How Does Ask Linc Connect to My Financial Accounts?

Updated

Ask Linc connects to your financial life through read-only account links: you connect bank and investment accounts, then add anything the links don't cover — a home, loans, or other missing details — and Linc uses those numbers to build your plan. The money stays where it is. Connections are read-only, so Linc is not moving funds or trading on your behalf, and which institutions you can connect varies by institution.

What you can connect

The site groups connections into three areas:

  • Bank accounts — checking and savings-style accounts.
  • Investments — brokerage and investment accounts.
  • Spending & debt — spending activity and debt balances.

On top of the linked accounts, you can manually add items the connections don't capture, such as your home or loans. The page describes this as adding "your home, loans, or any missing details" so the plan reflects your full picture rather than only what's visible through account links.

How the connection process works

The flow has four steps, and the connection step is only the first:

  1. Connect — link your bank and investment accounts, then add missing details like a home or loans.
  2. Ask — put your question in your own words, for example "Could we retire at 55?" and answer any clarifying questions.
  3. Linc does the work — it pulls the connected numbers together, runs the analysis, and tests what-if scenarios.
  4. Explore the result — you get a plan you can adjust, showing what works and what could change.

The important detail for the connection step: Linc uses the connected numbers to build your plan. The accounts are inputs to the analysis, not a live trading or payment channel.

Is it safe to connect accounts?

Two things are stated directly on the page:

  • Read-only. The connection is described as read-only.
  • Your money stays where it is. Linc does not move your funds.

That combination means connecting an account gives Linc visibility into balances and activity for planning purposes, without granting the ability to transact. The page does not describe trading, transfers, or payments as part of the connection.

One caveat worth noting: the account list shown on the page (Chase, Fidelity, Schwab, Bank of America, Capital One, American Express, Wells Fargo, Citi, Robinhood) is labeled as example connections, and availability varies by institution. So a specific bank or brokerage you use may or may not be connectable — check availability for your institution before assuming it will link.

What happens after you connect

Once accounts are linked and missing details are added, the numbers feed directly into the questions you ask. In the site's example conversation, Linc references a household with $1.4M invested and about $6,000/month in spending, then compares retiring at 55 versus 57 using historical tests. That kind of output depends on the connected data being in place first — the plan is built from your numbers, not generic assumptions.

If you want to see the connection and planning flow before linking anything, the site offers a full demo you can explore, and a free trial period is mentioned on the page.