Intuit Mint yes? no?

[imoldernu]

I probably missed discussions on Intuit Mint, but can't find a thread that discusses this.
Since I don't (per se) invest, would probably just use it as a simple financial overview and bill reminder. The "free" part is good.
I have read some online reviews, and almost all have been good, for the kind of info I'm interested in.
So... anyone using Mint? and any thoughts, good or bad.
Thanks

 

[erkevin]

Personally, I really like Mint. I have used Quicken for nearly 20 years, but it has one large drawback for me; in using the itemized categories for budgeting purposes, it sees credit card payments, as "credit card". You go no category specifics, so if you use cc a lot (I do for rewards), you do not get an accurate spending picture.
Mint categorizes every transaction, as long as you provide them with account access. Occasionally, I have to re-direct their spending category choice, but over-all, it is pretty darn good. I am able to get very accurate spending by category and spending trends over time.
Takes very little effort and costs nothing.

 

[ProspectiveBum]

I use it, and like it a lot. It's very handy to have all financial information aggregated into a single dashboard. It also makes it easy to track spending by category, and to set and monitor budgets.

For a free tool, I think it can't be beat. I've known some long-time Quicken users who prefer Quicken, but that's an apples to oranges comparison, since Quicken isn't free.

 

[SteveNU]

I've used Mint for years and it is a good way to track your various accounts. However since I also went to 2 step verification with my Vanguard accounts recently and Mint doesnt support that I went looking for something new. I switched to Personal Capital as it does a much better job of helping you look at your investments and it supports my Vanguard accounts.

 

[datuck]

We use it to help track spending and saving in general. Great way to see all accounts in one place, and also see realtime what goes out and what comes in. We also run a detailed spreadsheet on all expenses and meet weekly to talk through. If anything it's a good discipline that keeps us somewhat accountable...


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[splitwdw]

I've never used any of these programs. I just use Excel. Is there some reason you use these programs? I won't even link my accounts at the same brokerage because I worry about giving someone easy access to all my accounts. How safe are those programs?

 

[photoguy]

Vanguard's online fraud policy would seem to prohibit sharing your password with Mint if you want their protection against unauthorized transactions.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/SecurityOnlineFraudPledgeContent.jsp

I have no clue how strictly vanguard would enforce this in case of lost assets due to online fraud.

 

[SteveNU]

Vanguard's online fraud policy would seem to prohibit sharing your password with Mint if you want their protection against unauthorized transactions.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/help/SecurityOnlineFraudPledgeContent.jsp

I have no clue how strictly vanguard would enforce this in case of lost assets due to online fraud.

An interesting question. They definitely support Quicken access which would seem to be similar if not the same as Mint access?

 

[photoguy]

Mint would have to store your password on their servers and use it to connect directly to vanguard / other financial site.

I don't use quicken but since it's a local program running on your computer, I guess there's no need for the password to be stored elsewhere (does quicken even store it locally? or does it prompt you to enter it each time you connect?). According to vanguard, even storing your password in your browser is a no-no.

I'm surprised Vanguard doesn't have a "read only" password for Mint and other retail software. I remember when I was working, they did allow my company to monitor all of my transaction for independence violations.

 

[soupcxan]

Intuit is a crappy, anti-consumer corporation and I would try to avoid them as much as possible.

 

[almost_there]

I like Mint. It is not perfect but it is quite usable and it is free. Many folks that I discuss programs like Mint with bring up security concerns. Consider this: Mint only gathers data from your accounts - ie: read-only. If someone got into your Mint account they could see your data but could not actually do anything to it.

 

[ulrichw]

I hate Intuit these days, but I use both Quicken and Mint.

Intuit is out to squeeze the most revenue out of the customers with Quicken and Turbotax, to the point that I now refuse to use Turbotax, and am nearing the end of my patience with Quicken.

I thought they acquired Mint to kill it or subvert it, but somehow the product still has managed to stay relatively true to its original self, though its feature set has barely moved forward since the acquisition.

Quicken is much better at handling and reporting on investment accounts.

For basic cash flow and budgeting purposes, Mint is great.

Fidelity has functionality they call "Full View" which is powered by a company called Yodlee that builds technology that "scrapes" accounts like Mint does (Mint in fact originally used Yodlee before they built their own technology). They have pretty decent investment-oriented views.

I suppose a combination of Full View and Mint could pretty much give equivalent functionality to what Quicken provides, but you'd be giving two companies (Intuit and Yodlee) your passwords.

 

[Cobra9777]

...Many folks that I discuss programs like Mint with bring up security concerns. Consider this: Mint only gathers data from your accounts - ie: read-only. If someone got into your Mint account they could see your data but could not actually do anything to it.

The security vulnerability is NOT the Mint account itself. It's someone hacking into the server within Mint that stores all the underlying user IDs and passwords. Armed with those credentials, the thief would then just log in to your financial institutions and start wiring money.

For me, this is not a major concern because I use real two-factor authentication at Fidelity (VIP Access). Even if someone stole my user ID and password, they would not be able to log in at Fidelity unless they also: (a) were in physical possession of my smartphone, and (b) knew the password to get into the phone.

 

[Independent]

I don't know what I'd do with Mint that I'm not already doing on my own.

I use Excel plus a desktop version of Quicken that I bought in 2003.

I think there's a "hands on" issue here. DIY'rs like to see the details and build their own customized views. People who prefer packaged software feel they spend less time.

 

[Tailgate]

have used Mint for a couple of years just for 'snapshot' purposes and like it...don't track expenses with it..for expenses and budgeting I use YNAB (You Need A Budget). It's not free, but I love the detail and ease of use. YNAB does not connect to any financial services provider, it is for expense tracking only.

 

[mpeirce]

Another mint.com user here.

A couple of the features I like include: email alerts are available for things like low balances, unusual spending, large purchases, bill reminders, and more. I also really like the ability to get an overview of all our account balances.

I don't find their investment tracking particularly useful.

Another use I have for mint.com is that that my DF uses it. It's a good way of for me to keep appraised of his spending - with his permission of course. It's been a long haul to get him on a budget and get his spending under control. mint.com has helped a lot with that.

One thing I don't really understand is why financial companies haven't rolled out read-only account name / passwords for services like mint.com.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I use Mint. I used to be a Quicken user, but now that I rarely sit at a computer at home anymore, I stopped using it a few years ago. Mint has a nice app for the phone and is a good way for me to keep track of investment and credit card accounts.

 

[mrfeh]

Mint for personal finances. Personal Capital for investments.

 

[SumDay]

erkevin:

I have used Quicken for nearly 20 years, but it has one large drawback for me; in using the itemized categories for budgeting purposes, it sees credit card payments, as "credit card". You go no category specifics, so if you use cc a lot (I do for rewards), you do not get an accurate spending picture.

I download my credit card expenditures, and enter the category for each. It takes then tracks and takes those into account for my budget. I also use my cc for everything, for the rewards.

As to the OP, I use Quicken, but know lots of people who use Mint and love it. Trying to get some young folk I know to embrace it.

 

[INTJ10]

We use Mint primarily to track spending. It works pretty well but I do end up spending some time editing transactions.

I couldn't get Mint to work for analysis of investments. I can get total balances but some accounts like T. Rowe Price wouldn't breakdown the holdings(funds).

I haven't found a solution yet so I use spreadsheets. I tried personal capital but I had a similar difficulty in getting detail for some accounts.


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[Mo Money]

I'm an avid Personal Capital fan. I can get details of holdings in various portolios, and I like the dashboard. Mint didn't appeal to me because it was more focused on budgeting than on aggregating my various holdings. Personal Capital's specialty is doing just that: aggregating.

 

[GTFan]

I've used Yodlee Labs for years, covers almost everything we hold and they are very responsive to service tickets when stuff isn't getting updated. This is essentially what they use as a beta for the service they provide to all their clients (including Fidelity Full View which I also like).

https://moneycenter.yodlee.com/moneycenter/mfalogin.moneycenter.do?_flowId=mfaloginflow

 

[SumDay]

As a result of this thread, I decided to download Mint and give it a whirl, just to compare to Quicken. I really like the Mint phone app. I do have a question for Mint users. Quicken allows you to setup your regular paychecks, and enter the amounts deducted for insurance(s), taxes, etc., so those expenses are accurately tracked. In Mint, only my net paycheck is reflected, and I'm not seeing an easy way to get all those pre- & after-tax deductions in there. Entering them manually isn't very appealing, and if that's the only option, I'll probably skip it and let Quicken continue doing what it does.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I quit bothering, honestly. I use Taxact for doing our taxes, and so when I really thought about it, what I needed Mint to tell me is how much money I've got, overall.
You are right, the detail isn't really available compared to Quicken, but it isn't really what I use it for. Glad you like the mobile app, too. It is a nice thing!

 

[dadu007]

I use Mint strictly for tracking our net worth. Never really liked its budget function much.
I use YNAB (You Need a Budget) for managing and analyzing our budget, as well as allocating money for future planned expenses. Love YNAB and it's accompanying iPhone and iPad apps.