Let’s face it, not everyone can
be Warren Buffet, investor extraordinaire. First, most people do not have that
kind of money. Many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. And most people do not
have that kind of time. We’re busy. We work a job, have things to take care of
at home, and that leaves very little time to pay attention to things such as
investing.
Traditionally, investing required a fairly large
sum of cash to get started. Then there were broker fees, and other costs. The
average working person could not realistically afford to invest in the stock
market. For those who were able, the learning curve was somewhat daunting. And
learning, along with its setbacks, is not all that enticing when it’s costing
you your own money. Money that could have been spent on necessities like food
and rent.
But times have changed. In 2014,
Walter and Jeff Cruttenden launched Acorns, an investment app for
mobile devices, making investing accessible to everyone. The following year, the
web-based version was introduced. Acorns makes investing painless because you
are only investing a few cents at a time and they’ve taken all the guesswork
out of the equation. From their website: “Acorns simplified the often
tedious and complex process of investing. But that doesn’t mean the investment
strategy is any less sophisticated.”
“Our mission is to look after the financial best interests of the
up-and-coming, beginning with the empowering step of micro-investing.”
So, what exactly is Acorns?
Acorns is a legitimate and
reputable financial service that makes investing simple and affordable for
anyone. Acorns is
the only micro-investing account that allows you to invest spare change. Set up
in under 5 minutes and automatically add money to your diversified portfolio. Acorns
offers a user-friendly platform and is rated the number one investment app for
new investors.
How does Acorns work?
There
are many methods of investing with Acorns but the easiest is their
one-of-a-kind Round-ups. When you link a credit or debit card to your Acorns Core
account, they track your transactions, round up the purchase to the next dollar,
and invest that amount. For example: If you spend $9.56 on breakfast, Acorns would
deduct .44 from your bank account and add that to your Acorns Investment account. You choose from one of five
pre-built “smart portfolios,” ranging from conservative to aggressive. If you’d
like to invest more you can easily do so by taking advantage of the multiplier
selection. Simply set your desired multiplier and automatically invest the
round-up amount multiplied by 2, 3, or 10.
So, how much does Acorns cost?
After the first month, which is
free, Acorns charges $1.00 per month until your account value reaches $1
million. Since we’re talking spare change, the first few months, with an
account of less than $100, that fee may seem a little high but keep in mind
that as your investments grow, the fee does not. So, years from now when your
spare change has turned into a few thousand, the monthly fee will remain just
$1.00 for the basic plan, known as Acorns Core. They also offer $2 and 3$ monthly
plans.
Acorns Core at the $1/month level is free for college students.
If you’re in college Acorns just
got better! The basic plan, Acorns Core, is FREE for college students. You pay
nothing as long as you’re enrolled in college. In other words, there’s nothing
to lose.
Before writing this blog post, I
wanted to give Acorns a try. I signed up in less than five minutes and after
answering a few questions to set up my profile had a couple of debit cards
linked. Within a week, my account was growing. That was four months ago and my
investment is now worth over $150. Big deal, right? What good is $150? Well,
for starters, that’s from only round-ups—money I didn’t even miss. In a year,
if I continue on the same pace, that will be $450. And that doesn’t account for
gains on the investment. Currently I’m getting a return of 11%. That’s an outstanding
percent. I have other investments that do not perform nearly as well.
When setting up my account, I
chose a conservative investment portfolio with very little risk. I like Acorns
system of “Smart Portfolios” because it means I do not have to pick which
companies I invest in, Acorns does all the work. That means I do not have to do
hours of research to find a stock. I simply linked my debit cards and that was
it.
And if I should ever find myself
in a financial jam, and need my money, it is available for instant withdraw to
my bank account with no penalty. This alone makes it a far better option than
CD’s or many investment firms.
“Acorns
offers a unique solution to overcoming the mental barrier: ‘I just don’t have
enough money to be investing.’”
Acorns really is investing made simple. Invest as
little or as much as you want. Click on the link below to
get started.
