There has never been a better time to get started with investing in the stock market for the newbie investor. Over the last 10 years, improvements in technology and algorithm trading have improved so much and paved the way for new types of investment apps and brokerages.
In this article, we will outline seven of the top investment apps and platforms. One of them may be the one you’ve long searched for.
Top Beginner Investment Apps
Acorns
Acorns charges a flat fee of $1 to 3 a month based on the functionality you choose. (College students can get a $1 tier free of charge.) The higher tier provides IRA recommendations, the option to set up recurring retirement payments, help carry over an IRA or 401(k), and even a check account with no minimum balance, ATM fees, or overdraft fees.
There is no minimum investment.
Acorns is one of the best investment apps for those who want to get started, even though they do not have a lot to invest in at first. Your phone app is designed to round up the price of your regular transactions to the nearest dollar, then take the change and instantly invest it in ETFs. This is achieved automatically when you connect it to your credit card or check account.
For example, you buy $10.45 worth of groceries and pay for it with your credit card. The amount paid to the card is rounded to $11, so Acorns can debit the difference (55 cents in this case) from your account and invest it.
Acorns has “Found Money” partnerships with more than 200 brands that operate like cashback on a credit card—except money is used for investment. It takes 60 to 120 days to get the money, which is immediately invested.
Robinhood
Robinhood is an easy place to start investing because it has no minimum balance, a simple-to-understand interface, fractional shares and does not charge commissions or fees.
Robinhood helps you to participate in cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, in addition to individual stocks and ETFs (exchange-traded funds, which are essentially diversified portfolios of stocks, bonds, or a combination of both).
The business also sells a premium package called Robinhood Gold for $5 a month following a 30-day free trial. Gold gives access to investment research and data and margin trading, which includes borrowing (with interest) from Robinhood to invest.
M1 Finance
M1 Finance helps you to create a versatile, personalized portfolio of individual stocks and funds or to pick from hundreds of pre-mixed alternatives free of charge. While it’s sure to cater to seasoned investors—and has a paid option that lets you chose the time of day to trade or invest, among other things—still it’s one of the best investing apps for beginners who don’t want a lot of handholding.
M1 Finance lets you automate your contributions and supports a fractional share purchase that invests in costly stocks without purchasing full shares. It does not charge any commissions or management fees that are standard elsewhere, although the app will charge a $20 inactivity fee for low balances after 90 days. M1 Finance has a minimum balance of $100 or $500 for retirement accounts.
Ellevest
Ellevest, as you might guess from the name, is one of the best women’s investment apps, built around research on female investors. This robo-advisor tries to account for the gender wage gap and the probability of women living longer than men in portfolio design, even if male investors can and do use it.
Ellevest’s simple plan has a fixed fee of 0.25 percent (and a 0.5 percent premium option that requires a balance of $50,000). For the basic plan, there is no minimum balance. The funds it uses bear fees ranging from 0.06 percent to 0.2 percent.
Stash
Stash helps you to invest with no minimum and monthly payments of $1 to $9, depending on the form of account. The beginner account allows you to invest in fractional shares of an individual stock, bond, or ETF; the $3 a month “growth” account allows for IRAs; the broad “Stash+” offering offers monthly market analysis and allows for custodial investment accounts for two children.
Its Auto-Stash feature helps you to plan regular investments and like Acorns, encourages you to round up purchases and invest in spare change.
Stash advises that you invest on the basis of the profile that you create when you sign up. It’s also one of the best investing applications if you’re trying to get digestible educational material to improve your trading skills.
In addition, it provides customized guidance, challenges, and quizzes by Stash Coach. It’s already got a podcast.
Axos Invest
Axos Invest (until recently called WiseBanyan) is an electronic investing platform that charges no fees for investment management, trading, or rebalancing. There is no minimum account required to sign up.
Axos Invest is hoping that you’ll enjoy their free offerings enough to hang around to buy add-on services and advice. If you’re not sure where to start and you’re worried about commitment, this could be the right tool for you.
Betterment
Betterment LLC helps prepare savings and investments for specific life priorities such as building a safety net, a child’s education, a retirement nest egg, or big acquisitions such as a house or wedding.
Betterment’s basic package has an annual consulting fee of 0.25%. (It also offers a premium plan with a charge of 0.4 percent, which allows access to expert advice that requires a balance of $100,000.) Betterment reports that the ETFs it uses have an average fee of 0.11 percent.
It does not incur any extra fees and there is no minimum balance for an account.
Which Investment App Should You Choose?
Some investors are happy to put their money into a bland fund and let it simmer for the long term. Others are more interested in taking a hands-on approach to handling their assets through aggressive stock trading. Whether you buy and sell once in a while or choose to do trade or more every day, both of these apps are perfect for beginners and make it simple for someone just beginning to invest or those wanting to play a stock-picking game for fun.
