> click on the search bar/payee filter and type “McDonald’s.” Sure but you still have to open a dedicated app and that the search is just a string search.

I recently setup Muse (just seems to have the easiest out of the box connectors) to connect to all my accounts over Plaid. I can ask questions like: * Review all recurring transactions. * Show overview of last 12 months of spending by category. * Review last months CC transactions. * Estimate next months expenses.

And then in the same app, I automatically get personal financial and budget information that's actual useful. I can adjust the frequency and type of content just by updating the agent's goal.

I tried using YNAB. It felt so cumbersome compared to just asking AI for the info. I had to make a $300 fake expense to zero out an account minimium balance, I can't treat an investment account as a spending account (without some weird hacks).

Meanwhile, the same AI can cleanup my email inbox, watch my calendar, etc.

And I spent like ~2 days having Claude (over remote-control) create a Monte-Carlo simulation for retirement (including Tax calculations). Works great, I can read the code and make whatever changes I need.

The most friction I still encounter is the connector itself being too opinionated. Plaid's API tries to predict future expenses based on what's detected as a recurring charge; this of course was incorrect if similar Amazon.com charge amounts occur on similar days.

IMO purpose built apps are dead. A sandbox of tools that AI can use is far more flexible. Spending $20/month only needs to replace 3-4 other paid single purpose apps (or identify a single $20 recurring service to cancel) to be net-positive. Plus you don't have to configure it, just ask questions.