Chris Uses PocketSmith For His Short, Medium, and Long-Term Money Goals

Read how PocketSmith veteran Chris manages his finances — from simple transaction categorization to the more complex, like forecasting cash flow.

Tell us a little about yourself?

I am a self-funded retiree in my mid 60’s. My wife and I spend quite a lot of time traveling around Australia and enjoying our grandchildren.

How would you describe your role in your household?

I am the CFO and household manager (my wife still works on a casual basis).

What drew you to PocketSmith?

It was the online access to all my financial institutions. I had been a long-time user of MS Money and Quicken, but I became tired of entering each transaction from my monthly statements.

How long have you been with us?

I have been with PocketSmith since 2017 (nearly seven years).

What do you primarily use PocketSmith for?

I use PocketSmith on a daily basis, usually on the mobile app:

• Confirm transactions (I have stopped fraudulent credit card transactions by confirming all transactions daily!)
• Check for upcoming bills

On a less frequent basis:

• Checking my cash flow forecasts to make sure that I have enough money in my cheque account and also have as much as possible in savings accounts to maximize interest
• Analyze the impact of larger purchases on our forecasts

Longer term:

• Analyze how much I need to draw from my pension fund based on our previous spending and forecast

How has PocketSmith changed the way you do money?

It allows me to make long-term forecasts.

What are your favorite features?

The Dashboard, transaction confirmation, and forecast graphs.

Got any tips?

Turn on confirmations so that you know what’s really going on and can categorize correctly.

Use labels to reduce the number of categories, especially if you want to track transactions for vehicles.

What’s the best money decision you made in the past 12 months?

Pay extra into bonus accounts to earn additional interest.