Acorns App For Beginners

           If you’re looking to start investing money into the stock market, but don’t have the time or the funds to start, Acorn is a great way to get going. The way the app works is that you can set it up 2 different ways. You can either invest as little as $5 and have it automatically invest it for you (Acorns Core). Just like most investing apps, if you use someone’s referral link for Acorns you can get a free $5 to invest! I’ve left a link at the bottom of the post for you to sign up (or click here)! You can also set up an Acorns Spend account. Once you set it up with your bank account then every time you make a purchase with your debit or credit card it will round the transaction up to the closest dollar. The app will then automatically take that money and invest it for you every time that “round-up” total reaches $5.

Easy To Use

            You can also set up recurring investments that can be as little as $5/day, week, or month. The way the app invests your money is determined based on a set of questions you answer initially. Basically they are gauging your risk level and desired returns.  

            As far as fees, if your account is under $5,000 then you will pay $1/month and if your account is over $5,000 then you’ll pay 0.25% of the balance per year on your account. Your money is going to be invested into different ETF’s and they have 5 different portfolios based on risk levels. You can view the different stocks that make up the portfolios within the app.

Shopping

            If you do any online shopping, then you should make sure to check out their “found money” section on the app. Basically different retailers will give back a percentage of what you spend at their store and put it into your Acorns account. Apple, Nike, and Walmart are just a few of the many companies that participate in this.

            Now this app is not going to give you a lot of freedom in where your money gets invested other than the 5 portfolios. This app is really meant for people looking to easily invest their money without thinking about it. This app isn’t going to let you invest in individual stocks, only the prebuilt portfolios. If you’re someone that just doesn’t have the time themselves to invest in the stock market, but still want to grow their money this is perfect! The last thing that I will leave you with is that Acorns Core is FREE for college students. So this means you can start investing your money for free and not have to worry about managing it and not pay the monthly fee. 

I'm going to be honest, at first I didn't think that Acorns was worth it. But if you are dedicated to using the app to shop, can take advantage of the college student deal, or just make a lot of purchases where the round-up feature will add up, I think this app is for you! If you sign up using Ricky's link you will get a free $5 when you start investing using Acorns: https://acorns.com/invite/VP9LWB

- Nick Benko

Nick Benko @benkonation