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Are you new to investing and have no idea where to start? Do you have limited money to invest, but want to dip your head into the market?
For novice investors, it is best to save and diversify your money when investing. Diversification will allow you to invest in multiple market areas. For example, if large company stocks take a dip, fixed income would be in your favor.
Every young millennial or new investor’s dream is to find the perfect match of where to invest. We want the best bang for our buck. If your strategy consists of the long term only, I would highly recommend Acorns.
Below, I will break down the investing app’s features, along with pros and cons in this Acorns review.
Acorns Overview
Acorns is an automated investing app for those college students or individuals who want to start their investing career from scratch. You can easily invest with a very small amount, $5 or less.
What attracts eyes to this fascinating app is that Acorns allows consistent funding of your account while building your portfolio. The spare change you have, Acorns takes that spare change and invests it.
My personal experience resonates with Acorns because I had trouble finding the right vehicle for investing. I had little money to invest, and I did not want any hefty transaction fees.
Each time I made a purchase on my debit card, Acorns kept track of my spare change. I wanted to reach above the threshold of $5. I waited until I had $20 in change so Acorns could directly invest that amount.
Acorns Features
Acorns has several great features that most users will love. Here are some of the best features available with Acorns.
Risk
There is an option to select your type of risk appetite. For example, if you want steady returns over time, then choosing the conservative option would be best. Conservative portfolios contain more corporate and government bonds and less large company stocks.
However, if you define yourself as a risk-taker who wants to maximize returns, choose the aggressive option. Aggressive portfolios are the best option for those starting out and to thrive over time. Most of your portfolio will contain large and small company stocks as well as global company stocks.
Roundups
One of the best features of this app, Acorns allows roundups to your investments. For example, if you buy a small meal for $8.25, Acorns will round this up to $9 and invest the remaining $0.75 into your account. Once these small amounts add up to $5, then that amount will be added to your investment account from one of your checking or saving accounts.
This is what makes the Acorns app so appealing to the newbies.
Retirement Account
There is an option with Acorns where you can sign up for an IRA account. All the spare change you collect, you can add to your IRA account. Selecting an IRA account will benefit you as you approach retirement.
It looks like retirement has become much easier for you!
Pros
There’s a lot to like about the Acorns investing app. Here are some of the benefits of using Acorns for your investing.
Account Start-Up and Fees
Another excellent feature of this app is the minimum amount to start investing. All you need is the magic number to start investing: $5. The best part? It costs absolutely nothing to open an account.
Multipliers For Roundups
If you want the most out of your investments, you can add a multiplier to your investments. For example, adding a 2x multiplier to the previous example will give a roundup of $1.5 to your account. There is no extra cost for adding a multiplier; you can simply switch the multiplier on and off.
User Friendly
No effort is required in selecting your investments. Acorns is automated and presets to your liking. For those of you who do not like researching and would rather sit back, this investing platform will suit you.
Cons
Not everything within Acorns is perfect, though. The investing app does have some drawbacks, depending on your specific investing needs.
It’s Almost Too Little Work
Link an account, answer some questions for a pre-made portfolio, and voila!
You are done.
There is no work on your part as the investor to put in. In other words, you cannot instantly look up certain stocks to invest. If you are the technical type who wants to know what the industry is, the 50-day moving average, and researching fundamentals, this might not be a great fit.
Not Available Outside US & Australia
Acorns is only available to people living in the United States. For those of you living in Canada, Mexico, or elsewhere in the world, you will have to look elsewhere to invest your money.
Sluggish Returns
To see a decent return, you must use this App for some time. For those of you who enjoy taking risks, seeking lucrative gains, and immediate gratification, then this App will not suit your investing personality. There are alternative online platforms that will suit your needs.
The Final Word
Acorns is spectacular for first-time investors, college students, and non-technical individuals. Each purchase made from your account is rounded up and invested for you automatically. Fees are highly reasonable compared to big investment platforms like TD Ameritrade. More options are available, like Robinhood, if you prefer technical and fundamental analysis.
About the Author: Austin Wolfe is a
Do you use any investing apps as part of your investing strategy? Let us know in the comments below.
