About

Personal finance, plainly — from someone who actually has a day job.

Hi, I’m Mark Agustin.

I started KatchingStacks because most personal finance content sits at one of two extremes: day-trading influencers screaming about 10x returns, or dense academic writing that assumes you already know what a “basis point” is. Neither of those is useful for the person I was a few years ago — someone with a full-time job, a real life, and about 20 minutes a week to think about money.

My background

I have a degree in business and I work full-time in tech. Finance has been a personal obsession for years — the kind of thing I read about on weekends instead of watching TV. KatchingStacks is where those two worlds meet: the analytical mindset I use professionally applied to the personal finance topics I actually care about.

I’m not a licensed financial advisor, and I’ll never pretend to be one. Nothing on this site is financial advice. What I am is someone who researches these products carefully, with the same goal you probably have: building wealth quietly in the background while living the rest of your life.

What you’ll find here

KatchingStacks has grown from a handful of robo-advisor reviews into a broader resource for people who want straightforward, well-researched personal finance content. That includes in-depth reviews of providers like Acorns, Betterment, Wealthfront, M1 Finance, Fidelity Go, Robinhood, and Vanguard Digital Advisor; head-to-head comparisons for when you’re deciding between two specific options; and beginner-friendly guides covering brokerage accounts, Roth IRAs, high-yield savings accounts, and life insurance. The goal is the same across all of it: help you make one specific decision with real numbers, not vague advice.

Why robo-advisors?

Because they’re what I actually use. When you have a full-time job, you don’t have time to rebalance portfolios, harvest tax losses, or obsess over asset allocation. Robo-advisors do all of that automatically at a cost most people don’t realize is absurdly low compared to what traditional advisors charge. They’re not perfect — and I’ll tell you exactly where they fall short in every review — but for most working professionals, they’re the highest-leverage financial tool available.

Who this site is for (and isn’t)

This site is for people who want a sensible, mostly-automated approach to investing and saving — not day traders chasing short-term moves, and not people with complicated situations (multiple income streams, business ownership, estate planning) who genuinely need a fee-only financial planner, CPA, or estate attorney. If that’s you, use what’s here as a starting point for the questions to bring to that professional, not a replacement for one.

How I write reviews

Every review on KatchingStacks is checked against the same core methodology: published fee schedules, account minimums, and terms, cross-referenced with the provider’s own site and, where available, its SEC or FINRA filings. Where I hold a personal account with a provider, I incorporate direct, hands-on experience — the actual onboarding steps, app navigation, and customer support. Where I don’t, I rely on verified public documentation and say so plainly rather than implying testing I haven’t done. I don’t accept payment for positive reviews. If a product has a flaw, I say so, even if I’m an affiliate. You can read the full approach on my Editorial Policy page.

Fees and minimums on comparison pages are checked against each provider’s own pages, and I note the date of the check. Where a page isn’t based on hands-on use of a product, it rests on the provider’s published terms and filings. If you spot an error, please tell me and I’ll correct it.

How the site makes money

KatchingStacks is reader-supported. When you open an account through some of the links on this site, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Those commissions keep the lights on and let me spend time researching and writing instead of selling courses. My full Affiliate Disclosure explains exactly how it works.

Get in touch

Questions, corrections, or just want to say hi? Email me at hello@katchingstacks.com.

— Mark