Want to start investing? Here are some apps that make it easy.
Investing is a complicated affair. News stories often pit the haves against the have-nots, and it can be easy to feel lost. But once you start learning about investing, you’ll probably realize that anyone can do it, and you might decide that you want to take the dive.
Fortunately, you can get started investing without a dime. There are plenty of different apps and tools out there that can help you get started for free.
So if you’re interested in investing but don’t know how to get started, there are plenty of apps that can help you get started.
If you have a 401(k) from your job, that’s a great start! If you don’t, consider one of these investing apps.
Personal Finance Software
If it’s been a while since you’ve stepped inside a branch of online brokerage, you’re probably wondering what you’ve been missing. There was a time not so long ago when many online brokerages only offered their platforms to investors in the United States and the United Kingdom. What’s more, those platforms often demanded a steep learning curve and only provided limited information.
Nowadays, things couldn’t be more different. Thanks to a combination of regulation, technology, and demographics, online trading is no longer the exclusive domain of the well-advanced.
Investors around the world are now able to join online brokerages and reap the benefits of their platforms. Platforms are evolving and becoming increasingly feature-rich. Best of all, a new generation of investors is getting involved with investment trading, and a fresh look and feel is making the industry more accessible.
Personal Capital
The Personal Capital app provides a snapshot of your complete financial picture. It is the best financial app for beginner investors because it helps you see what you have spend today, the day before and the month before.
Also is alert you when it time to rebalance. For instance, if you start to allocate a fraction of your investments in one asset class, then the app might alert you to consider rebalancing.
Another great thing about the Personal Capital app is that it could help you take advantage of all the free investment research available out there.
The Personal Capital app will pull the latest stock quotes from the web based on your portfolio holdings. If you love researching stocks, then this app is a must have.
YNAB (You Need A Budget)
This software is probably the most user-friendly budgeting app on this list. YNAB is a straightforward goal-based spending tracking and budgeting software that is based on the concepts of Zero-Based Budgeting and the Rule of Three. Simply stated, Zero-Based Budgeting allows you to eliminate wasteful spending in your budget by assigning every dollar you earn to a specific purpose. The Rule of Three is simply the practice of setting three goals you want to achieve over the next three years … each year you pick one goal, one medium-size goal, and one small goal. Keep in mind that the three designated goals do not have to be related to each other.
Zero-Based Budgeting and the Rule of Three are fairly simple financial concepts and easy to practice. That being said, no matter how simple these concepts are, their practice can be extremely difficult. That is why YNAB has so many tools to help you with your budget. YNAB is simple enough to be used by a high school student on a small budget, but it had the features, charts, and graphs for the seasoned financial professional. Keep in mind that although YNAB doesn’t offer a free trial, their unlimited free customer support is exceptional, and they have a full 30-day money back guarantee.
YNAB has four main features that make it easy to stay on top of your budget:
Mint.com
Microsavings Apps
- Acorns
- Stash
- Digit
- Wealthsimple
Acorns
Acorns’ mission is to take the complexity and stress out of investing. They are also very committed to helping their clients build wealth over time. Acorns is only available to US investors.
Stash Invest
Is Stash Invest for You?
Stash Invest is not your one-stop shop. Instead, it markets itself as providing personalized advice for those who have a diverse, more complicated financial picture to manage.
It’s really an ideal option for people who are already investing on their own.
Stash Invest offers baskets of single stocks and ETFs from other companies (similar to how Robinhood does), plus additional investment advice.
Robo Advisors
Betterment
Betterment is our top pick for beginning investors. I’m a big fan of low-cost Index funds, and they offer that with no account minimums. The interface is great, the options are varied, and I especially love the paper check delivery on contributions. It’s a great option for those of you who want the hands-off approach.
Wealthfront
WiseBanyan
WiseBanyan is perfect for the investor just getting their feet wet. It’s also a great platform for those who are brand new to investing but are sick of dealing with hidden fees and complex jargon. WiseBanyan is a company that primarily caters to newer investors, and it makes it easy for people who don’t have much investing experience to get started.
Pros
WiseBanyan is very accessible, making investing easy and convenient for everyone. WiseBanyan offers a number of free resources to its users, including educational material on topics like retirement, investing basics, and long-term investing.
WiseBanyan is ideal for newer investors or those who are only interested in very small transactions. WiseBanyan’s platform doesn’t charge its users to make trades and offers a wide range of investment options for almost every level of experience.
Blooom
Blooom is a different type of investment service. It actively manages your accounts and seeks to maximize your profits and lower your taxes.
Its Smart-Asset Allocation process considers risk tolerance, time horizon and your goals to automatically find a portfolio of stocks, bonds and cash. 2019 update: Blooom has a new financial planner tool that can help you map out your retirement financial strategy.
You can have a financial plan on deck in about 15 minutes after you answer a few questions. It can guide you through smarter decision-making and help you choose the right account type, funds and savings vehicles for your tax strategy.
It’s especially helpful for those who don’t have experience when it comes to investing. Users with Simple, Numoni, Chime and other banking institutions can manage their portfolios with Blooom.
Stock Brokers
Stockbrokers are the middle-men between investors and the financial markets. They match a buyer and seller. If you want to purchase a stock or a bond you would first go through a stockbroker.
Other than that, stockbrokers charge a fee for purchases and/or other fees associated with the transactions.
When searching for a stock broker, you want to look for an active broker with a good reputation for very little cost. Remember to factor in any fees associated with the broker when deciding on a broker.
You can find stockbrokers on the Street Network website.
Robinhood
In Summary
Investing is something that most people try their hands at at some time. What you’ll be doing is taking your money and putting it into various stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or some other financial product, hoping that it will produce a good return for you.
Over time, the stock market has grown at an average rate of around 10% per year. If you pick the right investments, this can be a tremendous boon for you. So how do you get started?
First, you have to have a good broker or financial advisor. Brokers or advisors can help get you set up with an investment account. A broker is someone who can find investments that are suitable for you – usually investing in stocks and bonds – and then trade with you. Brokers or financial advisors are compensated based on the amount of gains you see.
But there is another way to invest, and it’s based on some investment apps. There are a lot of apps out there for you to use, and there are many advantages to turning to them.
They can be easy to use, freeing up your time.
They can work so that you can make just a few drops per week.
They’re easy to find, and there’s a variety of them for you to check out.