As part of Kiplinger's annual list of the best personal finance products and services, we picked the top money-management tools, from sites to help with budgeting and monitoring your credit to services that will help protect your identity . Be sure to see the complete list of our favorite investments, financial products, travel tools and more.
Budgeting Web site
Mint.com makes it easy to set up and stay on a budget. The free site securely tracks your financial accounts (you provide log-in info), alerts you when bills are due and monitors progress toward your financial goals. It also notifies you about unusual spending patterns.
Tax software
With TurboTax, you can electronically download W-2s and 1099s from thousands of employers and financial institutions, a time-saving feature that reduces errors (H&R Block tax software’s list isn’t as comprehensive). For tax year 2014, users can also arrange to be notified when their W-2 is available for download.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Person-to-person payments
Square Cash is free and easy to use, and users don’t have to register. You send cash from an account tied to your debit card to the recipient’s account securely via e-mail or text. Most payments are deposited in minutes.
Health care tools
Healthcare Bluebook calculates “fair prices” (the amount that providers usually accept from insurers) for hundreds of services searchable by zip code, and it offers tips on how to shop for better deals. GoodRx’s search engine estimates how much your prescription drugs cost at nearby pharmacies and flags generic options. Scheduling a hospital stay? Medicare.gov’s Hospital Compare looks at quality measures, such as readmission rates, in relation to state and national averages.
Free credit site
Drawing data from credit agency TransUnion, Credit Karma provides your credit score and lets you access your credit report. It also monitors the report for suspicious activity. The tool’s “report card” offers tips on how to improve your mix of accounts and payment history to raise your score.
Immediate annuity
Payouts can vary a lot from company to company based on your age, sex, amount and type of payout. The best way to find out which insurers offer the highest lifetime payouts for you is to go to ImmediateAnnuities.com. It provides quotes for most of the top annuity companies.
Password manager
LastPass stores a plethora of passwords using military-grade encryption. A browser add-on save your log-in information on each Web site.
ID protection service
The TrustedID Essentials package ($125) a year or $14.99 a month) monitors your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus for suspicious activity, provides an Equifax credit score and scans black-market sites for your Social Security, credit card and bank account numbers. Plus, TrustedID helps you cancel and replace cards if you lose your wallet and provides insurance to help cover costs that you incur after identity theft.
-
3 Ways to Stretch the 2026 Social Security COLA For Your BudgetThree steps retirees can take to stretch the Social Security COLA to fit their budgets.
-
How to Keep Your Charitable Giving Momentum Going All YearInstead of treating charity like a year-end rush for tax breaks, consider using smart tools like DAFs and recurring grants for maximum impact all the year.
-
Uber Takes Aim at the Bottom Lines of Billboard LawyersUber has filed lawsuits and proposed a ballot initiative, in California, to curb settlements it claims are falsely inflated by some personal injury lawyers.
-
I Need to Cut $1,000 From My Monthly Budget, and I've Already Given Up Starbucks and Dining Out. What Else Can I Do?Here are some creative ways to save up to $1,000 a month, even if you feel like you've already made all of the obvious cuts.
-
I'm a Government Employee and Need to Get By Until the Shutdown Ends. What Can I Do?The second-longest shutdown in history is leaving many federal workers with bills due and no paycheck to cover them. Here's what you can do to get by.
-
Amazon Resale: Where Amazon Prime Returns Become Your Online BargainsFeature Amazon Resale products may have some imperfections, but that often leads to wildly discounted prices.
-
What Does Medicare Not Cover? Eight Things You Should KnowMedicare Part A and Part B leave gaps in your healthcare coverage. But Medicare Advantage has problems, too.
-
H&R Block Faces Hefty $7 Million Fine: What It Means for TaxpayersTax Filing A tax prep industry giant was accused of deceiving customers and making downgrading difficult.
-
457 Plan Contribution Limits for 2026Retirement plans There are higher 457 plan contribution limits in 2026. That's good news for state and local government employees.
-
Medicare Basics: 12 Things You Need to KnowMedicare There's Medicare Part A, Part B, Part D, Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans and so on. We sort out the confusion about signing up for Medicare — and much more.
-
The Seven Worst Assets to Leave Your Kids or Grandkidsinheritance Leaving these assets to your loved ones may be more trouble than it’s worth. Here's how to avoid adding to their grief after you're gone.
