Think retirement investing is only for the wealthy? Think you will be working until your 80's like those in this E-Trade commercial? Think again. With the latest in FinTech, investing – with “common man” amounts – has never been easier.
#1 – Acorns
The app is exactly like it sounds – a squirrel stashing away an acorn at a time towards their long-term survival. Acorns approach to investing is called micro investing.
Acorns is affordable with no minimums and no trade fees – pay only $1 a month until your portfolio exceeds $5,000 and then it's only 0.25% annually after that
With Acorns investing is simple:
- Connect the accounts and cards you use to make everyday purchases
- Make a purchase like you normally would – Acorns will round the purchase up to the nearest dollar. For example, if you buy a coffee for $3.50 at Starbucks your transaction will be rounded up to $4.00.
- Invest the change – Acorns will take the change from each purchase and invest your spare change. Remember that $0.50 that was rounded up from our Starbucks coffee? That $0.50 gets invested.
Acorns also offers other channels to make contributions to your investment as well. These take the form of:
- One-Time Payments – get a bonus? Invest a little with a one-time payment.
- Recurring – Set a daily, weekly or monthly investing payments to be automatically transferred to your investment portfolio.
- Found Money – Brands that you buy, like Apple, Groupon and more, invest in your Acorns account. That takes cash rewards to a new level.
- Referrals – Like Acorns? Tell your friends! Your account grows when you share the word about Acorns with others.
If you want to set it and pretty much forget it, you can. Everything can be set up to happen automatically from investments to portfolio rebalancing.
#2 – Stash
Like Acorns, Stash approaches investing with small change adding up over time. You can start investing with as little as $5.
To make an investment, Stash needs to be set up with a checking account. Stash gives you access to over 30 different investment options and personal guidance. You are able to buy fractional shares so you are investing what you can afford.
Unlike Acorns, Stash is free for the first month. After the introductory period, you are charged $1 a month for your subscription for accounts under $5,000 and $12.50 or 0.25% a year on accounts over $5,000. How easy is that?
#3 – Robinhood
While this Robinhood doesn’t rob the rich to feed the poor, it does make the poorer man rich. With manual management, the costly overhead of brokerage fees are eliminated.
Robinhood is designed to be intuitive – no manual required. With fast, simple and self-controlled trading, who wouldn’t want to have an active role in managing their investment portfolio?
Trading is free for US Listed Securities but keep in mind international securities or broker-assisted trades there are fees so be sure to read the fine print.
#4 – DIY Fund
Exactly as the name implies, the DIY Fund is all about access to education and resources so you are in the driver's seat of your investments.
The goal – to give individuals the same portfolio management tools that the professionals have. From portfolio monitoring to rebalancing tools and risk analysis – DIY Fund has a dashboard to help you reach your goals.
They believe (as we do) that knowledge is power and provide education about investing through their platform so individuals can learn proper investing techniques.
Retirement Investing
Retirement investing and growing a nest egg for your future has never been easier. For just pennies at a time, your financial freedom can be within reach. Can't decide which individual retirement account you should use?