AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT and Google Gemini offer new ways to plan your 2026 financial goals. But how can you leverage them without compromising your privacy?
With a NerdWallet survey finding that more than 2 in 5 Americans (43%) say they’ve used AI for aspects of their personal financial planning, that’s an increasingly relevant question.
Here’s how to get the most out of AI tools.
Experiment with prompts
Help the chatbot help you. Give it some background about your current situation so it can offer customized advice, suggests Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa api, an instructional technologist at Nevada State University.
Be specific about what you want by typing something like, “I want to save $5,000 by June,” and asking for suggestions for how to do that. You must be literal, she adds, or the chatbot might not create an action plan for you.
The SMART rubric — which calls for goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound — is a good model, says Lacey Langford, accredited financial counselor (AFC) and CEO of MILMO in Greensboro, North Carolina, a business that helps the military community with personal finance.
Langford suggests the prompt, “I really don’t want to feel sick about money all the time. Can you help me translate that into a SMART goal?”
Provide direction
Robert Ferrara, communications manager for the Gemini App at Google, emphasizes that there’s no one magical prompt that will lead to the “right” answer.
Instead, he says, it’s more about having a conversation and giving the chatbot feedback. “The more details you can give it, the more it can help you plan,” he says.
You could begin with a vague prompt, such as, “I want to get more financially smart in the New Year.” The model will then ask you probing questions to narrow down your goals, he says.
Ferrara adds that you can provide instructions for Gemini under the tool’s settings to indicate your preferred communication style, such as, “Please provide responses in bullets.”
“The more context you provide it, the more helpful it can be,” says John Jones, certified financial planner at Heritage Financial in Newberry, Florida.
For example, he says you could share your cash flow, spending habits, mortgage payment and retirement goals. Then ask for ways to make improvements. (Before sharing any numbers, Jones suggests removing personal information — more on privacy below.)
Turn big goals into smaller steps
AI chatbots are also skilled at breaking overwhelmingly big goals into smaller steps, says Jessica Limbrick, AFC and assistant professor of business at Nevada State University.
If your goal is to save for a down payment for a car in 2026, for example, she says the AI tool could help you break that goal into weekly steps. “You can ask it to create a template for you in a spreadsheet to keep you motivated,” she says.
Limbrick — who presented on using AI for financial planning at a recent conference for accredited financial counselors — says that people are often overwhelmed by financial goals, which is why AI can be so helpful.
“It can help you brainstorm or choose a path forward,” she says.
Verify suggestions
Limbrick cautions that if you are asking an AI platform for specific numbers or facts — such as tax questions or how much you need to save for retirement — it’s best to verify facts outside of the chatbot.
“Look at it as the assistant that is 80% correct, but that 20% could get you in trouble,” she says. Confirm facts and figures on official government websites or through original sources, which are sometimes linked in the AI-generated responses.
And if you’re navigating a particularly complicated legal or business situation, Limbrick suggests relying on a financial professional.
Avoid sharing personal data
Because AI-platforms learn from information you enter, Limbrick warns against sharing personal details such as your Social Security number or credit card numbers. If you want to upload your spending data, first remove personally-identifying information such as your address, she adds.
With Gemini and ChatGPT, for example, you can configure options within your privacy settings to reflect your preferences.
The article Struggling to Set 2026 Financial Goals? Get an AI Assist originally appeared on NerdWallet.
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