When it comes to your money management, it’s important to know the best apps for investing your hard-earned moo-lah.
Fortunately, you came to the right place to get an overview of five popular investment apps and what they offer.
So let’s get right to it!
Acorns
The Acorns app has been around for a while, so it has a fairly popular following.
By rounding up to the next dollar each purchase you make on any debit or credit cards you select, Acorns will take that “extra change” and add it to your investment fund.
They offer five different portfolios (ranging in risk factors) from which you can choose to invest your spare change:
- Conservative – invested in short term government bonds and both corporate and governmental ultra short term bonds.
- Moderately Conservative – invested in a mixture of stocks and bonds, with 60% committed to government and corporate bonds.
- Moderate – also invested in both stocks and bonds, with 60% committed to stocks in established and emerging companies.
- Moderately Aggressive – invested mainly in stocks (about 80%) with 1/3 of funds committed to large corporate stocks.
- Aggressive – invested entirely in equities spread between large corporate (40%), small company (20%), emerging market (10%), real estate (10%), and international large company (20%) stocks.
You can also set up an IRA account for retirement and add Spend, their checking account that includes a debit card with rewards to save and invest more.
Three different accounts are offered to users:
- Invest – for $1 per month, you can invest for your future.
- Invest + Later – for $2 per month, you can add on and invest in a retirement account.
- Invest + Later + Spend – for $3 per month, you have all services and products, including their debit card with rewards.
Robinhood
Starting for as little as $1, you can start trading stocks, funds, and options, all commission-free.
It’s hard to beat such a great deal, but how can they do this for free? It’s easy! They make their money through Gold account memberships and by earning interest on cash balances of each client.
For $5 a month, you can upgrade to their Robinhood Gold account, which lets you access margin accounts and extended trading hours. For the investor, what’s not to like? You get free trades, can invest for as low as a buck, and slowly yet surely build an impressive investment portfolio.
You can also trade in gold, options, and cryptocurrency, and can earn interest on any uninvested cash in your cash management account.
We’ve arranged a special bonus for you: When you sign up for Robinhood using this link, you will get one free share of stock! Totally free, no strings attached, and the best part? You don’t even have to fund your account to get it!
SoFi Invest
In every list there has to be one standout and, for this list, SoFi Invest is definitely the best of the best apps for investing!
Check out these seven knockout features offered by SoFi Invest…
- SoFi Money® – we call this their “kick-cash” management account thanks to its 1.65% APY and no account fees.
- SoFi Invest® – this stock trading app does it all, crypto, automated investing, stocks and ETFs PLUS fund your account with $1,000 and get $100 more in free Stock Bits (fractional stock shares) to start off ahead of the game.
- Student Loan Refinancing – as the leading student loan refinancing provider, SoFi can lower rates and payments, all with no fees or prepayment penalties.
- Private Student Loans – if you need student loans, do it right with SoFi and get competitive rates plus a 0.25% interest rate discount through automatic payments and of course no fees.
- Personal Loans – if you have credit card balances charging you more than 20%, get a SoFi personal loan, which ranges from 5.99% to 20.01% APR and, yes, no fees.
- Home Loans – get a competitive rate, set up affordable payments, and even qualify for $500 off in loan processing fees.
- SoFi Relay – set goals, track expenditures, follow investment performance, and more with the budget tracking and debt payoff app.
On top of these great tools and integrated products, take advantage of the resources and benefits members enjoy. Get career coaching, financial planning tips, and join in on member events to connect with others.
We have another special bonus you: When you sign up for a SoFi Invest account and fund it with $1,000, you get $100 worth of your favorite stock on us!
This app combo is a must for any serious investor, novice or experienced and receives our top recommendation!
Stash
Stash is the financial Swiss army knife of apps, because you can invest, save, and even bank all in one place, along with employing automatic savings and investment tools. You make investments for as little as $5 and will be impressed by how quickly those mini-investments will build up for you.
Equally impressive is their bank account which includes a debit card and the following features:
- Fee-free – no set-up, monthly, or overdraft fees (overdrafts become declined purchases with no charge to account holder).
- Stock-Back rewards – each debit purchase earns you rewards which can be invested in stocks you choose.
- Early Payday – this feature lets you get your paycheck up to two days early.
- FIDC-insured – these debit accounts earn the same governmental protection given to banks.
Members can choose from one of four bank account types:
- Banking – this is their standard account which every user has upon opening their account.
- Investment – this is the account used for standard investments and trades.
- Retirement – choose either a Traditional or Roth IRA and save for the golden years.
- Custodial – the greatest gift for your kids (or grandkids) is to open a custodial account you can build for them as they mature.
We also love their mission statement, which is to “create financial opportunity for all Americans, no matter their income.”
To that end, they have already accomplished the following:
- Enlisted over 4 million investors, whom they refer to as their “stashers.”
- Helped their stashers to sock away more than $1.8 billion.
- Saw their stashers earn over $5 million in Stock-Back rewards.
- Are proud to brag that 86% of their stashers are first-time investors.
Finally, Stash offers 3 different plans:
- Beginner – is ideal for trying out Stash at only $1 per month.
- Growth – adds a retirement account for only $3 per month.
- Stash+ – takes full advantage of all features, including custodial accounts and Stock-Back rewards, for only $9 per month.
Stockpile
For grandparents, responsible parents, and fun aunts tired of giving their kids gift cards to buy more useless junk they will lose or break before you know it, they can now buy them stock e-gift cards, the gift of a secure future.
Getting started is as simple as 1-2-3:
- Join – sign up, connect your bank account, and transfer funds to invest
- Invest – select stocks and decide how much to put in and shares (or fractions) are purchased
- Monitor – use their easy Watchlist to see how your stocks are performing
Stockpile mainly makes its money from one simple fee of $0.99 per transaction. Setting up accounts for children is as easy as adding one adult to the account. Just like that, your kids can start growing their own portfolios.
Transfers from bank accounts to your Stockpile account may take a couple of days, but you can make immediate purchases with a debit or credit card for a nominal 3% fee. Buying stock e-gift cards is just as easy. Simply select stocks you want your kid or grandchild to own and buy a set amount. So, if your kid is always buying stuff at Amazon, buy $100 of Amazon stock as a way to get some return on that spending!
That sums up our list of the best apps for investing in 2020 and going forward.
As stated before, your best bet and our strongest recommendation remains SoFi Invest. Click here to sign up for a SoFi Invest account and get free stock!
Have you tried any of these apps? Want to share one we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments!