September 17, 2018

Status Money Review: Is It Good?

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Are you the type to compare yourself to others? What if you could compare your finances to others discreetly? Would it give you the drive you need to get your finances in order? While it sounds impossible (since finances are "taboo" to talk about), Status Money was founded on this exact principal - helping you compare your finances to others.

Status Money gathers information about your financial life, including income, assets, debts, and your credit history. They then compare your information to your peers to give you an idea of where you stand.

Status Money takes advantage of our habits to see what others are doing. Social media made this habit even stronger for many. Being able to "follow the Joneses" makes some people feel good, and that's what Status Money tries to offer.

Does Status Money drive consumers to do better? Keep reading to find out.

How It Works

First, you should know the type of information you'll need to provide Status Money in order to get the full benefit. Just like many other financial apps, you must provide your personal identifying information and link your financial accounts, such as bank accounts or investment accounts. You'll also need to provide your full Social Security number and information about any cars or home(s) that you own. The more information you provide, the better comparisons Status can give you.

Status Money uses the information you provided to pull your data from outside data companies, including TransUnion, for your credit report. With this information in hand, Status then compares your information to your peers, the nation, and any customized groups you create. We'll discuss that in detail below.

Is Status Money Safe?
You provide Status Money with a lot of sensitive information, but is it safe? Status Money claims the data they collect is encrypted. They also claim that they don't sell your information to third parties. They use any personal information provided for comparisons and targeted suggestions (new credit cards, better loans.)

Status Money uses TransUnion for credit monitoring and Yodlee to link to your financial accounts, which is done with read-only access. As with any financial app, though, always proceed with caution and use standard practices to keep your ID and passwords safe.

Reasons We Like Status Money

  • Data on how others are doing might drive you to do better. If seeing that your debt greatly exceeds the national average or that people your age have a much higher net worth motivates you, then this app might be a good option. You can anonymously compare yourself to others and use the information to your advantage to improve your financial situation.

  • It doesn't cost you anything to use. It doesn't get much better than free, right? There are other free financial apps out there, but many of them have an option to pay to upgrade. Status doesn't have that option. Everything they offer truly is free.

  • You can set spending limits. Status provides you with 16 spending categories. In each of those categories, you can set your personal limit. Status will then update you on your progress and alert you if you are nearing or are over the limit. This can help you get your spending in check.

  • You can predict how much you might spend in a given month. Once you link your accounts, Status pulls up a transaction history of up to 6 months. The program then uses this information to predict your spending moving forward. This can help you prepare your budget more effectively rather than living paycheck-to-paycheck.

  • You can track your net worth. Many financial apps help you track your income and spending, but knowing your true net worth is a unique data point provided by Status. This is why it's important to link all of your debts and assets, including the type, year, and condition of your car and your home's address and features. Status uses this information to display your net worth as well as compare it to others.

  • Status automatically updates your financial accounts. They partner with 12,000 financial institutions to make this step easy for you. If your financial institutions aren't listed, you can email them at support@statusmoney.com to request the addition of your financial institution. While you wait, you can manually update your accounts.

  • Get up-to-date access to your credit report. Status partners with TransUnion to provide you with your credit data. This includes your credit score and history. You can access this information around-the-clock, enabling you to know the most recent changes to your credit and how it affects your score.

  • You can customize how you compare your finances to others. Status automatically provides comparisons against your peers and the national average. You are free to set up other filters, though. Whether you want to compare your net worth to people with the same amount of income, same credit score, or a specific age, you can customize the categories as you see fit.

  • You can compare the interest rates you pay on your loans to others. A helpful comparison is knowing what people with a similar credit score to yours pay in interest rates. This way you'll know if you are above or below the average. If you are paying much more, you may want to look into refinancing your loans or asking your credit card companies for lower APRs.

  • Couples can join forces and monitor their finances together. You'll both set up an individual account first. This allows Status to monitor your credit score and credit history individually. You can then link your joint accounts so that you are both on the same page with your finances.

How Can Status Money Be Free?
It seems as if Status Money provides you with a lot of information and yet doesn't charge you. The founders of Status Money have a mission to keep it free to help motivate you to improve your finances. In exchange for the free program, though, you'll see targeted ads that fit your profile. You'll have to weed through the ads to get to your information.

On a positive note, though, some of the ads may be helpful if they help you discover alternatives to your bank, credit card, or loans that are costing you too much money.

Reasons You May Want to Look Elsewhere

  • Status Money doesn't have an app. While you can access your information on their mobile website, not having an app can be a downside for those who operate on the go. You must use the program on your computer or mobile internet.

  • It's not for beginners. You should have a solid understanding of your net worth before using Status so that you can catch any errors. Otherwise, your comparison numbers won't be accurate and the point of the program lost.

  • You can't pay your bills with Status Money. Many financial apps offer a bill pay service, helping you to keep all of your finances in one place. Status Money doesn't offer this feature at the moment. You'll have to use another program or your bank's app to handle online bill pay.

How It Compares

Mint: Mint is another free financial service. Mint allows you to track your finances, including investment accounts. They offer robust budgeting features, but they too don't offer online bill pay. You can sync your bank accounts with Mint for automatic updates, but they don't offer the comparisons to your peers or the nation as Status Money does.

Empower: Empower is another free financial app that helps you track your budget and your net worth. Empower also helps track your investments and offers an upsell for wealth management, which differs from Status Money, which doesn't offer any type of upselling.

Bottom Line

If you feel empowered knowing how you are doing compared to your peers, Status Money could be a good tool for you. Since it's free, there's not a lot of harm in giving it a try. Keep in mind that you have to use another tool to manage your bills, though.

If you're wondering how net worth compares to others of the same age, demographic, or income level, you may want to pass and focus on a financial app. It's important to sit down and figure out what features are important to you and what information will drive you to continually work on your financial position.

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