Financial planning software has become remarkably sophisticated, yet for Americans living in the UK and Britons who once lived or worked in the United States, the simple question “what do I own, and what does my financial future look like?” can still be hard to answer. This guide explains the main kinds of planning tool, what each was designed to do, why a household with pensions, accounts and tax obligations in two countries often falls between them — and why we built the Edale Wealth Hub.
Why is financial planning harder when your life spans the US and UK?
Because the financial life spans two countries, two currencies, two tax systems and several different types of retirement account — and most planning software was never specifically designed for that. An adviser can model retirement decades ahead, a consumer app can bring several bank accounts onto one screen, and an investment platform can value a portfolio almost instantly. Each is answering a narrower question than the one a transatlantic household is asking.
Someone living in Britain might have:
- a UK workplace pension or SIPP;
- ISAs and UK investment accounts;
- a former employer’s US 401(k) or 403(b);
- an IRA or Roth IRA;
- US Social Security entitlement;
- UK State Pension entitlement;
- property in Britain or America;
- investments denominated in both dollars and sterling; and
- future spending that could fall in either currency.
For a US citizen there is a further complication: US tax and reporting obligations continue even while permanently resident in Britain.[10] That creates a planning problem that conventional software was not built to solve. Our guide to how both tax systems apply to Americans in the UK explains the rules themselves.
What kinds of financial planning tool are there?
There isn’t one type of financial planning tool. It helps to distinguish four categories, because each was designed for a different job: adviser cash-flow planning software, American adviser planning platforms, consumer money apps, and spreadsheets. The sections below take each in turn, and the comparison table sets them side by side.
What does adviser cash-flow software such as Voyant do?
It projects a household’s assets, income, spending and investment returns many years ahead, so that an adviser can test questions such as:
- Could I retire at 60 rather than 65?
- What happens if markets fall shortly after I retire?
- How much could I sustainably spend?
- What happens if I give money to my children?
Many professional advisers in the UK use cash-flow modelling systems such as Voyant. Voyant sells country editions for the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia with those countries’ tax rules built in — its UK release notes, for example, record pensions entering the estate from 2027 and allowances frozen to April 2031 — and a separate “Global” edition in which the adviser sets up a tax regime and its currency.[1][3][11] Asked whether incomes and investments can be entered in multiple currencies, its help centre answers that Voyant offers, “separately from our UK software, a multi-currency, multi-jurisdictional Global version”.[2]
These systems are extremely useful. But they are primarily adviser modelling systems: the adviser normally builds and maintains the plan, and each edition is designed around a jurisdiction. For somebody with substantial US and UK financial interests, another layer of information may still be needed. Our companion piece, Voyant vs US financial planning software, looks at this in more depth.
What about American adviser software?
The US has its own highly developed planning-technology market. Platforms such as eMoney, RightCapital and MoneyGuide are used by many American financial advisers.
RightCapital lets advisers choose between cash-flow, goals-based or a “modified cash flow” approach, and describes tax return projections, dynamic Roth conversion modelling and comparison of Social Security filing options.[4][5] MoneyGuide, from Envestnet, has long been associated with goals-based planning; Envestnet now describes it as integrating “both cash flow-based and goals-based planning”.[6] eMoney describes its planning as building “comprehensive cash flow plans that turn complex financial lives into clear, actionable strategies”.[7]
Again, these can be excellent tools. The difficulty isn’t the quality of the software; it is the jurisdiction around which the plan is constructed. A sophisticated US retirement model may understand an IRA extremely well but know relatively little about a UK SIPP, an ISA or the UK tax position. A sophisticated UK model can have precisely the opposite problem. For a genuinely transatlantic household, neither side of the Atlantic necessarily provides the whole picture.
Can a money app do the job?
A money app can show you what you have; it does not, on its own, tell you what to do with it. Consumer apps connect to banks and other providers and give one view of accounts, spending and net worth, which is extremely useful for everyday money management. In the UK this connection runs through Open Banking, whose regulated scope is payment accounts.[9] Moneyhub was a well-known UK example until it closed its consumer app on 31 July 2026 to focus on supporting enterprise businesses.[8]
But aggregation isn’t the same thing as financial planning. Knowing that you have £700,000 of assets is different from understanding:
- which assets should fund retirement first;
- how long the money might last;
- where future income will come from;
- the effect of different retirement dates;
- whether assets have different US and UK tax characteristics;
- how dollar assets affect a sterling retirement plan; or
- what happens when Social Security, the State Pension and private pensions begin at different ages.
The distinction matters most for internationally mobile families. UK Open Banking is good at connecting UK institutions; it does not combine UK accounts with American retirement plans and overseas investment accounts. Our guide to financial planning apps for Americans living in the UK looks at what current apps on each side of the Atlantic can and cannot do.
Is a spreadsheet good enough?
For many complex international households a spreadsheet remains the most-used planning tool of all — Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets — and it is remarkably useful. It is flexible, transparent and can accommodate almost anything. Its weakness is obvious: someone has to maintain it. Values go out of date, exchange rates change, assumptions get buried in cells, versions multiply and documents sit in separate folders. Eventually the spreadsheet that was meant to simplify the financial position becomes another financial record that needs managing.
How do the tools compare for a US–UK household?
There isn’t a single piece of financial-planning software that suits everybody; the tools solve different problems. The table summarises each category’s design scope, not its quality.
| Tool | Particularly useful for | Design scope to bear in mind for a US–UK household |
|---|---|---|
| Voyant and other UK adviser cash-flow software | Detailed UK financial planning and long-term cash-flow modelling | Country editions built around one jurisdiction’s rules; Voyant points to its separate Global edition for multi-currency planning[2] |
| eMoney, RightCapital, MoneyGuide | Sophisticated US financial and retirement planning | Built around US tax and retirement rules |
| Open Banking money apps | Account aggregation, budgeting and spending | Connect to UK payment accounts; little or no cross-border planning |
| Provider pension calculators | Quick retirement illustrations | Usually consider one product rather than the whole household |
| Excel / Google Sheets | Flexible bespoke calculations | Manual maintenance and fragmented information |
| Edale Wealth Hub | Bringing the financial plan and US/UK financial information together in one client and adviser environment | Designed for Edale’s planning process rather than as a general-purpose consumer budgeting app |
The point isn’t that one tool is universally better than another. For Edale clients, the Wealth Hub can also sit alongside specialist professional software where deeper calculations are required.
Why does the financial timeline matter more than net worth?
Because financial planning is about time, not just today’s value. Investment reporting concentrates on what a portfolio is worth now. A plan has to describe how the position evolves. A 55-year-old might have employment income today, stop working at 60, draw one pension at 62, receive US Social Security later and eventually the UK State Pension. A mortgage might finish; children might need support; a property might be sold.
The important question isn’t “how much am I worth?” but “how does my financial position evolve from here?” That is why timeline and cash-flow tools are considerably more useful than a static statement of net worth — and why, for a US–UK household, the timeline has to carry both countries’ access ages, both tax systems and both currencies. Our guide to building a plan around a 401(k), an IRA and a UK pension works through those steps.
Modelling life rather than just investments
One of the principles behind the Wealth Hub is that a financial plan should start with the person’s life rather than their portfolio. That means modelling:
- Income — salary, consulting income, pensions, Social Security, State Pension and investment income.
- Assets — UK pensions, US retirement accounts, investment portfolios, cash and property.
- Liabilities — mortgages and other borrowing.
- Spending — normal household spending as well as large future commitments.
- Life events — retirement, property purchases, inheritances, gifts, education costs or moving country.
Put together, the plan becomes a model of the household rather than a report about investments.
Where do specialist calculators fit?
A comprehensive plan doesn’t remove the need for specialist calculations. For US-connected households the questions include:
- When should I take US Social Security?
- What might an inherited IRA distribution strategy look like?
- What happens if I convert part of an IRA to a Roth IRA?
- How might withdrawals interact with UK income?
- What happens to my retirement plan if GBP/USD changes significantly?
- Which investment structures suit somebody subject to both US and UK tax?
Some of these need specialist tax advice rather than software. Modelling tools help the client and adviser understand the financial consequences of each scenario before a decision is made. The distinction is important: a calculator should inform a decision, not pretend to replace professional judgement.
One plan, even when there are two countries. Perhaps the biggest mistake in US–UK planning is treating American and British finances as separate worlds. An IRA distribution can affect the cash available for UK spending; a UK pension decision changes how much must come from American assets; Social Security changes the income the plan needs; exchange rates alter the sterling value of dollar assets; and investment choices can have consequences under both tax systems — see our guides to currency risk and ISAs, UK funds and PFIC rules.
Why Edale built the Wealth Hub
This is why we have been developing the Edale Wealth Hub. Rather than trying to replace every specialist system, its purpose is to give a client’s financial life one place where it can be assembled and understood. An internationally mobile client doesn’t necessarily need another investment account. They need a financial map.
The Hub brings together the information behind the plan — assets, pensions, income, spending, objectives and the assumptions used to plan the future. Edale’s planner holds US and UK accounts side by side, each with its own tax treatment and currency, and models the household year by year under both tax systems, including how they interact for a US person, so a UK pension sits alongside a US IRA rather than in a separate planning exercise. It can test retirement dates, market falls, currency episodes and moving country, and it models UK inheritance tax and US gift and estate tax. Clients see accounts their adviser has linked on Interactive Brokers in one place, and can review advice and message their adviser securely.
It has limits. The Hub is not a budgeting app and does not connect to bank accounts through Open Banking or Plaid; it does not model US state estate taxes or generation-skipping tax; its tax outputs are summaries to share with an accountant or tax preparer, not tax returns or IRS forms; and Edale does not prepare US tax returns.
Financial planning should be a living process
Historically a client met an adviser, completed a fact-find and received a long report. Then life changed: markets moved, income changed, people retired earlier than expected, inherited money, moved country, or spent more — or less — than they had planned. A modern plan therefore shouldn’t be a document produced once; it should be a living financial model that is updated as circumstances change. That is the direction we are taking with the Wealth Hub.
Our objective is straightforward: to give clients a clearer picture of where they are today, what might happen next, and the decisions that could change the journey. For Americans living in Britain — and Britons returning from careers in America — that means bringing two complicated financial worlds into one understandable plan. This is general information, not personal advice; US and UK tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change. See the cashflow planner or arrange a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Is there one financial planning app that covers both the US and the UK?
Not in the sense of a single consumer app that links accounts in both countries and plans under both tax systems. Most aggregation apps connect mainly to institutions in their home market, and adviser planning software is generally built around one jurisdiction’s rules. Most transatlantic households combine tools, or work with an adviser whose planning covers both sides.
Does Voyant handle more than one currency?
Voyant’s help centre, asked whether incomes and investments can be entered in multiple currencies, points to a multi-currency, multi-jurisdictional Global version offered separately from its UK software, in which the adviser sets up a tax regime and its currency. Which edition an adviser uses, and how it is configured, determines what a plan can show.
Why can’t a UK money app see my 401(k)?
UK Open Banking’s regulated scope is payment accounts, so UK apps connect mainly to UK banks and cards. A US 401(k) or IRA sits with a US provider outside that framework, and many US apps support only US institutions. Many cross-border households therefore track US retirement accounts manually or through their adviser.
Is aggregation the same as financial planning?
No. Aggregation shows what you have today. Planning asks how long the money lasts, which assets fund which years, how each is taxed in each country, how currency moves affect a sterling budget, and what happens when pensions, Social Security and the State Pension start at different ages.
Is a spreadsheet good enough for cross-border planning?
A spreadsheet is flexible and transparent and can model almost anything, which is why many international households use one. Its weakness is maintenance: values go stale, exchange rates change, assumptions get buried in cells and versions multiply. It works best alongside, rather than instead of, a maintained plan.
What does the Edale Wealth Hub do that other tools don’t?
It holds a household’s US and UK accounts in one plan, each with its own tax treatment and currency, and models both tax systems and their interaction year by year, including UK inheritance tax and US gift and estate tax. It is designed for Edale’s advisory process, not as a budgeting app, and its tax outputs are summaries for a preparer.
Sources
- Voyant — Voyant home page (regional editions US, UK, IE, CA, AU and Global; ownership) (accessed October 2026)
- Voyant help centre — FAQ: Multi-currency — can incomes and investments be entered in multiple currencies? (accessed October 2026)
- Voyant help centre — Global tax regimes (accessed October 2026)
- RightCapital — Cash flow vs goal-based planning (accessed October 2026)
- RightCapital — Features (accessed October 2026)
- Envestnet — MoneyGuide planning approaches (accessed October 2026)
- eMoney Advisor — eMoney Pro (accessed October 2026)
- Moneyhub help centre — Moneyhub app closure and your account options (accessed October 2026)
- legislation.gov.uk — Payment Services Regulations 2017, regulation 2 (account information services relate to payment accounts) (accessed October 2026)
- IRS — US citizens and resident aliens abroad (accessed October 2026)
- Voyant — UK adviser release notes (accessed October 2026)