The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (2024)

Investing has always been something that made me nervous. It all seemed too complicated and far beyond my math comprehension. Technically I shouldn’t even be worried about investing right now because we are still working to pay off our debt. However, there is an investment app that just seemed too simple to pass up. Acorns is a spare change investment app that rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and then invests that money for you! If you have wondered as long as I did about how Acorns work and whether or not it’s actually worth it, I have it all laid out here for you. Plus, I will show you my personal slow-start simple investment plan to turn $50 per month into $150,000.

*This post contains affiliate links. I may make a commission off any recommendations, but all opinions are my own.

How does investing with Acorns work?

I heard about Acorns spare change investment app about a year ago and since then I have continually researched it. It sounded too easy and the idea of setting up an online investment made me nervous.

Like anything that involves my money, I wanted to make sure that I was making a smart move and that I wouldn’t be getting ripped off. I made sure to do the following before investing:

  • Read reviews
  • Get a full understanding of how Acorns works
  • See if people got actual results

Acorns reviews

Like all reviews, some were negative. Including multiple posts written about the dangers of investing too little.

However, a lot of the argument came from the idea that Acorns uses such a small amount of money and your chances of seeing major growth are too insignificant.

Can you invest too little?

While it is true that investing too little might not yield big results, with Acorns, you can make larger investments whenever you choose!

It doesn’t just have to be spare change that you invest! Acorns is designed to help new investors get comfortable with investing. As someone who has never invested before, that was exactly what I needed. Click here and get $5 to start investing with Acorns.

Here are a few quick facts about Acorns that are beneficial for first-time investors to be familiar with:

  • Acorns is only $15 a year for first-time investors
  • Once your portfolio reaches $5,000, Acorns takes .275% (pretty minimal compared to other investment fees)
  • They easily link to most major banks
  • You choose how aggressively you want to invest
  • You can choose to make monthly investments on top of your spare change
  • Withdrawal of funds takes up to 2 weeks

How to get started

When you first sign up for Acorns, they will ask you basic information like name, income, social security number, and bank account information.

This is where I kept stopping. It makes me so nervous to share this information online. I would enter some information and then stop to research more before I entered anything else.

From the research, I did I learned that Acorns is a highly trustworthy and very secure network. I still waited.

Select your Acorns investments

Once you have signed up, you then have the option to choose if you want to invest a certain amount monthly and/or add a one-time investment.

You can see in my graphics below that I did a one-time investment of $25 along with a $50 per month investment.

I did the $25just to get started since we had some extra funds available. I figured if I’m going to try this investing thing, I may as well try to start a little bigger than just spare change. Get $5 free to start.

You can also choose to:

  • Multiply your roundups which means if you have .50 cents to round up, Acorns will double or triple it.
  • Link additional cards like credit cards so you have more opportunities to invest.
  • Choose how aggressively you want to invest which I will talk about later.
The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (1)

There are different levels of investing from “Conservative” to “Aggressive” that Acorns allows you to choose from.

What these levels basically determine are the types of investments made. To put it simply, (because I need this to be simple) the more aggressive you get, the more serious types of investments you’ll be making and with larger companies.

After reading reviews, but still being nervous to get my feet wet, I decided to invest comfortably in the middle. You can see my “Moderate” investment here and how all of my funds are dispersed. Hopefully, as I get more comfortable, I will make the leap to more aggressive investing.

Why It’s Important to Diversify When Investing

The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (2)

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From $50 a month to $150,000

So how am I going from investing $50 a month to $150,000?

A great motivator that Acorns shows you is your projected investments.

With projected investments you can:

  • See how much you have already made
  • Review much you have invested
  • Get a prediction of what your future might look like if you keep investing with your current plan.

Here’s what mine looks like so far:

The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (3)

It might seem disheartening to learn that after almost 40 years of investing, I would only be at $154,902.

This is why some people suggest not even bothering with a small investment app like Acorns.

However, if you take a moment to calculate what would happen if I just saved $50 per month, this is actually a significant growth.

  • Saving $50 per month for 40 years: $24,000
  • Investing $50 per month with Acorns: $154,902

Using Acorns I make a profit of $130,902!!

Get $5 to start investing with Acorns

Final investment tips

If you are new to investing and you are ready to sign up for Acorns, here are a few tips I have to offer:

  • Start where you’re comfortable – Don’t jump into aggressive investing before you’re ready. There’s nothing wrong with testing out the waters first.
  • Don’t panic – One thing I have learned is that the market is constantly going down and up. If you are down one day, don’t sweat it or start panicking. In fact, it might be a good idea to only check your Acorns account once a month to prevent panic.
  • Don’t withdrawal – Acorns makes it very easy to withdrawal your money at any time. Don’t do it. You got into this investing thing to do exactly that…invest and grow your wealth.

I hope this helped and if there is anything I didn’t address, feel free to get more clarification by asking your questions in the comments below!

The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (4)
The Simple Investment Plan to Turn $50 into $150,000 Investing with Acorns (2024)

FAQs

Is Acorns a good investment strategy? ›

Bottom line. For those who want to invest their money but don't know where to start, Acorns is an approachable platform for beginners. It has a simple interface and a micro-investing feature that goes to work every time you make a purchase. Plus, your investments will be safe in low-cost, diversified funds.

Is it safe to put a lot of money in Acorns? ›

Acorns is a member of SIPC. Securities in your account are protected up to $500,000. For details, please see www.sipc.org.

How much money should I put into Acorns? ›

From there, many experts recommend the 50/30/20 rule - with 20% of your take home pay allocated towards saving and investing for financial goals. If 20% feels like a lot, do not despair. You can start small with as little as $5.

What is acorn investment for beginners? ›

The Bottom Line. Acorns is a platform that allows individuals to participate through micro-investing using spare change. The company offers retirement savings accounts, a debit card, and banking services.

Do people really make money with Acorns? ›

Acorns has over 8 million customers and $3 billion in assets under management. The app lets its users make money and build wealth through long-term investing. You can also make free money with Acorns by shopping at 350+ Acorns Earn partners.

Can you lose money investing with Acorn? ›

Yes. The securities you own are always subject to market fluctuations. Market volatility can be unnerving, but it can also be an opportunity for investors. The big lesson we want all investors to remember is to keep going — over time, the market has bounced back from tough times.

What happens to my money if Acorns shuts down? ›

For example, with Acorns Checking, your accounts have FDIC insurance through our banking partners, Lincoln Savings Bank and nbkc bank. The FDIC insures more than 4,700 banks across the U.S. What that means is if an insured bank fails, the FDIC will reimburse you for your losses.

What are the disadvantages of Acorns? ›

However, a significant drawback of Acorns is its fee structure. The app offers three plans, priced at $3, $5, or $9 monthly, based on the services you need. The $3 monthly fee is relatively high for accounts with smaller balances.

What is the 50 30 20 rule on Acorns? ›

Using the 50/30/20 rule of thumb, you'll divide your monthly after-tax income like this: 50% for essential spending. 30% for flexible spending. 20% for financial goals.

How to make the most money on Acorns? ›

Most rewards are earned by shopping through the offers in the Earn section of the app. There are also some “Simply Spend” rewards that you automatically earn when you shop with a card linked to Acorns. You can also install the Earn Chrome and iOS Safari Browser Extensions to earn rewards when you shop online.

Do you get taxed for taking money out of Acorns? ›

Yes, withdrawals from Acorns Invest may be subject to taxes on any capital gains realized from the investments. The tax treatment depends on the type of account in which the investments are held.

What is better than Acorns? ›

We cover some of the best apps like Acorns that you can use to save money and put your investing on autopilot.
  • Chime. Get started with Chime. Chime review. ...
  • Oportune. Get started with Oportun. Oportun review. ...
  • Qapital. Get started with Qapital. Qapital review. ...
  • UNest. Get started with UNest. ...
  • Betterment. Get started with Betterment.

Is it better to invest in Robinhood or Acorns? ›

Robinhood gives you the tools to DIY invest -- without paying any fees. You'll be on the hook for managing your investments, but you could potentially earn high returns by investing in individual stocks (Acorns offers diversified portfolios, lower risk/reward).

What is the average rate of return on Acorns? ›

The average annual return since adopting 500 stocks into the index in 1957 through 2018 is roughly 8%. Adjusted for inflation, the historical average annual return is around 7%.

Do Acorns build interest? ›

Your money compounds when you earn interest on money that's already earned interest. Pay attention to the compounding period on any account — interest can compound daily, weekly, monthly, or even yearly. Our Acorns Checking and Emergency Fund APY both accrue interest daily and pay out interest monthly.

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