Introduction to Acorns Investing
Acorns Investing is an online investment platform that allows users to invest their spare change in a portfolio of stocks and bonds. The platform was founded in 2012 and has since become one of the most popular investment apps in the United States. Acorns Investing is designed to make investing easy and accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial background or experience. The platform offers a variety of features, including automatic portfolio rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and fractional shares.
Pros of Acorns Investing
One of the biggest advantages of Acorns Investing is its low cost. The platform charges a flat fee of $1 per month for accounts with a balance of less than $5,000. This makes it an ideal option for those who are just starting out with investing and don’t want to pay high fees. Additionally, Acorns Investing offers a variety of features that make it easy to manage your investments. The platform offers automatic portfolio rebalancing, which ensures that your portfolio is always in line with your goals. It also offers tax-loss harvesting, which helps you minimize your tax burden. Finally, Acorns Investing allows you to invest in fractional shares, which makes it easier to diversify your portfolio without having to invest large amounts of money.
I’ve pulled money out of my acorns twice and while I can’t remember the exact ROI of the first time which was when the corona virus first emerged the last time I was up 29%. So the first time I pulled money out knowing that stocks was going to take a big hit with the shut down of the economy. I pulled my money out but kept my reoccurring investments going. This had me dollar cost averaging as stocks went down but within a few months (maybe more like 4-6 months) was going back up. The second time was approximately 2 years later when I started my own trucking company. At that time I was up 29% on my investments.
And once again after that 2nd of withdraw I kept my investments going. Right now yet another approximate 2 years after that last withdraw. I’m sitting at 9.5% ROI on my invest account and 21% ROI on my acorns later account aka Retirement Fund.
So what I like is that it’s always given me a great return with its managed account. The automatic round-ups really helps growing those pennies into dollars quickly. And just recently they’ve added allowing you to add up to 40% of your portfolio with stocks you pick. But there is limited options to stocks you can pick.
Cons of Acorns Investing
Despite its many advantages, Acorns Investing does have some drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks is its limited investment options. The platform only offers a handful of stocks and bonds, which means that you may not be able to find the investments that you’re looking for. Additionally, Acorns Investing does not offer any mutual funds or other more complex investments. This can be a problem for those who are looking for more sophisticated investments. Finally, Acorns Investing does not offer any advice or guidance on investing, which can be a problem for those who are new to investing and need help making decisions.
The primary dislikes I have is the limited stock options. I also don’t like investing so heavily on foreign markets like acorns managed accounts do. In comparison with my Stash account which is probably about 90% american companies that are 80% blue chip stocks that pay dividends.
My Personal Experience with Acorns Investing
I have been using Acorns Investing for the many years and have been generally pleased with the platform. I like the fact that it is easy to use and that it offers a variety of features that make it easy to manage my investments. I also appreciate the low cost of the platform, which makes it an ideal option for those who are just starting out with investing. The only downside is the limited investment options, which can be a problem for those who are looking for more sophisticated investments.
Another comparison with results from Stash vs. Acorns is that while I haven’t gotten the overall ROI as good as Acorns 29% my stash account has stocks within it that are up over 100% like META for example. Plus as I said I’m heavily invested in dividend paying stocks so I’m more routinely and more generously receiving dividends with my Stash account than my Acorns account.
But if your new getting started and can only afford to Acorns or Stash, I would suggest Acorns over stash simply because of my past results, the ease of use and those round-ups really can stack pennies into dollars quickly.
Final Thoughts on Acorns Investing
Overall, Acorns Investing is a great option for those who are just starting out with investing. The platform is easy to use and offers a variety of features that make it easy to manage your investments. Additionally, the low cost makes it an ideal option for those who are just starting out. The only downside is the limited investment options, which can be a problem for those who are looking for more sophisticated investments.
Conclusion
Acorns Investing is a great option for those who are just starting out with investing. The platform is easy to use and offers a variety of features that make it easy to manage your investments. Additionally, the low cost makes it an ideal option for those who are just starting out. The only downside is the limited investment options, which can be a problem for those who are looking for more sophisticated investments. And if you can make it work with your budget I suggest using both Acorns and Stash.
