The Ascent's Best-Of 2024 Awards
Our financial experts have logged hundreds of hours reviewing, rating, and testing thousands of financial products to bring you the best of the best in 2024. Our ratings methodologies embody core themes of clarity and simplicity, competitive fees, and trust and transparency.
See our 2024 winners for the best credit cards, savings accounts, and more
Backed by The Motley Fool's mission...
...to make the world smarter, happier, and richer. The Ascent taps into The Motley Fool's decades of investing expertise to bring you unbiased analysis of the best personal finance products. We only pick products that we'd personally recommend to friends, like you. That's our commitment to editorial integrity. We may earn a commission when referring you to a top-rated product, but know that our awards are not influenced by advertising partners in any way.
Experts who test our products
Brian Frey | Head of Product Ratings and PR
Brian is The Ascent's Head of Product Ratings, and has worked with The Motley Fool since 2020 covering personal finance trends, and rating credit cards, bank accounts, stock brokers, and more. His work has appeared in Forbes, Entrepreneur, American Banker, and many other financial media outlets.
Expertise
Product ratings and awards, partner communications, influencer relations, brand strategy.
Education
- BA in Journalism, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Boulder Chamber of Commerce Leadership Fellow
Past Experience
- Digital PR Management
- Social Media Strategy
- Political Consulting
- Broadcasting & Reporting
Career Highlights
- Brand exposure in Forbes, Fox News, CNET, Entreprenuer, Bank of America, Lifehacker, American Banker, Rocket Mortgage, and PYMNTS
- The Ascent's annual Awards campaign
Robin Hartill, CFP | Writer
Robin Hartill, CFP®, is a personal finance writer and editor whose work frequently appears in various national publications. She wrote the syndicated “Dear Penny” financial advice column for four years.
Expertise
Credit, debt, insurance, investing, retirement, money-saving strategies.
Education
- B.A. English, University of Florida
- Financial planning certificate, Bryant University
Past Experience
- Local news writer
- Editor
- Technical writer
Has Written For
The Penny Hoarder, Tampa Bay Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, NerdWallet, Investopedia, The Balance, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga
Career Highlights
- Writing The Penny Hoarder's "Dear Penny" personal finance advice column and hearing back from letter writers who said my advice made a difference in their lives.
- Earning the Certified Financial Planner™ designation.
- Launching a side hustle and paying off $12,000 of debt in 12 weeks.
- Receiving the 2023 MMI Financial Literacy and Education Communities (FLEC) Award for national excellence in consumer journalism.
Matt Frankel, CFP® | Writer, Analyst
Matt is a Certified Financial Planner™ and investment advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina, and has been writing about personal finance since 2011.
Expertise
Personal finance, banking, brokerage, credit cards, student loans
Education
- B.S. Physics, University of South Carolina
- M.S. Mathematics, Nova Southeastern University
- Graduate Certificate, Financial Planning from Florida State University
Past Experience
- Mathematics professor
- High school math teacher
Has Written For
The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha
Career Highlights
- Won "Best in Business" award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) for my coverage of the tax changes
- Host 3 different shows on Fool Live, and have been a regular on Motley Fool podcasts since 2015
- Have been a guest on BBC, NPR, and various other news outlets
Brittney Myers | Writer
Brittney is a data-obsessed finance nerd whose personal credit card collection is in the double digits. She has been sharing personal finance advice with readers since 2016.
Expertise
Personal finance, credit cards, travel rewards, crypto
Education
B.S. Physics, University of Florida
Past Experience
- Editor
- Content Developer
- Graphic Designer
- Test Developer
Has Written For
National Foundation for Credit Counseling, Reader's Digest, CardRates.com, CreditSoup
Career Highlights
- Receiving feedback from readers who have used her advice to make smarter financial decisions
- Building and running a profitable small business
- Finishing her first book
Lyle Daly | Writer
Lyle Daly is a freelance writer who has been covering personal finance since 2016.
Expertise
6 years in credit cards, cryptocurrency, investing, travel, travel rewards, banking industries
Past Experience
- Ghostwriter
- Rideshare driver
Has Written For
Motley Fool syndication partners: USA Today, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq, Fox Business
Career Highlights
- Living as a digital nomad and being able to explore the world while writing
- Being one of the first Ascent writers and seeing it grow from an idea to an amazing personal finance site with dozens of awesome team members
- Hearing from and about people who used my articles to help decide on their next credit card
Natasha Etzel | Writer
Natasha is a freelance writer who specializes in personal finance, credit card, credit card rewards, and travel hacking content.
Expertise
Personal finance, credit cards, credit card rewards, travel rewards, travel hacking
Education
B.A., Advertising and PR
Past Experience
- Marketing Associate
- English as a Foreign Language Instructor
Has Written For
NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Orbitz, FlyerTalk
Career Highlights
- Getting the chance to travel to 30+ countries while being a freelance writer
- Transitioning from reader to writer for some of her favorite websites
- Writing content that helps others improve their finances
Jake FitzGerald | Editorial Strategist
Jake is an Editorial Strategist for The Ascent. He specializes in product ratings and all things credit cards, and wants to make sure each person has the best card for them!
Expertise
Product ratings, credit cards, and content production.
Trusted by the biggest names in finance
FAQs
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Award winners are determined by The Ascent’s editorial team, which consists of industry experts, editorial strategists, and writers with deep experience across credit cards, banks and banking products, investments, loans, mortgages, car insurance, cryptocurrency, and other personal finance topics. The nominees were determined using our in-house rating system. From there our brightest minds voted on specific categories, and winners were determined.
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We do not accept awards submissions. Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of financial products that we feel can genuinely enhance your personal financial life. Our picks are not influenced by advertising partners in any way.
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Our separate best-of lists -- that are updated on a monthly basis -- include not only awards winners but also a deeper lineup of top offerings in the market. The common threads that these offers share is they’re all fully-vetted picks for a specific need, and we’re comfortable recommending them to our closest friends and family members.
About the Author
Brian is The Ascent's Head of Product Ratings and PR. With a decade of experience testing personal finance and consumer products, his work has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and American Banker, among other leading news outlets. Outside the office, Brian optimizes credit card points to travel, and is always on the hunt for new ways to save and invest money.
We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.