Optimized Portfolio

Investing and Personal Finance

My Toolbox

Here are the tools I personally use – or have used in the past – to keep my financial life in order.

Disclosure:  Some of the links on this page are referral links. At no additional cost to you, if you choose to make a purchase or sign up for a service after clicking through those links, I may receive a small commission. This allows me to continue producing high-quality content on this site and pays for the occasional cup of coffee. I have first-hand experience with every product or service I recommend, and I recommend them because I genuinely believe they are useful, not because of the commission I may get. Read more here.

Investing

  • M1 Finance – long-term, buy-and-hold investing platform.
  • Lively – HSA (Health Savings Account).
  • Retirable – free financial plan and help to manage your savings, spend smarter, and navigate key decisions for retirement.
  • Empower (formerly Personal Capital) – Organize and visualize your finances across multiple accounts in one sleek dashboard. Free to use.
  • Portfolio Visualizer – self-explanatory name. Backtests, optimization algos, all sorts of neat stuff, and most of it for free.

Credit

  • Credit Karma – check your credit score for free and without hurting your credit.
  • Rocket Money (formerly TrueBill) – not really “credit,” but I figured it fits here. Track spending, manage all your subscriptions in one place, and have your monthly bills negotiated down for you.

Insurance

Lending

  • Upstart – personal loans and auto loans. I used one to consolidate credit card debt.
  • Upgrade – another personal loan provider.
  • eMortgage – mortgages, refinancing, etc.

Books