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Financial literacy, which refers to both your knowledge of and ability to use financial skills, is one of the most important factors in smart money management. Although this is an area where many people are lacking, there are more options than ever to learn about personal finance. Financial literacy apps, in particular, are the perfect way for both adults and kids to become more knowledgeable about money. Our team of experts has analyzed all the most popular options to bring you our picks for the best financial literacy apps for August 2024.
Bottom line: While many financial literacy apps focus on one age group, World of Money has content for everyone. Each of its lessons has a video module with a quiz at the end. Modules are taught by World of Money graduates who are the same age as the target audience, giving users the opportunity to learn from their peers.
Bottom line: Zogo is a standout for the way it makes finance fun and keeps users motivated to learn more. It has a similar style to Duolingo, the popular and highly rated language-learning app. You progress through a skills tree with modules dedicated to different financial concepts, such as budgeting and building wealth. Each module offers bite-sized lessons you can complete in a couple minutes.
What's most exciting about Zogo is that it actually pays you to complete lessons. Through partnerships with financial institutions, Zogo rewards users with gift cards to well-known brands, including Amazon, Target, and Starbucks.
Bottom line: When it comes to allowance apps, RoosterMoney has everything parents need. It includes an allowance manager with the option of automatic payments, a chore chart, a savings tracker, and a virtual piggy bank. One of the more unique features RoosterMoney offers is its Spend, Save, and Give pots. These encourage kids to think about the different ways they can use their money. If parents want, they can also split allowances between these options.
Bottom line: Investmate takes the often-complicated subject of investing and simplifies it with jargon-free lessons. Courses are designed by finance experts and feature real-world examples to aid your learning. Along with its courses, Investmate also has quizzes, videos, and a comprehensive glossary.
Bottom line: FamZoo is a virtual family bank with parents as the bankers and children as the customers. Everyone in the family gets their own bank account. Parents can set up automated allowances, create budgets, give out loans, and much more. FamZoo offers both an IOU system that tracks money couples plan to give their children and prepaid cards that parents can load with money. One of the biggest benefits of this finance app is that parents can keep it simple to start and then teach more sophisticated financial concepts later.
Bottom line: Savings Spree is an award-winning financial literacy app for children ages seven and up. It presents important financial topics through a game to make learning about money fun. During the game, kids will learn about the different ways they can use their funds by putting money into savings accounts, spending it, investing it, or donating it. They'll also find out how seemingly small decisions can add up over time and why it's a good idea to have an emergency fund.
Bottom line: Penny | Master Your Money, or Penny, teaches financial literacy through audio lessons presented by everyday people from all walks of life. It offers content on all sorts of financial topics, including saving money, investing, real estate, and paying off debt. Lessons are quick but still packed with valuable information.
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2 stars equals Fair.
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There are a variety of financial literacy apps available. Here are the most common types and what they offer.
These apps focus on providing educational content to users through modules and lessons. They may offer videos, audio, text content, and/or quizzes. This is among the most popular types of financial literacy apps, and there are educational options available for users of all ages.
With this kind of app, parents can manage allowances for their children. Allowance apps usually offer automated or manual payments and the option to offer rewards for certain tasks, such as completing chores or getting good grades. Some companies that offer allowance apps also have prepaid cards that parents can use for their children's allowances. With a prepaid card, kids can only spend what their parents load from their checking account onto the card. It's not like a credit card, so there's no risk of going into debt.
A sub-type of financial education apps, investing education apps focus specifically on the subject of investing. They tend to be more advanced than other financial literacy apps, and they're often aimed at teenagers or adults.
This type of app uses exciting games to help users learn about financial concepts. Although financial games apps can work well for kids of all ages, they're best-suited for younger kids who may not have the attention span to sit through standard money lessons.
Another popular way to group types of financial literacy apps is by the intended age range. There are apps available for kids in grade school, preteens, teens, college students, and adults interested in expanding their financial knowledge.
The most important part of picking the best financial literacy app is deciding the type of app you need. Here are a few questions that can help you figure this out:
Based on that, you can narrow down your options. For example, if you want to track your kid's allowance on your phone, then you'd focus on allowance apps. You can keep trimming the list with other criteria, such as your price range.
After you have a couple financial literacy apps in mind, take them for a test run. There are plenty of high-quality apps out there, and your personal preference will play a big part in which one is best for you. By giving them a try, you can pick the one you like the most that meets your requirements.
Financial literacy app fees and costs vary depending on the app. There are free financial literacy apps that you can use without any sort of charge. There are also premium financial literacy apps that cost you money. Some apps have both free and premium versions, with the premium versions offering more features.
With apps that charge fees, the typical fees can be one or more of the following:
For the most part, financial literacy apps aren't expensive. And if you're only interested in free apps, you'll still have many options available.
The best way to improve your financial literacy is through educational content. If you want content you can access anywhere, financial literacy apps are a convenient and effective option.
Some financial literacy apps are free, while others charge fees. There are plenty of free financial literacy apps if that's what you're looking for. Premium apps often have free trials available, so you can see if you like them before you pay anything.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent, a Motley Fool service, does not cover all offers on the market. The Ascent has a dedicated team of editors and analysts focused on personal finance, and they follow the same set of publishing standards and editorial integrity while maintaining professional separation from the analysts and editors on other Motley Fool brands.