Net Worth Trackers Tested: Empower vs Kubera vs Monarch Compared

Tracking net worth sounds simple until you try it. Multiple investment accounts at different brokerages, a primary residence and possibly a rental, retirement accounts your spouse manages, crypto holdings, savings bonds your grandparents bought in your name, and a 401k from a previous employer — most households have between 8 and 15 separate accounts that combine into their full picture. We tested Empower, Kubera, and Monarch Money over three months with the same household financial data (12 linked accounts plus manual entries for real estate and private holdings) to identify which works best for which net worth complexity level.

What Net Worth Tracking Actually Solves

Net worth is the most important financial metric because it captures cumulative progress in a way that monthly income and expense reports cannot. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances tracks household net worth as the primary measure of financial well-being, and individual households benefit from the same view. Three concrete benefits emerge from systematic tracking. First, it surfaces the real growth rate of your wealth, which is the only metric that matters for retirement planning. Income growth is irrelevant if expenses absorb the increase; net worth growth captures the actual trajectory.

Second, it reveals asset allocation distortions across multiple accounts. Many investors maintain “the right” allocation in their main brokerage account while a 401k at an old employer remains in target-date funds appropriate for someone twenty years younger or older. Aggregated tracking surfaces these inconsistencies. Third, it provides motivational evidence during slow periods. The 2022 bear market caused short-term net worth declines for nearly all retail investors; long-term trackers showed the post-2022 recovery and reinforced the value of staying invested.

Top Pick — Free, Comprehensive, And Well-Polished

Empower remains the right default for most households due to its combination of free pricing, strong investment account aggregation, and polished interface. The investment account section is the standout — it pulls Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, 401k providers, and most other major brokerages cleanly, then displays your total portfolio with asset allocation across all accounts (stocks, bonds, cash, alternatives) and identifies overweight or underweight positions versus your target allocation.

The free Investment Checkup feature analyzes fees you are paying across all linked accounts. For households with old 401k accounts still holding high-expense-ratio target-date funds (typical of legacy plans), the Investment Checkup surfaces savings opportunities worth hundreds to thousands of dollars annually. The net worth chart shows monthly progression over years and forms the visual memory of your financial trajectory that point-in-time numbers cannot match. The honest negative is the wealth advisor sales contact — Empower’s business model is wealth management at 0.49 to 0.89 percent annual fees, and after signup expect 1 to 3 advisor calls offering paid services. Politely decline; the free tier continues unchanged.

Premium Pick — For High Net Worth With Alternative Assets

Kubera is the right choice for high-net-worth households with significant assets outside standard brokerage and retirement accounts. The platform handles private equity holdings, angel investments, vintage cars, fine art, fractional real estate ownership, crypto on hardware wallets, and other alternative assets that Empower and Monarch cannot track. For households with 5+ million dollar net worth or significant entrepreneurial wealth, the alternative asset support is the structural feature that justifies the subscription.

The beneficiary access feature is the second standout. Kubera allows you to designate trusted contacts (spouse, adult children, estate attorney) who receive access to your account information upon a designated trigger (verified death certificate, dormancy period). This solves the meaningful estate-planning problem of heirs needing to find and access accounts after a death. For households with sufficient wealth to require active estate planning, the feature is worth more than the annual cost. The international account aggregation covers UK, EU, Singapore, Hong Kong banks that Empower does not support, which matters for households with cross-border financial lives.

Bundled Pick — When You Already Use Monarch For Budgeting

Monarch Money is the right choice when you want net worth tracking bundled with active budgeting in one tool. For couples managing shared finances, Monarch’s combination of net worth aggregation and budget management in a unified interface eliminates the need for separate tools. The investment account aggregation rivals Empower’s quality, and the couples-mode interface handles shared and separate accounts with appropriate privacy settings.

The cost makes sense only if you also use Monarch’s budgeting features. For households doing net worth tracking only, Empower’s free tier delivers comparable functionality. For households actively budgeting with envelope or category-based methodology, the bundled tool saves the friction of switching between apps for related decisions. Note that Monarch’s investment-account analysis is less detailed than Empower’s Investment Checkup; if portfolio fee analysis matters more than budgeting integration, Empower remains the better choice.

What To Avoid

Three net worth tracking categories should not be your default. Mint successor attempts (Credit Karma’s basic tracking) lack the investment account aggregation depth that makes net worth tracking useful. Bank-affiliated wealth dashboards (Chase Total Checking + Investment view) provide only single-bank visibility and miss the multi-account picture that makes net worth meaningful. Single-asset trackers (Mint Coinbase Wallet for crypto only, Zillow for real estate only) capture pieces of the picture but require manual aggregation that defeats the purpose.

Setup Habits That Compound

Connect all financial accounts during the first sitting — not just primary checking and the latest 401k, but every retirement account from every previous job, every brokerage, every HSA, every savings bond. Missing accounts produce inaccurate net worth and incomplete picture for life-planning decisions. Add manual entries for real estate, vehicles, and private holdings during the same setup; update those values once a year rather than monthly to avoid noise. Set the net worth review cadence in your calendar — monthly works for most households, more frequent creates anxiety, less frequent loses momentum.

Bottom Line

Empower for most households due to free pricing and feature breadth. Kubera for high-net-worth households with alternative assets or estate planning needs. Monarch when bundling with budgeting matters. For more on related tools see our brokerage comparison, expense tracking tested, and personal finance category.