Drawing Mountains On A Map

At one point, I once had over a dozen checking accounts. (which is too many bank accounts)

I was doing reviews for my previous personal finance blog and since opening a checking account didn't hurt anything, I kept opening them and reviewing them.

After a few years, I had a dozen checking accounts. I'd have ten bucks here, twenty bucks there, and it was a total mess.

It was awful.

As I started closing them, I realized that I didn't have a good idea of how any of my accounts were connected.

Which bank account was automatically paying my credit cards?

Which bank account was connected to my Vanguard account?

For the checking accounts, I didn't care. I was closing them.

But for the important accounts, I had no idea and that was a problem.

So I did what any engineer would do, I drew a map.

You can draw your map however you like, I think it's best to go with something intuitive, but mine was relatively simple:

Start with a list of all of your accounts – bank accounts, brokerage accounts, credit cards, Paypal, Dwolla, etc.
Then add in all of your bills and services – cable TV/internet, utilities, Netflix
Now draw arrows between them indicating a link – The side with an arrowhead meant I had to log into that account to draw money from the other. I'd use acronym for the link type – A for ACH transfer, BP for bill pay, DD for direct deposit.
Remember to update this as your accounts change

Now that you have the financial network map, prune it. Chances are there are things in there that don't make any more sense and you can close down those accounts and adjust the map so it's simpler.

And if you haven't done it already, it's time to put together a money field manual to put into prose everything you know in your head.

Here's what our financial network map looks like today (with color coding!):

financial-network-money-mapping — *(this post was originally written in 2016, which is why you see TradeKing in the* *image*
*despite it being acquired by Ally Bank in early 2016)*

Complexity can be a source of problems and a cognitive weight you don't need, so make your life simpler.

Fortunately, you have a map to show you how! 🙂

Oh, before you go – if you are looking to simplify your finances, our handy guide can help you figure out how to best do that.

If you aren't, here are a few banks offering hundreds of dollars in bonuses for you to open an account!

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Jim Wang is a thirty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard's Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.

Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology - Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.

One of his favorite tools (here's my treasure chest of tools,, everything I use) is Personal Capital, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you're on track to retire when you want. It's free.

He is also diversifying his investment portfolio by adding a little bit of real estate. But not rental homes, because he doesn't want a second job, it's diversified small investments in a few commercial properties and farms in Illinois, Louisiana, and California through AcreTrader.

Recently, he's invested in a few pieces of art on Masterworks too.

Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.