The financial independence app TOPIA has been updated in the last month, but is it more than a facelift? Let’s have a closer look.
If you would like to try Topia, this blog receives some pennies if you sign up through this affiliate link. Maybe one day I will cover my web hosting costs!
We’ve got history
I first looked at TOPIA when it was an iphone-only app still in beta test. You can read my full review and Q&A with the creator, Logan Leckie, at this link.
Nowadays, you can access TOPIA on android or through a web app, too.
New look, same awesome tinker feature
This is the most powerful feature of TOPIA and the big advantage the app offers that a spreadsheet doesn’t. Well, not without copy, paste and tracking down broken formulae.
You can see straight away that there are a few life events, big investments and exceptional expenditures that you can plan into your financial independence campaign using the app. I mostly use it to work out “what if?” scenarios.
Savings rate tracker
This is a cool feature but to use it you have to set the app up correctly. I’m in a completely different situation now than I was when I wrote the last review and I’ve basically had to unpick everything to get better results.
By my reckoning, I’ve been on 50%+ since September 2022, but that’s my fault for not going back and correcting the data.
The big change – FIpreneur and CashFlowFI???
Logan has teamed up with Grant Sabatier, who famously hit FI by hustling and trying out new things. That partnership has clearly been a big influence in the new direction.
FIpreneur
This was a term coined in the first incarnation of the Topia app. The loose idea is someone who uses side hustles to supplement their financial independence campaign.
CashFlowFI
I don’t know if I’ve put the capital letters in the right place here, but it’s a new(ish) idea.
Basically, having (semi-passive or fun) income streams that more than cover your expenses.
Why the change?
I’m not going to disclose all my personal e-mails, but I don’t think I’ll be upsetting Logan by sharing this next bit. If he asks me to, I’m going to remove this section.
Logan mentioned to me that he doesn’t believe in relying on markets (I’m paraphrasing here). I completely agree with him on this point: hope is not a course of action.
Instead, his approach is to try to build income sources you have some control over. To take ownership of your own situation. I don’t know if he’s ever read it, but this was a key feature in The Millionaire Next Door.
It’s not that Topia doesn’t work for people using the Mr Money Moustache plan of just living frugally and investing the rest. Far from it! It’s simply that the Topia team are keen to stress the huge speed advantage that owning your income stream has compared to employment.
My thoughts
I’m a big fan of the Topia project. However, I don’t write fan pieces and I’ve always been keen to provide some degree of balance in my reviews.
On the app…
The app runs a lot more smoothly than it did, but there are still some issues users will find with it.
Overall, it’s a fantastic tracker and the tinker feature is particularly excellent.
The problems with the app are the same problems with all data modelling: it’s only as good as the data you give it.
When you connect a bank account or investment account, it updates fairly regularly. The connection process is a faff, but that’s completely outside the team’s control. I find that it takes two or three attempts to get Trading 212 to link in with it.
Lots of accounts can’t be connected, which is an issue because you have to manually update the figures. It’s not a deal breaker, just don’t expect full automation. I couldn’t get Wealthify to connect at all and I suspect many other robo-investing services are the same.
I really enjoy the data metrics it gives you and the flavours of FI you can set. I’m on Barista FI and the app sort-of agrees with my calculated figures. You can also change the target to “how many days can I afford not to work” (or words to that effect).
Overall, still a great product that’s only getting better.
On the new emphasis…
I’m going to say it: Logan is right. Self-employment generally will get you to FI quicker in purely monetary terms.
Except that this overlooks a few things:
- It’s hard to get a mortgage without trading history and most people want to buy houses
- Businesses can and do fail
- There are disadvantages to self-employment that just aren’t mentioned in the app.
To their credit, the team offer a paid-for coaching service/ community. I haven’t tried it, and on first blush it feels off, but having known Logan for a little while now and seen his work develop I’m actually quite confident that he’s the real deal entrepreneur type – I just can’t vouch for this service.
The app also puts a bit of emphasis on doing something like selling in Fulfilled By Amazon. There’s a free guide, but to be honest it’s not great and I think it’s more of a placeholder until a more detailed guide can be put in. Logan actually does have a success FBA side hustle, so there’s definitely knowledge within the team, it’s just not quite there yet on the app.
The emphasis on entrepreneurship will put some people off. There’s a risk there. But, whether you agree or not, this shouldn’t dissuade you from trying out the excellent Topia app.
How does Topia make its money and can I trust it?
The coaching service is paid for and at the moment is the only service leveraged for income, which is fair enough.
There is a newsletter service that comes out monthly that’s quite good. This blog has been featured in it. I’m willing to bet that at some point it will start to offer products, which again is fair. I’m happy to be advertised funds and investment platforms that would actually help, I’m against having an inbox filled with sales pitches.
Long term, there was an ambition to set up some kind of FI fund, but that’s presumably a feature on a whiteboard and who knows what might happen.
You do sign a pretty extensive data protection waiver to use Topia. This makes sense as the app is talking to your bank and investing accounts. Trading 212 freaks out whenever the app refreshes data and tells you someone else is on your account, so be aware. As far as I can tell, the actual team is neither big enough or motivated enough to do some nefarious data harvesting on you, but they do want to see aggregate data and you need to agree some general points to get the automation to work and users should’ve aware that the powers granted are quite broad. If Logan sells Topia to Meta/Facebook, I’m deleting it. For now, it’s not a threat to me.
Try it for yourself!
Check out this affiliate link to Topia that allegedly (?) send me pennies if you sign up and connect an account to the service. You don’t pay for it, I get to rob Logan and Grant.
