The AI Tools You Will Use as an Investor

There are dozens of AI tools advertised at investors, but most beginners only need four. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity are free (or very cheap), require no setup, and together they cover everything a beginner needs — tutoring, math, research, and review. This lesson is a tour of each, what it is best at, and a hands-on exercise you can run right now.

What You'll Learn

• The strengths and weaknesses of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity for investing
• Which tool to reach for in each situation
• How to set up free accounts safely
• A 10-minute exercise that introduces all four

ChatGPT (chat.openai.com)

ChatGPT from OpenAI is the most widely used AI assistant. The free tier is more than enough for beginner investing. It is fast, conversational, and excellent at:

• Explaining concepts with concrete examples
• Drafting investing plans from your inputs
• Answering open-ended "what should I think about?" questions
• Iterating on a plan with you over many turns

Free plan limits: you get GPT-5 with reasonable daily usage. For a beginner, that is enough.

Best use: First-stop tutor. When you do not know where to start, ask ChatGPT.

Try this prompt now:

I am a 23-year-old university student in [your country]. I have €50 a month I can invest. Explain in three short paragraphs why I should bother investing now instead of waiting until I earn more. Use simple math.

Claude (claude.ai)

Claude by Anthropic is another general AI assistant. Many beginners prefer Claude for investing because it tends to give more nuanced, careful answers — and it is excellent at math, spreadsheets, and reading uploaded documents.

Free plan: Claude offers a generous free tier that handles most beginner tasks. You can upload PDFs (like a fund prospectus or a tax statement) and ask Claude to summarize.

Best use: Math, long-form analysis, and uploading documents.

Try this prompt now:

Compare these two scenarios over 40 years at 7% annual return: (A) investing $200/month starting at age 25, stopping at age 35 entirely. (B) investing $200/month starting at age 35, continuing until age 65. Show the final values and the contributions vs growth split for each. Tell me which is bigger and what that teaches a beginner.

The answer (A is bigger, despite A contributing less) is one of the most important lessons in investing.

Gemini (gemini.google.com)

Gemini is Google's general AI. It is tightly integrated with Google Search and is unusually good when you need real-time facts ("what is the current contribution limit for a Roth IRA?" or "what is the current Eurostoxx 600 P/E ratio?"). It can also read Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive content if you connect it.

Free plan: very generous. Daily limits rarely matter for a beginner.

Best use: Up-to-date facts, Google Workspace integration, quick research.

Try this prompt now:

What is the current annual contribution limit for a [your country's tax-advantaged retirement account, e.g., "Roth IRA in the US," "ISA in the UK," "PPF in India," "TFSA in Canada"]? Provide the official source.

Perplexity (perplexity.ai)

Perplexity is purpose-built for research with citations. Every answer comes with linked sources, which is critical for investing — you should never trust a financial fact without seeing where it came from.

Free plan: unlimited basic searches.

Best use: Anything where you need cited facts: tax rules, fund expense ratios, regulations, current statistics, country-specific account types.

Try this prompt now:

What are the current annual fees and 10-year average annual return of the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)? Cite official Vanguard or Morningstar sources.

You should see a clean answer with footnotes you can click. If the fund or fee changes after this course, Perplexity gives you current data.

When to Use Which Tool

A simple rule of thumb you can memorize:

• ChatGPT when you need a tutor or a brainstorm.
• Claude when you need careful math or to upload a document.
• Gemini when you need a fact that might have changed recently.
• Perplexity when you need a fact you can cite (taxes, fees, regulations).

You will switch between them constantly. The combination is more powerful than any single tool.

What You Don't Need (Yet)

• ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Gemini Advanced. Paid tiers exist, but the free tiers are more than enough for everything in this course. Upgrade later if you find a specific limit constraining you.
• "AI investing platforms" that ask for your money or brokerage credentials. Almost all of them are unnecessary at this stage and many are scams.
• Browser extensions, Discord bots, "AI trading signals." Avoid these entirely. They are not investing tools — they are mostly marketing.

A 10-Minute Multi-Tool Exercise

Let's practice using all four together. Imagine you are 25 years old in your country and want to start investing €100/month.

Step 1 — Perplexity:

What are the most popular tax-advantaged investing accounts available to a 25-year-old salaried worker in [your country] in 2026? Cite official government sources.

Step 2 — Gemini:

For [the top account from step 1], what is the current annual contribution limit? Confirm the date you are using.

Step 3 — Claude:

I am 25, in [your country], contributing €100/month for 40 years at a 6% real annual return (after inflation). Show me the final value, contributions vs growth, and what doubling the contribution does.

Step 4 — ChatGPT:

Based on the answers above, give me a 5-step plan for opening the right account and starting €100/month contributions. Write it like a checklist.

By the end of those four prompts, you will have a real, sourced starter plan for your country. This is the workflow you will use throughout the course.

Account Setup Tips

• Use your normal email address (your university or personal email is fine).
• Use a strong unique password — your AI account history can contain personal financial details.
• Turn on two-factor authentication on all four.
• Avoid pasting account numbers, full names, or other sensitive identifiers into any AI tool. Use first names or "me" / "spouse" instead.

Key Takeaways

• Four free tools — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — cover every beginner investing need.
• Use ChatGPT for tutoring, Claude for math and documents, Gemini for fresh facts, Perplexity for cited research.
• Free tiers are enough; you do not need paid plans.
• Avoid "AI trading" tools and signal bots — they are mostly marketing.
• The real power is using these tools together in a workflow, which is what the rest of the course will teach.