If you’re struggling to manage your money or you’re uncomfortable with the amount of your savings, we’re here to tell you that you’re not alone. According to a new Bankrate survey, more than half of U.S. adults – 57% to be exact – feel uncomfortable with how much emergency funds they have.

While tricky, especially in today’s economy, getting your finances in order is essential for multiple reasons. For one, when you know where your money is going, you can make smarter decisions about your future and achieve your financial goals, like buying a home or retiring earlier.

Two, keeping track of your expenses and having comfortable emergency savings can give you peace of mind and help you avoid unnecessary stress by helping you feel more prepared for unexpected events.

Whether you’re working a regular 9-to-5 or running your own business, managing your finances well can make a huge difference in your lifestyle. To help you do just that, we’ve rounded up the best finance tools that make it easier than ever to take control of your money.

Keep on reading; your future self will thank you.

The Best Smart Finance Tools of 2024

Keeping track of your expenses, doing your taxes properly, and saving money so you have a safety net during life’s inevitable hardships – all of this is important if you want to gain more freedom to pursue your life goals and set yourself up for a secure future.

The following tools and platforms are designed to simplify every aspect of managing your finances: from budgeting to investing to saving, these apps can help you make better financial decisions and elevate your lifestyle.

Budgeting Apps

Let’s start with the foundation of financial health: good budgeting. Apps like YNAB (You Need a Budget), Mint, or Goodbudget act like tiny digital financial assistants. They connect to your bank account(s), credit cards, and other financial accounts to track your income and spending so they can provide you with comprehensive reports and visuals about your financial habits.

These and many other similar apps also allow you to set specific financial goals for yourself. For example, if you want to save for a big vacation or pay off debt, you can do it easier with these apps as they help you set aside money for those goals and track progress over time.

They also allow you to customize your budget based on your unique needs and financial situation.

So, for instance, you can create spending limits for different categories – groceries, dining out, etc. – and then receive alerts when you’re approaching those self-imposed limits.

Tax Calculator Tools

Ah, taxes, the bane of most people’s existence. Nevertheless, they’re a necessary part of life, so they need to be calculated and filed on a regular basis.

The good news is, you don’t have to do this manually: today, there are numerous tax and accounting software solutions that can help streamline this entire process, whether you’re filing taxes for yourself or calculating payroll for your employees.

Payroll software platforms like OnPay, BambooHR, or Rippling are ideal for businesses that want to automate tax filing and payment workflows. OnPay even has state-specific payroll calculators that are completely free to use.

For example, their Texas payroll tax calculator can help you calculate paychecks in the Lonestar State, whether they’re for your employees or yourself, so you can plan ahead and avoid surprises come tax season.

Many tax software solutions can also help you find legal ways to minimize your tax burden by allowing you to experiment with different scenarios, such as adjusting your maximizing deductions or withholding.

Savings Apps

If you feel like you could use some help in the savings department, there are plenty of apps for that. Examples include Acorns, Qapital, and Stash – these tools simplify savings by automating the entire process.

Most work by rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar and then depositing the spare change into your savings or investment account, whichever you prefer. This way, they can help you save money as well as invest a small amount into diversified portfolios of your choosing, and in doing so, help you grow your wealth over time.

However, if you’re serious about investing, we recommend opting for a proper investment tool that’s designed specifically for that purpose. Which brings us to…

Investment Tools

If you’re trying to grow your wealth or you’re simply serious about establishing a decent level of financial security for yourself and/or your family, look into investment tools. Platforms like Robinhood, Fidelity, Betterment, and many more are easy to use even for beginners, and can help you with planning for retirement, investing in stocks or exchange traded funds (ETFs), and more.

Some of these tools have algorithms that enable them to automatically rebalance your portfolio and optimize your investments based on your goals and risk tolerance. This not only saves you time and effort but also helps you invest more wisely.