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Happy Sunday,
Today I've got Claude's brand new finance feature, which lets you connect your bank account, and exactly how to set it up, the four rules for talking to AI that will change every answer you get, and how ChatGPT can now make an entire YouTube video for you, camera angles and all.
Let's get into it.
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IN THIS EMAIL
» Claude Can Now See Your Bank Account
» Stop Talking to AI Like a Search Engine
» ChatGPT Can Now Make an Entire YouTube Video
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💰 DO THIS TODAY
Claude Can Now See Your Bank Account
Claude just launched Personal Finance, and it's one of the most useful things they've ever released.
You connect your bank and card accounts, and then you can ask Claude anything about your money in plain words. Where did my money go this month? Am I spending more than I make? What's left before payday? Can I actually afford that trip in the spring?
And it doesn't just answer. Claude can build you a dashboard of your spending, a calendar of every bill that's due, and point out the stuff that's easy to miss, like a charge that hit twice, a surprise fee, or a bill that's been creeping up all year.
Here's how to set it up.
Step 1: Open Claude on the web, the desktop app or your phone, and click Personal Finance in the side menu. If you don't see it, hover over More.
Step 2: Click Get started, pick your goals (or skip them), then click Continue.
Step 3: Click Link accounts with Plaid, choose your bank, sign in and pick the accounts you want Claude to see. You can link up to 16 banks.
Then start with this:
Look at everything I've connected and tell me where my money went last month, by category. Then find every subscription I'm paying for, any charge that hit twice, and any bill that went up, and build me a dashboard I can check every week. |
A few things you should know. It's in beta for Pro, Max and Ultra plans in the US, and it's rolling out gradually, so you might not see it yet. It's read-only, so Claude can't move, spend or invest your money, and it never sees your bank password because you sign in through Plaid yourself. Anthropic also says your chats in the Personal Finance hub aren't used to train their models. And like anything with AI, if a number looks off, ask Claude which transactions are behind it.
ChatGPT got its own version of this earlier this year, so now both of the big ones can see your money. I think this is the kind of thing that actually changes people's lives, because most people have no idea where their money goes every month. Now you can just ask.
Read Anthropic's full announcement →
🧠 SAVE THIS
Stop Talking to AI Like a Search Engine
The biggest difference between people who are amazing with AI and people who aren't has nothing to do with prompts. It's how they talk to it.
Most people treat AI like Google. They type something in, get an answer, and if it's wrong, they either give up or type "that's wrong, try again." You have to treat AI like an employee. And not just any employee. Think of it as the smartest new hire you've ever had, on their first day. They know more than you about almost everything, but they know nothing about you, your goal or what good looks like to you.
Here's how you talk to an employee like that.
1. Give it the goal, not the steps. This is the one almost everyone gets wrong. Say you want your inbox organized. A lot of people will tell the AI exactly how: make this folder, move these emails here, set up this filter. And if you actually know exactly how you want it, great. But most people think they know and they don't. The AI has seen more ways to organize an inbox than you ever will. So just tell it the goal: "Organize my inbox in the best way possible so I can find anything in seconds and only see what matters." Then let it figure out the how. When you micromanage something smarter than you, you get your idea, not its best one.
2. When it gets it wrong, tell it exactly what's wrong. AI gets things wrong sometimes, and that's normal. It's a first draft, the same as an employee's would be. The mistake is how people respond. "That's wrong, try again" gives it nothing to work with, so it guesses again. Tell it what's wrong, why, and what not to do next time:
This isn't right. [WHAT'S WRONG AND WHY]. Don't [WHAT TO STOP DOING]. What I actually want is [WHAT GOOD LOOKS LIKE]. Try again with that in mind, and remember this for next time. |
That's exactly how you'd coach a new hire, and it'll get it right way faster.
3. Make it do the work. This one is so common. The AI says "first, you'll need to install this," or "go into your settings and change this," and people just go do it themselves. Your answer should almost always be "do it for me." Install it for me. Change it for me. Set it up for me. With tools like Claude Cowork, Claude Code and ChatGPT Work, it can actually do most of it, and if it really can't, it'll tell you exactly what's left.
4. When you're stuck, ask it how to get unstuck. If you hit a wall, the AI is the first one you should ask, not the last. Paste in the error, take a screenshot, or just say "I'm stuck. What would you do next?" A good employee doesn't quit the first time something breaks, and you shouldn't either.
So here's a prompt to start any big task like a manager:
My goal is [WHAT YOU WANT DONE]. Here's what you need to know about me: [CONTEXT]. Figure out the best way to do this, do as much of it yourself as you can, and only stop to ask me when you truly need me. |
And if you ever want to go deeper, I've actually got a full guide on AI fluency. It's right here.
Get my full guide to talking to AI →
🚨 THIS IS WILD
ChatGPT Can Now Make an Entire YouTube Video
ChatGPT can now produce an entire, fully edited YouTube video for you. All I gave it was a reference video and a 10-second clip of myself.
It came up with the topic, wrote the whole script, generated every extra shot it needed and edited everything together into one finished video. The way it works is ChatGPT does the thinking, and Higgsfield does the filming. Higgsfield is an AI tool for making images and video, and once you connect it, ChatGPT can use it right inside the chat.
Step 1: Connect Higgsfield to ChatGPT. Click Add Higgsfield plugin, sign in to Higgsfield and click authorize. That's it, no settings.
Step 2: Switch ChatGPT to Work and select GPT-6 Astra on Max.
Step 3: Upload a video you like the style of, plus a short clip of yourself, and paste this:
Using Higgsfield, create a complete, fully edited YouTube video. Use the attached reference video as inspiration for the style, pacing and structure, and my own footage as the starting material. Come up with the topic, write the script and generate all the additional shots needed. Use varied camera angles and assemble everything into one finished video. |
That's the difference in the image above: the plain shot from my Claude Beginner's Guide, and the same shot once it's edited, with captions, a title card and graphics on screen.
The part that blew my mind is the camera angles. Most people film everything on one camera, from one spot, and that's why their videos feel flat. Higgsfield can take that one shot and create brand new camera angles that never existed: a close-up, a wide shot, a side angle, all of you, in your room, in your lighting. It looks like you had a full film crew.
You can do just that part too, without making a whole video. Upload any clip you filmed and say:
Using Higgsfield, take this clip and generate four new camera angles of the same moment: a tight close-up, a wide shot, a side angle and an over-the-shoulder shot. Keep me, the room and the lighting exactly the same, and animate each one so it feels like real footage. |
One heads-up: Work needs a paid ChatGPT plan, and every image and video spends Higgsfield credits, so start with a short clip.
Connect Higgsfield to ChatGPT →
If you've got a paid Claude plan, connect one account to Personal Finance this week and ask where your money went last month. And the next time AI gets something wrong, don't just say "try again." Tell it exactly what's wrong, like you would a new employee, and watch how much better it gets.
See you Wednesday.
Maverick
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