When it comes to investing, there are lots of apps out there that make it easy to start. With so many options, it may be difficult to choose which one to start with. By doing some research and testing a few myself, I’ve come up with a list of the very best ones to get you started building your financial future.
Disclaimer
**This is not financial advice. Please understand that risk is involved with all investments, and I am not responsible for decisions you make regarding your money**
Best For Long Term:Â Acorns
The Acorns app provides an easy way to invest consistently, for the long term, and in a way that you won’t even have to think about it. This app is one where you can just set it and forget it.
The way it works is simple, Acorns will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest your spare change for you. You won’t even notice the money is gone, and you can have peace of mind knowing your money is working hard for you.
You can also set up recurring weekly investments. and there is a cool interactive tool within the app that shows you projections of your returns over time (see below).
The app has three different plans starting from $1/month for the basic plan up to $5/month for the family plan. You really only need the $1 plan for a personal account, but if you want to set up an IRA or plan for kids’ college funds, the other plans can help with that.
It only takes about 5-10 minutes to sign up and connect your accounts and payment cards. Acorns will ask you some questions about your investment goals and put your money in a portfolio best suited for you.
Also, get a $5 bonus when you sign up using my link here: share.acorns.com/eliyonaitis
Start growing your wealth with spare change today!
Best For Short Term: Robinhood
If you are looking for somewhere that you can buy and sell individual stocks quickly and easily, you should definitely consider using Robinhood. It makes getting started really simple and approachable for new investors with its easy-to-use mobile app and smooth user interface.
You can invest in individual stocks, ETFs, or cryptocurrencies with no minimum investment and no fees.
When compared with acorns, the focus of this app is really more for short-term investments. The first thing you will see in the app is the one-day movements in your portfolio. This is why I think Robinhood is best for people who want to take a more active approach to investing.
Robinhood is also offering one free stock valued anywhere from $3 to $225 to readers of this blog if you use this link: join.robinhood.com/elijahy
Best For Crypto: Coinbase
If you are interested in cryptocurrency, Coinbase is the best beginner-friendly option out there. Coinbase sets itself apart for 2 reasons.
Reason 1: Coinbase Learn and Earn
Coinbase Learn and Earn is a program within Coinbase that rewards you for learning about different cryptocurrencies. If you want to learn more about crypto, this is a great way to get started. I tested out this out and it basically works like this:
- Tap through a story-style informational presentation.
- Then, you answer one question on the information you learned.
The lessons teach about how different cryptocurrencies work, and you get $1 of the respective currency you learned about. One lesson only takes about a minute, and they are pretty easy to do. Here’s how it looks if you’re curious.
Reason 2: Variety of Currencies
Coinbase has over 50 different cryptocurrencies. This means you can diversify if you’d like and will be able to choose the currencies you believe in.
For these reasons and the easy-to-use app, Coinbase is my top pick for people interested in crypto.
Use the link below and earn $10 in bitcoin after you purchase $100 worth of crypto.
Conclusion
This article has covered what I think are the best apps based on your personal goals and interests. I based my decisions on how easy it is to set up, and the quality of the user experience. I personally use all 3 of these apps and one more which is Vanguard. They pretty much invented mutual funds, and I have had good results with them. However, their app is very clunky and you can find some of the same funds on other apps like Robinhood.
If you’re wondering how to pick the right one for you think about your timeline and your goals. If you want an app for the long term that you can set up once and leave be, choose Acorns. If you want more control over your investments, and to take an active approach, choose Robinhood. Finally, if you want to get into the world of crypto, Coinbase has all the tools you will need. I’ll leave their links below for convenience.
Acorns($5 sign-up bonus)- https://share.acorns.com/eliyonaitis
Robinhood(1 free stock from $3-$225)- https://join.robinhood.com/elijahy-a53062
Coinbase($10 of bitcoin)- https://www.coinbase.com/join/yonait_7m
I hope you found this useful, and I encourage you to start investing now if you aren’t already. The power of compound interest gets exponentially better the earlier you invest. Good luck and happy investing!
