What are the best investment apps?

Investment apps have made becoming an investor much more accessible to common people and it is now extraordinarily easier to become involved in the stock market. However, some apps stand above the others as the most user-friendly and capable ways to keep your portfolio.

In this article, we will go through some beginner tips and list a few of the most well-known and quality investment apps. We’ll venture through all of the details of what makes these apps worthwhile and how they’ve opened up the market to so many new investors.

DO I NEED A LOT OF MONEY TO START?

Surprisingly, no. Many of these apps have account minimums at less than $5 so opening an account and starting up will hardly cost you anything.

Some of the apps you will see below are micro-investing apps like where you can begin a portfolio and invest as little as your pocket change. Some apps actually have features that round-up credit or debit card purchases to the nearest dollar and invest that change into various stocks.

Of course, the amount of money you plan to make will depend on how much you invest and coming in with hundreds, if not thousands of dollars will certainly help your cause if you invest well. Although, this is not required and you can certainly turn small gains into big gains through micro-investing.

BEST INVESTMENT APPS

Now, let’s go through some specific apps that have made a big name for themselves in this new trend of fully electronic investing.

Betterment

One of the best investment apps for beginners, Betterment has a very good interface that is easy to figure out and doesn’t require a lot of constant checking. This app does not require a minimum money deposit to invest when you begin using it and its management fee is fairly low as well.

One of the most convenient features Betterment offers is it allows you to set and create financial goals using different strategies easily. It rebalances your portfolio automatically and shows plenty of responsible investing options.

This app also features a helpful blog and calculator that helps give you ideas on how to invest your money better and what kind of trends the market is going towards in recent times.

The fees are set at a low .25 percent annually which is much less than most in-person investment companies that offer much of the same services that Betterment covers as well.

Acorns

Acorns is a great app for those who just want to dabble in the stock market and are looking to take small steps in their portfolio while maintaining their daily lives. This app has the feature mentioned earlier that allows you to round-up basic purchases and invest the change in your portfolio.

For example, if you buy a coffee for $2.50 the remaining $.50 will be deposited into an account on the app. This extra $.50 can go into your investment portfolio, a retirement fund, or other options the app offers for this particular feature.

Acorns takes this feature a step further for those looking to invest more than pocket change as well. You can add multipliers to make the $.50 from your coffee go up five times, making it a $2.50 deposit in the account of your choosing.

Also, like Betterment, Acorns has a blog that offers up-to-date articles that can educate beginning investors and guide them towards better ways to invest their money.

Stash

This app is a great choice for beginning investors who still want the freedom to choose exactly where their money goes. If you believe social media companies or tech industries are set to rise you can set this app to invest in these types of companies to make your portfolio reflect your personal interests more.

You can choose from a wide variety of investments like, sensible, do-gooder, niche interests, or even specific single stocks. Users of Stash will usually stand by its ability to really hone-in on the type of investments you are interested in.

Stash, much like the other apps, also does not require a lot of capital to get started. Once you make a $1 initial investment, you can start setting recurring deposits and slowly work up your portfolio from just that initial dollar.

Another interesting feature on Stash is its “stock-back rewards” feature which works similarly to cash back programs. With stock-back rewards, you get small shares of publicly traded companies that are on the platform rather than actual cash back.

The stipulation to this is that you must use a Stash debit card, but you get this for free when you sign up and it functions like a normal debit card would.

The fees for this app can be a bit steep if you have multiple accounts running but for just one portfolio it is a simple $1 monthly fee. Also, like the other apps, there is a tool that can help keep you posted on any market trends and give you general advice on how to strengthen your portfolio as well.

SUMMARY

Investment apps have been growing immensely popular especially among the younger investors who have seen plenty of success through automating their investment process entirely.

There are plenty of benefits to using these investment apps including a low amount of initial investments you have to make, lower fees than if you hire an investment company, and an easy interface that allows you to be able to constantly check your portfolio.

Apps like Betterment, Acorns, and Stash have all made names for themselves but there are plenty more not mentioned in this article that have helped many beginning investors succeed. Other apps like Robinhood, E*Trade, and Stockpile are all other apps worthy of researching if you plan to use one of these investment apps.

The stock market is moving towards the future faster than ever before and these investment apps seem to be sticking around and could perhaps even define the future of investing as we go.