THERE are several apps out there that can help beginners enter the world of investing. Here are some suggestions to help you make money.
After the financial services app Robinhood soared in popularity during the pandemic, it felt like everyone suddenly became an investor.
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However, investing is inherently a risky business, and people should not enter this realm blind to how it really works.
What is investing?
At its core, investing is “the act of allocating resources, usually money, with the expectation of generating an income or profit,” according to Investopedia’s definition.
In the past, the majority of investors in the US consisted of college-educated, white, older males, according to US Financial Capability.
The launching of investment apps quickly changed that, opening the world of investing up to a younger, more diverse, and social media-savvy demographic.
While experts say that young people investing is generally a good thing, this has not been without its challenges.
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In one tragic instance, a 20-year-old killed himself after he thought he lost all of his money on Robinhood (the error was actually due to a glitch on the app).
And that’s only one of numerous serious concerns that have arisen with quick-investment apps.
Other issues include luring amateur/younger users via gamification, accessibility to high-volatility meme-stocks, and system outages during peak trading hours.
Thankfully, there are several low-risk apps you can download on your phone that can both help protect and grow your money.
Here are our picks for safer investing.
Acorns
Acorns is a robo-advisor app that chooses safe investments for its users based on a holistic approach that considers “the risk level of the portfolio, financial situation, age, time horizon, goals, income, net worth, and employment status,” according to the app’s website.
Acorns offers a personal plan ($3 per month), a family plan ($5 per month), and even IRA options.
One of the most attractive features of Acorns is that users can attach their debit or credit card to their accounts to invest pocket change via ’roundups.’
For example, if you spend $2.30 on something, Acorns will round it up to $3.00 and invest the extra $0.70 for you.
Finally, users can set up recurring investments to automatically invest a set amount into their account every day, week, or month.
Betterment
Similar to Acorns, Betterment also handpicks individual stocks for you based on your results from a short quiz.
Betterment assembles a portfolio for you and then adjusts it as needed to keep you aligned with your investing goals.
There’s no minimum balance to use the app and you only pay an annual fee of 0.25% for balances under $100,000.
If you reach the $100,000 milestone, the fee increases to 0.40% annually.
Betterment also allows you to set up recurring investments per month.
Webull
If you want a more quick-paced experience with investing, Webull might be for you.
This trading platform offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, ETFs, and crypto, with no minimums required.
Users can also choose to invest in IPOs and fractional shares.
And unlike competitors such as Robinhood, Webull currently offers three types. of IRA accounts (traditional, Roth, and rollover) so users can manage retirement funds on the app if they wish.
One of the best features of Webull is that it offers a web-based experience so users can trade on a larger screen.
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Robinhood sued by parents for wrongful death of their son who killed himself after thinking he lost $730,000
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