Do you remember the piggy bank or loose change jar you had as a child? Do you remember how you used to drop all your nickels, dimes, and quarters into that jar until it was completely full of coins?
Every time you brought that change to the bank and it added up to more cash than you thought.
With Acorns, this “out of sight, out of mind” savings strategy gets a whole new level of attention. Invest your nickels and dimes for future goals after rounding up your expenses to the nearest dollar.
Among the recent additions are retirement accounts, debit cards, and a $10 welcome bonus.
Are you able to grow your wealth with this micro-investing strategy? Here’s what we found.
Robinhood
- Each trade costs $0
- Intended for DIY investors
- Mobile app that is easy to use
- Minimum account balance is not required
Acorns
- A monthly fee of $1-3
- Suitable for beginners
- Automated from start to finish
- Minimum account balance is not required
M1 Finance
- Each trade costs $0
- Trading without commissions
- Rebalancing is automated
- Minimum of $100 per account
How Do Acorns Work?
Acorns is a hybrid of a spare change jar and a robo-advisor. With this app, you can round up purchases on linked credit or debit cards – with the option to increase them by 2x, 5x, or even 10x – and invest your earnings.
There is no learning curve when it comes to using the Acorns app, which is ideal for new investors. A linked card is used by investors to make purchases. In addition to rounding up to the nearest dollar, Acorns invests the extra change. Automatic recurring investments can also be set up daily, weekly, or monthly by the user.
Pros:
- Minimum account balance of 0 dollars
- Investing only $5 gets you started
- Depending on the plan you choose, monthly fees range from $1 to $5
- College students can invest for free
- Automated from start to finish
- Minimum account balance is not required
- Cash back is available at certain retailers under higher-tiered plans
Cons:
- For IRAs, they charge an account fee and other fees
- Portfolio options are limited
- For those with smaller account balances, the monthly fee can be high
Service Levels at Acorns
Make a monthly investment of $1
A taxable account can be used for investing the difference between purchases and purchases rounded up to the nearest dollar. Get kickbacks from purchases at partner retailers to boost your investments and add cash to your investments on a regular basis.
Acorns’ lowest-cost option costs $1 a month. Round-up investments are triggered by connecting your bank account and linking your credit and debit cards.
In the next step, you will be able to select the amount of money you wish to contribute to your Acorns investment. Investing will begin once your Round-Up balance reaches at least $5, but there is no minimum.
As a final step, you will be asked a few questions regarding your financial situation, your goals, and your risk tolerance. An ETF-based investment portfolio will be recommended by Acorns based upon this information. In case you wish to increase or decrease the risk in your portfolio, you may override their selection.
You may also set up recurring investments that are made daily, weekly, or monthly in addition to your Round-Up investments. Over 200 brands are also partnered with Acorns Found Money to give you cash back that is automatically invested.
College students used to be able to use this account level for free for up to four years, but Acorns no longer offers that benefit.
$2/month Invest + Later
The original Acorns as well as the opportunity to invest in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA).
Retirement investments were added to Acorns’ platform. The Acorns platform now allows you to invest in a Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, or SEP IRA. It is the same method of making investments into your Acorns Later account as it is with the original Acorns service.
Spend + Invest: $3/month
Boost your Acorns + Acorns later investments with cash back from local retailers and instant Round-Up service via Acorns online checking account with full bank services and FDIC insurance.
Digital checking accounts have recently been added to the Acorns platform. In addition to digital direct deposit and mobile check deposit and payment, Acorns Spend offers unlimited fee-reimbursed ATM withdrawals.
Using Acorns Spend, you can take advantage of real-time round-ups, custom spending strategies to boost your savings, and found money cash-back of up to 10% when you visit local businesses.
What is the Acorn System?
In keeping with most robo-advisors, Acorns’ investing service is based on Dr. Harry Markowitz’s Modern Portfolio Theory. All dividend payments are automatically reinvested and the portfolio is automatically rebalanced.
We invest in multiple asset classes through the use of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), or Exchange Traded Securities. Over the course of your investment, these ETFs will incur internal expenses equal to approximately 0.10% of your total investment.
The current Acorns portfolio is broken down as follows:
Conservative
- Government bonds with a short maturity of less than a year 40%
- Bonds with an ultra-short maturity of 40 days
- Government Ultra Short Term Bonds 20%
Moderately Conservative
- Stocks of large companies – 24%
- Stocks of small companies – 4%
- Stocks related to real estate – 4%
- Bonds issued by government – 30%
- Bonds issued by corporations – 30% of the total
- Stocks of international large companies – 8%
Moderate
- There is a 29% share of large company stocks
- Stocks of small companies – 10%
- Stocks from emerging markets – 3%
- Stocks related to real estate – 6%
- Bonds issued by the government – 20%
- Bonds issued by corporations – 20%
- Stocks of international large companies – 12%
Moderately Aggressive
- Stocks of large companies – 38%
- Stocks of small companies – 14%
- Stocks from emerging markets – 4%
- Stocks in the real estate sector – 8%
- Bonds issued by the government – 10%
- Bonds issued by corporations – 10%
- International Large Company Shares – 16%
Aggressive
- Stocks of large companies – 40%
- Stocks of small companies – 20%
- Stocks from emerging markets – 10%
- Stocks in the real estate sector – 10%
- Stocks of large international companies – 20%
Your money will be invested by Acorns based on your risk profile as you add money to your account. This will take place in a taxable investment account if you use the basic Acorns account.
Your money can be withdrawn from Acorns at any time, but investment withdrawals may take five to seven business days. It is important to note that you should not use your Acorns savings for regular financial needs.
Investments are long-term in nature. In the event that you pull money from this account for day-to-day expenses and goals, you will increase your chances of losing money in the market.
Frequently Asked Questions about Acorns
Investors are overwhelmed by the number of options available. Listed below are some of the most frequently asked questions about Acorns that we’d like to address in our review.
Is it enough to invest in Round-Up to make a difference?
Every little bit counts when it comes to saving for the future. Additionally, should Round-Up investments be the cornerstone of your investment strategy? Nope.
It adds up to over $4,900 in 10 years if you invest $30 a month at a market return of 7%. If you put the same amount in an online savings or money market account, you’ll only have about $3,900 left over. As time goes on, the gap between saving and investing only widens. Growth by compounding is one of the most powerful forces in the world.
What is the cost of Acorns?
There are three plans offered by Acorns:
- Make a monthly investment of $1
- Monthly investment of $2, Invest + Later
- $3 per month for Invest + Later + Spend
There is no reasonable potential gain from investing for small accounts due to the $1 monthly fee.
Consider the scenario where you have 50 round-up transactions per month at an average round-up value of $0.40. As a result, Acorns will invest $20 for you per month, but it will take 5% of the savings in the form of fees.
This percentage would decrease as your account value increased. Nevertheless, before Acorns’ fees were as low as Betterment’s 0.25%, you would need to invest $5,000. It is important to note that Betterment offers these fees as well as access to a retirement account without a minimum investment threshold. In order to match the fees of Betterment, you would need to invest $10,000 into an Acorns IRA.
Annual fee – account balance
For a taxable account, a $1/month fee means the following:
What are the risks associated with investing with Acorns?
Performance isn’t guaranteed with any investment. It is important to keep in mind that investing involves risk, which means that the value of your portfolio can fluctuate over time. Although the S&P 500 has historically provided returns of approximately 8% annually, year-to-year fluctuations can result in substantial losses of value for your account – sometimes in excess of 10%.
Acorns users are most at risk when they decide to stop contributing to their account and keep it small. It is important to remember that the smaller your account balance remains, the greater the impact of the monthly fee.
You should consider a high-interest savings account if you intend to use your money within three to five years.
Does Acorns allow large investments?
The flat-rate fee may appeal to hands-off investors with large sums to invest. Invest + Later is a cost-effective option if you have over $10,000 to invest, and Acorns’ fees are lower than Betterment and Wealthfront’s.
Acorns is still not a good investment for large amounts, however. Compared to bigger players, they don’t offer as many investment options. Aside from the five key portfolios, there is a lack of diversification across asset types in the portfolios, and it is not possible to customize asset allocation.
Additionally, unlike many competitors, Acorns does not offer tax-loss harvesting to improve long-term returns for taxable accounts (the basic level).
Last but not least, Acorns does not offer professional financial support. The larger robo-advisors offer some access to Certified Financial Planners (CFPs) in order to answer any burning questions you may have. While you may not have any today, it can be a comforting option if the market takes a dip.
What makes Acorns the best choice for you?
New investors should consider Acorns if they are seeking a hands-off approach to growing their savings.
Summary of the Acorns App Review
There are a lot of round-up investing apps out there, and Acorns is one of the best. The platform is easy to use, has an excellent educational platform for new investors, and charges are simple and straightforward.
As a result, the question of whether the $1-3 monthly fee is a benefit or a detriment really depends on the balance of your account. Your investment growth will be hampered if you are only adding a few dollars to your Acorns account each month.