The Best Free Financial Services to Help Dominate your Finances

Sometimes the best things in life are really free after all. Well, OK, personal finance services and strategy rarely fits in the ‘best things in life’ category, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t important in helping you to focus more on the things that are truly the best in your life. Many of the services I will mention have ‘non-free’ (paid) alternatives. What’s particularly great about this list is that the free offerings do not suffer in their quality in comparison to its paid competitors. In fact, many are industry leaders – or will soon be someday – in their niche.




And some of these things aren’t services at all, but rather, ways that you can get free money that you might be missing out on. No catch, other than the fact that you have to be motivated and execute, which is always easier said than done. What better time of year than the beginning?

free financial services

Free Checking Account

There has been widespread concern that new consumer protection from bank overdraft fees would wipe out the ‘free’ part of free checking accounts. Many banks have eliminated free checking accounts, but some of the best online banks have not followed suit. CIT Bank is my favorite for e-bank, due to their online focus, reputation, and high interest rate yields. CIT is a legit FDIC-insured bank (a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust, which runs hundreds of banks in 19 states, but the CIT division is geared towards online). They have have some of the best CD rates I have seen, including on their 18-month CD and 11-month no penalty CD (if you need to withdraw funds quickly). They also offer attractive online savingse-checking (with ATM fee reimbursement), and money market accounts – with no overdraft or maintenance fees.

free checking account

Free Investment Trades

Many online investment accounts offer commission-free ETF trading with no fee for buying and selling those ETFs (in addition to stocks and bonds). This is a great way to keep your investment costs low.

free investing




Free (No Annual Fee) Credit Cards

When the Credit Card Act passed a few years ago, there was widespread fear that it would lead to more credit card issuers charging annual fees, particularly on cards with cash back rewards. Many of them did, however, the best rewards cards out there still have no annual fee. Check out my money saving products page for a few recommendations.

As with all credit cards, in order to make them ‘free’, and even get cash back in a meaningful way, pay your balance in full each month.

Free Credit Score

Credit Karma is a completely free credit score reporting service that offers up your TransUnion credit score. Although not the FICO score used by lenders, it should give you a close approximation to what your FICO score might be. There are no hidden free trials (then get screwed with a monthly charge) and no credit card is required to sign up.

Credit Karma also announced that they are now offering free credit monitoring! This is a service that usually costs $15/month!




How does Credit Karma offer this free service? Much like the Mint.com monetization model, Credit Karma will offer up partner services as a way for you to save money.

free credit score

Free Tax Software

Like it or not, it’s always time to be thinking about your taxes. Tax software makers Turbotax and H&R Block both offer up free 1040EZ federal tax software and free federal e-filing (state is extra on both), which should be sufficient enough for the majority of Americans who do not itemize tax deductions (a crazy stat, if you ask me). Check out my picks for the best and cheapest tax software (as well as the cheapest & free ways to e-file).

free tax software

Free Wealth Tracking Software

If you haven’t used Empower (Personal Capital was acquired by Empower), it’s the “Mint.com for investments”. You can start for free by linking all of your investment accounts to one reporting interface to analyze your net worth and investment portfolio (including fee analysis), and plan your retirement. You can start by linking your investment accounts, geek out with all the free tools, and if you want a managed advisor, you can opt in for that.

If you’re looking for something that is simple and basic, check out my free to download budgeting spreadsheet.

free wealth tracking

Free Credit Report

Don’t let marketing companies in disguise offer you credit reports (for free or paid), when you can 3 free credit reports per year. AnnualCreditReport.com (the real-deal website, mandated by the federal government) offers you three free credit reports annually. Otherwise, it’s likely a free credit report scam you’re looking at. Space out your free credit reports every 4 months to consistently check for discrepancies. Also – you can now continuously access your TransUnion and Equifax credit reports from Credit Karma for free.

free credit report annualcreditreportcom

Free Money

Yes, you heard me right. Free money. No joke. You just have to have a little patience (like wait until you’re 65 type patience). If your employer offers a 401K match to what you contribute to your 401K, get as much as that free money as possible. Some employers even match up to the maximum 401K contribution (and the employer maximum 401K contribution is higher than the individual limit, so a few take it next level).

While not a “service” per say, many young professionals overlook this very important employment perk and they’ll be kicking themselves later in life for not having taken advantage of it and letting that free money compound over the years. It’s free money, folks! It may be the only time you’ll ever get it.

free money

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