Empower Personal Dashboard (formerly Personal Capital) Review 2026: Investors who want a free dashboard to track net worth and portfolios, if they can ignore advisory sales calls.
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Our verdict
Empower Personal Dashboard, formerly Personal Capital, is the strongest free option here for tracking net worth, investments, and retirement readiness across all your linked accounts, with useful free tools like a retirement planner and fee analyzer. Empower confirms the dashboard is and will remain free. The honest catch is the business model: the free dashboard is a lead generator for Empower's paid Personal Wealth advisory service, which charges a tiered annual fee as a percentage of assets under management and requires sizeable minimums (advisory services start at a $100,000 minimum), per Empower's official wealth-management page (as of 2026-07-12). Users with larger balances commonly receive advisor sales calls. As a budgeting tool it is basic, better for tracking than for zero-based or envelope budgeting. Security is solid, with read-only aggregation and bank-level encryption. Use it free for portfolio tracking; just be ready to decline the advisory pitch.
Score breakdown
- Fees (25%)10.0/10
- Value & Returns (25%)6.0/10
- Transparency (20%)6.0/10
- Security & Trust (15%)8.0/10
- Support (15%)6.0/10
Scored per our review methodology.
Who it's for
Best for: Investors who want a free dashboard to track net worth and portfolios, if they can ignore advisory sales calls..
Pricing
Free dashboard; Empower monetizes via optional wealth-management advisory (tiered AUM fee, $100K+ minimum) (as of 2026-07-12)
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Dashboard | $0 / Free (as of 2026-07-12) | Net-worth, cash-flow, investment, and retirement tracking; Empower states it remains free. |
| Wealth Management (advisory) | Tiered annual % of assets under management; $250K minimum (as of 2026-07-12) | Optional paid advisory. Exact fee percentages are shown in an image on Empower's official page and were not readable for verbatim citation. |
| Investment Services / Private Client | $100K minimum (Investment Services) to $1M minimum (Private Client) (as of 2026-07-12) | Higher advisory tiers with larger minimums, per Empower's official wealth-management page. |
What the evidence says
- Empower states the Personal Dashboard and its features are free and will remain free (as of 2026-07-12). (Empower — official Personal Wealth transition page)
- Empower's paid wealth-management advisory charges a tiered annual percentage-of-AUM fee with minimums ($100K Investment Services, $250K Wealth Management, $1M Private Client). (Empower — official wealth management)
- Empower's free financial tools use read-only account aggregation with bank-level encryption to track net worth and investments. (Empower — official financial tools)
Pros & cons
Pros
- The Personal Dashboard is genuinely free to use, per Empower's official pages
- Excellent for net-worth, investment, and retirement tracking across linked accounts
- Read-only account aggregation with bank-level encryption
- Strong free tools like the Retirement Planner and fee analyzer
Cons & red flags
- Budgeting features are basic; it is built for investment and net-worth tracking more than day-to-day budgeting or envelopes
- The free dashboard is a lead generator: users with larger balances often receive wealth-advisor sales calls
- Advisory service carries a tiered percentage-of-assets fee with a $100,000+ minimum, which is expensive relative to self-directed investing
- Exact advisory fee percentages are shown as an image on the official page and were not machine-readable for verbatim citation
How it compares
Empower Personal Dashboard (formerly Personal Capital) scores 7.3/10 in our budgeting apps evaluation. See where it lands in the full ranking: Best Budgeting Apps of 2026.
- YNAB (You Need A Budget) review — 7.8/10, people who want to actively change spending habits with a disciplined, hands-on budgeting method.
- Monarch Money review — 7.7/10, couples and households wanting one hub for budgeting plus net-worth and investment tracking.
Frequently asked questions
Is Empower Personal Dashboard really free?
Yes. Empower states the Personal Dashboard and its financial tools are free and will remain free, per its official pages (as of 2026-07-12). Empower makes money from its optional, separate wealth-management advisory service.
How does Empower make money if the dashboard is free?
Empower monetizes through its Personal Wealth advisory service, charging a tiered annual advisory fee as a percentage of assets under management with account minimums (advisory services start at a $100,000 minimum), per Empower's official wealth-management page (as of 2026-07-12). Free-dashboard users may receive advisor outreach.
Is Empower good for everyday budgeting?
It is better for tracking net worth and investments than for hands-on budgeting. If you want zero-based budgeting or envelopes, YNAB or Goodbudget are more suitable; Empower shines for portfolio and retirement tracking.
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