MemoryBank vs. Empower
Both connect to your brokerages and banks and show balances in one place, so parents often ask whether Empower can track their kids’ accounts too. The difference is who each one is built for. The Empower Personal Dashboard is a free tool for your own net worth, budget and retirement plan. MemoryBank organizes the accounts by child and gives each child a view of their own, with explanations at their age.
MemoryBank is
A read-only kids’ investment dashboard. You connect the UTMA, 529, custodial Roth IRA, Trump Account or savings account you already have at your brokerage, state plan or bank, and assign each one to a child. Each child gets their own view of what they own and how it’s growing, with Penny, an AI money mentor, explaining it at their age. Nothing can be bought, sold or spent inside it.
Empower is
The Empower Personal Dashboard is a free set of financial tools: net worth, budgeting and cash flow, transactions, portfolio analysis, a retirement planner, a savings planner, debt paydown and an emergency fund planner. You connect IRAs, 401(k)s, investment accounts, mortgages, loans, checking, savings and credit cards. Empower also offers paid advisory services, such as Personal Strategy for investors with more than $250,000.
Side by side
| MemoryBank | Empower | |
|---|---|---|
| The main job | Show each child the real accounts their family opened for them, and teach them what they own. | Show you your whole financial picture and help you plan budgeting, saving and retirement. |
| Who looks at it | Parents set it up; each child gets their own view on a phone, tablet or wall display, without a login of their own. | The account holder. Its site describes tools for your own finances and does not describe a separate view for a child. |
| Organized by child | Yes. Every account is assigned to a child, with a total and holdings for each one. | Accounts appear in one combined picture of your assets and liabilities. |
| Accounts it shows | UTMA/UGMA, 529, custodial Roth IRA, Trump Account, brokerage and savings accounts at 10,000+ institutions through Plaid, including Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard. Unlinkable accounts can be entered manually. | IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement plans, investments, mortgages, loans, checking and savings accounts, credit cards and more. |
| Budgeting and retirement planning | No. MemoryBank does not track spending or plan your retirement. | Yes: budgeting and cash flow, transaction categories, a retirement planner and a savings planner. |
| Financial literacy for kids | Penny answers questions at your child’s age level (5 to 18+), every holding gets a plain-English story, a weekly recap teaches one money word at a time, plus 90+ free parent guides. | Articles for adults in The Currency and Investment Insights. |
| Can anyone trade or move money? | No. No trading, transfers or withdrawals exist anywhere in the app. | The dashboard itself is for viewing and planning. Empower separately offers IRAs, investment accounts, a cash account and managed portfolios. |
| Price | Free to start (up to 3 kids). Starter $6.99/mo (up to 3 kids, 3 linked accounts), Family $9.99/mo (up to 10 kids, 10 linked accounts). About two months free on annual billing. | The dashboard and tools are free. Advisory services carry a fee based on assets managed. |
The main job
MemoryBank
Show each child the real accounts their family opened for them, and teach them what they own.
Empower
Show you your whole financial picture and help you plan budgeting, saving and retirement.
Who looks at it
MemoryBank
Parents set it up; each child gets their own view on a phone, tablet or wall display, without a login of their own.
Empower
The account holder. Its site describes tools for your own finances and does not describe a separate view for a child.
Organized by child
MemoryBank
Yes. Every account is assigned to a child, with a total and holdings for each one.
Empower
Accounts appear in one combined picture of your assets and liabilities.
Accounts it shows
MemoryBank
UTMA/UGMA, 529, custodial Roth IRA, Trump Account, brokerage and savings accounts at 10,000+ institutions through Plaid, including Schwab, Fidelity and Vanguard. Unlinkable accounts can be entered manually.
Empower
IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement plans, investments, mortgages, loans, checking and savings accounts, credit cards and more.
Budgeting and retirement planning
MemoryBank
No. MemoryBank does not track spending or plan your retirement.
Empower
Yes: budgeting and cash flow, transaction categories, a retirement planner and a savings planner.
Financial literacy for kids
MemoryBank
Penny answers questions at your child’s age level (5 to 18+), every holding gets a plain-English story, a weekly recap teaches one money word at a time, plus 90+ free parent guides.
Empower
Articles for adults in The Currency and Investment Insights.
Can anyone trade or move money?
MemoryBank
No. No trading, transfers or withdrawals exist anywhere in the app.
Empower
The dashboard itself is for viewing and planning. Empower separately offers IRAs, investment accounts, a cash account and managed portfolios.
Price
MemoryBank
Free to start (up to 3 kids). Starter $6.99/mo (up to 3 kids, 3 linked accounts), Family $9.99/mo (up to 10 kids, 10 linked accounts). About two months free on annual billing.
Empower
The dashboard and tools are free. Advisory services carry a fee based on assets managed.
Empower details are as described on Empower's own website and help center in November 2026and can change; confirm current prices and features there before deciding. MemoryBank isn't affiliated with Empower. Sources: Empower financial tools, Empower net worth tool.
Which one fits your family
Choose Empower if
- You want one free place for your own net worth, budget and retirement plan.
- You mainly want to see your kids’ accounts as part of the family’s total, for yourself.
- You’re interested in working with a financial advisor.
Choose MemoryBank if
- You want your kids to see their own accounts, not your household finances.
- You have more than one child and want each one’s accounts kept separate, with their own total.
- You want the accounts explained to a child at their age, by Penny or in plain-English holding stories.
- You want a screen your child can check on their own without signing into a finance app.
Many families will use both. Empower stays the parent’s view of the whole household, retirement included. MemoryBank takes just the accounts that belong to each child and turns them into something the child can read and learn from.
Common questions
Can I track my kids’ accounts in Empower?
Is MemoryBank an Empower alternative?
Is the Empower Personal Dashboard free?
Can my child see my other accounts in MemoryBank?
Related reading: How to track several kids’ investment accounts · How to track your kids’ investment accounts · Which accounts work with MemoryBank
Their money is growing. Let them see it.
Free to start. Connect the accounts you already have and give your kid their own view.
MemoryBank is not a brokerage. It cannot receive, keep or transfer securities, and it never holds your money.