Here at Investor Junkie, myself and the writers test many financial services. In the confusing array of financial products and services we wanted to tell you from our research what we think is the best of the best. In most cases we not only recommend these investment tools, but we use them ourselves.

In selecting these financial tools or investment services we had the requirement that they must either: help increase your investment returns, decrease expenses, improve asset allocation, or do all of the above.

Weve created this list as a shortcut for your investing needs, but this doesnt mean we didnt fully test out these services. With most of the services listed weve done an in-depth review . So please also check them out to know why these services are on our recommended list.

We not only share which ones are the best, but we explain why theyre the top in their industry and what makes them so helpful. This is of course from our perspective and personal experiences.

Best Financial Aggregator Personal Capital

If you are looking for a free finance web-based app that focuses on investing, Personal Capital is a great option. This app not only allows you to track expenses, it also helps review your investing plan.

Personal Capital gives you a holistic view of your finances, showing you the big picture of your financial life. With great customer service, strong security, and reporting capabilities that its competitors just cant beat, Personal Capital is a great tool in your financial arsenal. In addition, Personal Capitals premium service offers financial advisors to guide you with your investment planning needs.

Why Its The Best: Syncs better than Mint.com and focuses more on investing than budgeting.

In Depth Review

Best Overall Personal Finance Software Quicken

For a locally installed application, Quicken is the definite favorite around Investor Junkie. It is an easy to use personal finance management tool that links all your accounts in one place, tracking your spending over time. The program allows you to set up a budget, now with 2014 store and save receipts, and set up bill due date reminders so you never miss a payment again!

Quickens step-by-step guidance makes setup a breeze and you only have to link your external accounts once for automatic updates.

Why Its The Best: Its the most comprehensive personal finance application available in the market.

In Depth Review

Best Banking Ally Bank

Ally Bank offers a wide variety of finance options including checking, savings, and CDs. You can check the balances of your accounts, transfer funds and even make deposits with their easy to use mobile app.

Because Ally Bank doesnt have expensive physical locations, its able to offer perks that brick-and-mortar banks cannot like free ATM withdrawals at any ATM nationwide and no hidden fees. There is no minimum deposit requirement so you can start banking with Ally today!

Why Its The Best: They have some of the best CD rates available and good customer service.

In Depth Review

Best Investing for Beginners Betterment

If you are concerned about high fees, good asset allocation and whether a financial advisor has your best interest at heart, Betterment is the best solution to make investing easy. This service is great for investors who want investment guidance in an automated fashion, and at a much lower annual fee than traditional financial advisors.

Betterment focuses on the your investing goals, and hides the technical details on how to invest. This is perfect for beginners who dont want to mess around with stock picking, and just wants to invest for retirement.

Why Its The Best: Focus on your savings goals that hides the technical details to properly invest and wrapped in a easy-to-use web site with low annual fees.

In Depth Review

Best Overall Brokerage Firm Fidelity

Fidelity offers a large selection of mutual funds, retirement accounts, discount brokerage services, retirement services, wealth management, banking, life insurance, and investment advice.

As a one-stop shopping for your investment and banking needs, Fidelity has pretty much every service you could look for. Fidelity even has its own credit card with cash-back rewards that can be directly deposited into your brokerage account. Fidelitys Full View program allows you to link third party accounts and get a full snapshot of your finances, similar to Mint.com or Personal Capital.

Why Its The Best: It has every major financial service you could want for your investing and banking needs.

In Depth Review

Best Discount Broker TradeKing

At $4.95 a trade, TradeKing is lowest cost brokerage firms with no hidden fees. In addition to low trading fees, they have focused on offering great customer service.

Ranked #1 by SmartMoney for customer service, TradeKing is quick to resolve customer issues. In fact, I have found it to be among the most helpful customer service experiences I have had with a discount broker. TradeKing also offers a comprehensive education center with helpful webinars and information on all the investments it offers.

Why Its The Best: It has superior customer service and low trading fees.

In Depth Review

Best Options Trading Platform OptionsXpress

OptionsXpress, based upon its name, its no surprise their focus is options trading. Not only that but they do not have account minimums, low trading fees, or any maintenance fees.

Beginners and seasoned investors alike will enjoy OptionsXpress advanced educational center, filled with free resources. Users have easy access to thousands of investment opportunities at the click of a button and customer service by phone or web.

Why Its The Best: It has an impressive option trading system for the begininer to advanced option trading strategies.

In Depth Review

Best Peer-to-Peer Investing Service Lending Club

With Lending Club you can get a higher rate of return than many other traditional fixed income investments. And you have the ability to manage risk. It’s similar in class to bonds, but as if youre the loan officer.

Loan applicants must have credit scores over 660 and the lowest available APR is 6.78%, so Lending Club has minimized risk and increased return. Provided you meet the income and net worth guidelines, you can get started with this alternative investment opportunity today for as low as $25!

Why Its The Best: Get higher returns when compared to many other fixed investment options. Its the best peer-to-peer investment service available.

In Depth Review

Best Investment Research Morningstar

For those looking to research mutual funds, ETFs or stocks, Morningstar is a great resource! The website does not offer technical charts advising when you should buy and sell, but instead provides you with information about proper asset allocation, low fee investment vehicles, and investments that generate consistent returns.

With any Morningstar review they analyze investments to give you the pros and cons for each one. It has a super useful X-ray tool that ensures you arent over allocated in a specific sector or stock and a Cost Analyzer to help you choose one mutual fund or ETF over another. A free membership is available, but we believe the premium membership is well worth the cost as you will likely make it up easily in investment returns.

Why Its The Best: Its Portfolio X-ray tool is second to none for usefulness, and has some of the best investment research available.

In Depth Review

Best Accounting Software QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is very easy to use, and is perfect for most small business owners. In fact, my company has used it QuickBooks for over 10 years. In my opinion the features where QuickBooks really shines are in payroll, invoicing, collections and banking.

Surprising when compared to other Intuit products, QuickBooks customer service is very good. Which is especially helpful for the small business owner without an accounting background. The online version may actually be better than the desktop version, with full capabilities and a vast array of features.

Not sure if Quickbooks is right for you? QuickBooks Online has a 30 day free trial.

Why Its The Best: QuickBooks is the most popular accounting software for a good reason. It supports 18,000 different financial institutions and easily syncs with your business checking account.

In Depth Review