Dual Citizen Mike Manages His Money Across Borders With PocketSmith's Multi-Currency Features

Read how ex-Mint user Mike is using PocketSmith to go beyond local money admin and manage multiple assets and expenses in both New Zealand and the US.

Tell us a little about yourself?

In 2013 my wife and I moved our family of eight (six kids aged 2-16) from Utah, USA, to New Plymouth, New Zealand.

We decided to rent our home in Utah while we were gone, anticipating a return to Utah after two years abroad. We also had multiple retirement and investment accounts in the US.

While working full-time in the health sector of the New Zealand government, I also continued to travel back to Utah three times a year to work at my old job to cover holiday periods for my former colleagues.

Our two-year stay in New Zealand stretched out to 10 years, as we found it a magical place to raise our family.

We are now citizens of both countries, and we own homes in both countries.

How would you describe your role in your household?

I have been the primary earner in our family, and my wife has been the lead parent. Despite these roles, my wife has always worked as a professional piano teacher and performing artist. While in New Zealand, she also obtained a second Master’s degree at Otago University and worked part-time for the New Zealand Red Cross.

What drew you to PocketSmith?

After six years in New Zealand, attempting to manage our finances and taxes in both countries, we realized we needed a single tool to help us manage our budget and finances in both New Zealand and the US. We had been using Mint by Intuit while in the US, but this tool would not allow us to manage accounts in multiple currencies, and we could not add our NZ accounts to the profile.

We started searching for a new digital money management tool, and PocketSmith seemed to check all the boxes. We were so happy to find PocketSmith and haven’t looked back since. With it, we track a mortgage account and multiple banking and retirement accounts in NZ. We also track four different retirement accounts, a mortgage account, several credit card accounts, and several personal and business bank accounts in the US. Transfers between accounts are seamless, even if the currency of the two accounts is different.

How long have you been with us?

Almost four years.

What do you primarily use PocketSmith for?

Managing our family and my business finances and taxes. We use it as our budgeting tool, our finance tracking tool, and our financial planning tool.

How has PocketSmith changed the way you do money?

It is like having Intuit, Quicken and Quickbooks with the power to manage accounts in multiple countries and across multiple currencies.

What are your favorite features?

• The ability to manage multiple currencies without having to do any conversions.
• The ability to enter data using either my MacBook or my iPhone using the Sidekick app.
• The ability to add bank accounts from multiple countries and have them sync automatically each time I open the app.

Got any tips?

I find I can categorize expenses more quickly using the Sidekick phone app than using the desktop program.

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

Buying our home and paying off our car 2.5 years early.