The way that we earn, save, invest, and pay taxes has changed. Unfortunately, the way that we manage our finances hasn’t.

Over the last 40 years, and especially over the last 15, technology has given us a lot of amazing new tools related to our finances. Cryptocurrencies, aka magic internet money, have led many of us question the fundamental nature of money, its uses, and who should have control over it. Fintech has given us a plethora of beautiful and easy-to-use apps that do an amazing job solving specific problems. And finally, we each now carry a pocket supercomputer with us everywhere so we can easily do all of this from any location on the planet with a few taps. When you look at it like that, the idea of managing your finances seems so quaint and outdated; I’m reminded of my Mom sitting at the kitchen table, balancing the checkbook (which was, in fact, an actual hard-bound book). Why would we need to manage anything ourselves given all these new tools?!

Well, reality–as it’s often apt to be–is a little more complicated than that. Real wages have stagnated, while the cost of everything has gone up. We switch jobs (and financial institutions) more often than ever before. Many of us are working side-hustles or doing gig work to try and make a little extra money. Our tax and compliance burden is getting worse and worse with every passing year. The bank secrecy act, the weaponization of the dollar and OFAC, an increasingly politicized FED. These are all symptoms of our aging institutions who are looking to squeeze out a little more tax revenue. Add to that the absolute torrent of information that we’re all exposed to on a daily basis via the internet. Financial wellness is a complex and multivariate problem. It’s incredibly difficult to feel like you’re on top of things and even harder to courageously make decisions and take action given the sheer volume of information and the uncertainty inherent.

Financial Insecurity

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What’s easier to understand are the results. The stats are staggering; 81% of Millennials say that they’re stressed about their finances, 36% of people earning more than $100k are living paycheck to paycheck. All of this technology has given us a lot of convenience in solving individual problems but we’re still here struggling to get ahead, still chasing peace of mind and a sense of security.

The fact is, achieving financial wellness is significantly more than the sum of solving all the individual hard parts of your finances. It’s not about having anytime-access to your bank accounts, nor is it about AI-assisted budgeting, nor is it about catching the next big meme stock or token before everyone else. Financial wellness is about having a clear strategy based on your specific goals. It’s about knowing what information you can ignore. It’s about having a system that organizes and operates the complex web of interconnected systems.

Canua is that system. It’s the glue that aggregates and coordinates your entire financial life. This is why we call it the world’s first Personal Finance Operating System. In the same way that the OS on your laptop coordinates all the apps and ensures a coherent experience, Canua makes sure you’re paying attention to and acting on the things that will make a lasting improvement to your financial health. Let’s take a closer look.

A unified view

First, you get full visibility into all aspects of your financial life. And when we say all, we mean it. Worldwide bank accounts, brokerages, crypto wallets, startup equity, private investments, real estate, and many more sources. We already support connections to over 17,000 banks and brokerages and 35 connections to popular blockchains, wallets, and crypto exchanges and we’ve only just gotten started.

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Recommendations that keep you focused

Once you’ve got a holistic view of your assets, liabilities, and cash Canua provides timely recommendations to make sure you don’t miss important deadlines and to give you helpful nudges on simple strategies to improve your financial wellness. These aren’t about austerity; after all, who are we to tell you eat less avocado toast?! Based on your individual goals, Canua gives you actionable tips that help you move the needle in the right direction.

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Talk - Action = Zero

Finally, the part we’re most excited about. The real power of Canua comes from our automations. Much the way Zapier helps you get more done with less effort at work, Canua frees you from all the tedious (but important) admin work related to saving, investing, government reporting, and tax preparation. The more data Canua has, the more that it can automate over time. In a very real sense, it’s like having a dedicated assistant who deeply knows you, your goals, and your finances, helping you to stay on top of everything.

A great example of this is filing your FBAR. Based on hundreds of conversations I’ve had with folks, you probably either 1) don’t know you’re supposed to file the FBAR 😬 or 2) have your accountant do it for you at a cost of ~$150-$200. Canua fixes this. Since we already have access to your account data, we can automatically file your FBAR for you, at the right time, without you lifting a finger.

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We all need help from time to time

You can probably tell at this point that we’re focused on helping people with significant financial complexity in their lives. If you have a single bank account, and work for a single employer; your financial life is fairly straight-forward. We’re building a tool for the millions of people out there who, even with ample income and investable assets, are still having trouble keeping up.

For complex situations, making a big decision becomes very difficult. You’re never quite sure you’re aware of all the important factors and because of this, many of us just don’t do anything. Canua makes it easy to get the help you need right when you need it via our marketplace of digitally-native financial professionals paired with you based on their specific domain experience related to your situation. For example, if you’re a US expat living in the UK and have a question about exercising your startup stock options, it can be difficult to know where to turn. With Canua however, it’s just a few clicks and we’ll help connect you to the right professional.

Find your financial calm

If this resonates, we’d love to hear from you. Canua is in private beta right now and we’re primarily focused on helping US expats living Europe or the UK. We’d love to help you go from spreadsheets and confusion to an automated financial life and peace of mind.