This helps you stay on track and manage your money more effectively.
Is Mint Good at Tracking Investments?
Mint’s investments section is the least interactive and informative area. Although it should be sufficient unless you are a day trader. You can connect your brokerage accounts and monitor your balances. Mint updates your prices and enables you to view your holdings by highest value, best performers, and worst performers.
You can also view charts ranging from five days to one year for market indexes or stocks. Besides, Mint provides a view of your portfolio’s performance, allocation, and value.
However, if you require more comprehensive support and tools for investment tracking, Personal Capital is a better option. Personal Capital is also a free service and offers more advanced investment management features.
How Do You Know About Your Financial Health?
By categorizing transactions and setting goals, you can get a clear understanding of your financial situation by viewing a variety of charts and graphs. To access this feature, simply click on the Trends section.
The charts and graphs include various views for spending, income, assets, debts, and net worth. This feature provides valuable financial insights, allowing you to monitor your progress. Also, it helps you adjust your goals, and make informed financial decisions.
Ads and More Ads: Why Does Mint Have So Many Ads?
Mint uses targeted advertising, which allows the service to remain free to its users. The site’s advertising is very targeted. The software knows precisely how much interest you earn or pay on all your financial accounts, the same as any annual fees you pay.
Based on this information, Mint suggests banks and accounts from its ad network that can give you a better rate. Mint not only shows the better rate but how much you can save. If an ad is irrelevant, you can dismiss it.
While it’s understandable that Mint needs to generate revenue to sustain its service, the number of ads can be overwhelming. However, users shopping for credit or financial products may find ads very useful.
Like other financial services, Mint accepts compensation from financial institutions that may impact the order in which their financial products appear. It’s important to note that the ads on Mint may not represent the entire universe of credit cards. While you may see some good offers, they may not be the best available for your particular situation.
Mint On the Go: Mint’s mobile apps
Mint’s mobile apps allow users to access their financial information. Both Android and iPhone apps are essentially the same, with a few minor cosmetic differences.
With the mobile app, users can create accounts, transactions, and budgets, receive alerts, and view a simplified version of Trends. The app also lets you track investment transactions, goals, and bills.
Similar to the website, the mobile app starts on the Overview page. Your credit score appears in the top left corner, which you can click to see a detailed breakdown of the elements.
Tabs below the credit score open pages for various elements of your finances. It opens pages like Net Worth, Spending, Cash, Investments, Credit Cards, and Loans.
The bottom of the screen includes additional icons that open Notifications. The Marketplace (which suggests financial products you may be interested in), and the Monthly view.
Clicking the Monthly icon allows you to view your budget, cash flow, and financial goals. You can also view spending targets, and other details as they relate to the current month.
View pending bills and recurring subscriptions while accessing the app’s financial guide. The guide has articles on COVID-19’s impact on finances. The screen is a convenient way to see essential information quickly.
Mint’s mobile apps are incorporating sound and animation to liven things up. A new #MoveMints monthly wrap-up provides a graphical overview of your finances from the previous month. For example, your spending totals appear in little bubbles that bounce around the screen.
It’s a helpful compilation presented in an imaginative, attractive way that I’ve never seen on a personal finance website. It’s well done, and it doesn’t hurt to add a little whimsy to such a serious topic. The Notifications screen also addresses additional business, like accounts that need attention, overdue bills, and high spending in specific areas.
The Mint mobile app does not replicate the desktop experience entirely. It does give you access to the information you’re likely to need when you’re away from home or the office. And the data on your Mint mobile app is wiped every time you sign out. All things considered; Mint’s mobile app is the best of any offered by competing personal finance sites.
Mint’s mobile apps provide a convenient way to check your finances while on the go. The Android and iPhone apps have few differences except for a few cosmetic changes. The apps allow you to create accounts, transactions, and budgets, receive alerts, and view a truncated version of Trends.
You can also track investment transactions, goals, and bills. When you launch the app, you start on the Overview page, where you can see your credit score. You can also see tabs for various elements of your finances, and icons at the bottom of the screen that open Notifications, the Marketplace, and the Monthly view.
The Monthly view provides a helpful compilation of data you need to see at a glance. You can see which bills are pending, and a list of your recurring monthly subscriptions. Through this, you can set spending targets in different categories based on your recent spending. T
The mobile app now incorporates sound and animation to liven things up. The new #MoveMints monthly wrap-up provides a graphical overview of your finances from the previous month. For example, your spending totals appear in little bubbles that bounce around the screen. The Notifications screen addresses additional business, like accounts that need attention, overdue bills, and high spending in specific areas.
Mint mobile app may not replicate the desktop experience entirely, but it does provide access to the information you are likely to need when you’re away from home or the office.
The data on your Mint mobile app is wiped every time you sign out, ensuring that your financial information is secure. Mint’s mobile app is among the best offered by personal finance sites.
In these days of financial uncertainty, keeping track of your money is more important than ever. Mint’s ease of use, creative presentation of data and tools, and smart personal finance features and guidance make it the best free choice for people who want to track and manage their income and spending.
Mint Review: Conclusion
Mint is a powerful and easy-to-use personal finance tool that allows you to track and manage your spending, budget, and investments. It’s free, secure, and has a user-friendly mobile app that makes it easy to keep track of your finances on the go.
While it may have some downsides, such as the abundance of ads and the lack of investment tools. It is still the best free choice for anyone who wants to manage their finances efficiently.
