What Is Acorns: The Investment App Designed To Make Investing Easy in March 2025

(If you just want to invest in the stock market but not for retirement purposes, Acorns Invest will allow you to buys managed ETF portfolios that closely mirror major indexes). I have two college students 1st and 2nd year and an 8th grader. I want to set up an account that I can invest for them that they will forget even exist until later in life. I don’t have a lot of money but they give me $300.00 each every 5 months or so. Nothing will happen per se — the account will remain in good standing. That said, the value of the assets in your portfolio may decrease.

Acorns review

The Early Match will be subject to recapture by Acorns if funds are withdrawn from the Early Account during the xcritical website four year period, up to the amount for which a 1% Early Match was received. The Early Match will also be subject to recapture if a customer downgrades to a Subscription Plan with a lower monthly fee within this period. Acorns differs from other investment apps by offering an investment and financial experience that seamlessly inter-operates specifically for newer investors or investors seeking a less-complicated investing experience. For example, unlike Robinhood, Acorns limits the ability of non-premium plan users to directly invest in stocks. Acorns also offers unique features like “Earning” to get bonus investments and “Round Ups” to invest the difference of purchases up to the nearest dollar.

App support

Acorns is an investing app offering three paid-subscription plans, which have a range of investment, banking and earning features to help users save and invest for their future and the future of their kids. Acorns Personal, priced at $3 per month, offers access to an investment account, Acorns Later retirement account, and a checking account with Round-Ups and Acorns’ automated investment portfolios. This subscription plan is best suited for those wanting a simple investment strategy for the short and long term and manage their finances in a single easy-to-use application.

For instance, after I answered some basic questions about myself — things like my age, income, risk tolerance, etc., — and Acorns recommended a portfolio that consisted of 80% stocks and 20% bonds, which is moderately aggressive. It is important to note, however, that if you have any special circumstances that fall outside the scope of their basic questions, there are no human advisors that you can speak to directly. For example, increasing my weekly deposits to $25 (plus my monthly Round-Ups average) would get me to $10,000 in principal deposits in about 5 years’ time. Acorns is a financial technology and investment app — launched in August 2014 — geared towards making investing more accessible to the general public. So when it comes to investing apps, I prefer apps with fewer bells and whistles.

The ETFs are selected for you by Acorns after you complete a survey about your financial goals, investing timeline and risk tolerance. Factors like your age, income and net worth are all taken into account when creating your portfolio. ETFs in your Acorns portfolio could include ones like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, which mirrors the popular S&P500 stock index, or iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF which provides broad exposure to U.S. investment-grade bonds. Acorns Personal also offers educational resources through Learning with investing videos and tips. With the Personal plan’s Earning feature, you gain access to more than 450 bonus investment opportunities through shopping partners.

In addition to the five core portfolios, Acorns also offers four ESG portfolios, which stands for “environment, social, and governance” issues. If these are causes you care about, you can elect to invest in an ESG portfolio instead, however, the expense ratios of the funds within these portfolios may be slightly higher. Acorns isn’t really built for people who want to trade individual stocks or do anything sophisticated with their investments, which is something to be aware of if you are considering opening an account.

Acorns rounds up your spare change to get you started investing automatically.

In recent years, Acorns has rolled out new offerings and features like its ESG portfolios to invest according to users’ principles and to directly invest in stocks and ETFs with custom portfolios. ‘Save and Invest’ refers to a client’s ability to utilize the Acorns Real-Time Round-Ups® investment feature to seamlessly invest small amounts of money from purchases using an Acorns investment account. The chart shows an estimate of how much an investment could grow over time based on the initial deposit, contribution schedule, time horizon, and interest rate specified.

Acorns Personal

You can also install the Earn Chrome and iOS Safari Browser Extensions to earn rewards when you shop online. If you’re looking for something a bit less entry level, consider a robo-advisor like Betterment. It’s a solid choice for those who still want to be hands-off with their investments, though more advanced investors have the option to customize through flexible portfolios.

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It does not ensure positive performance, nor does it protect against loss. Acorns clients may not experience compound returns and investment results will vary based on market volatility and fluctuating prices. Bitcoin exposure is provided through the ETF BITO, which invests in Bitcoin futures. This is considered a high-risk investment given the speculative and volatile nature. Investments in Bitcoin ETFs may not be appropriate for all investors and should only be utilized by those who understand and accept those risks. Investors seeking direct exposure to the price of bitcoin should consider a different investment.

Acorns Premium, priced at $12 a month, offers Acorns Personal and Personal Plus’ core offerings as well as additional features specifically for parents. In addition to investment, retirement, checking and emergency fund accounts, Premium users gain access to Acorns Early, an investment account for parents to save for their children’s futures and the ability to add individual stocks. This material has been presented for informational and educational purposes only. The views expressed in the articles above are generalized and may not be appropriate for all investors.

  • Read on for details on how Acorns works, the new features that set Acorns apart from competing investment apps and answer the question of whether Acorns is right for your investing journey.
  • Acorns is a financial technology and investment app — launched in August 2014 — geared towards making investing more accessible to the general public.
  • ‘Save and Invest’ refers to a client’s ability to utilize the Acorns Real-Time Round-Ups® investment feature to seamlessly invest small amounts of money from purchases using an Acorns investment account.
  • Acorns will recommend a portfolio for you based on your age, time horizon, income, goals, and risk tolerance.
  • This is their Morgan Stanley Corporate International (MSCI) ESG rating.

I don’t need – or even want – all the fancy charts and second-by-second data. I just need something that will help me stay consistent and let me accumulate assets in low-cost index funds. The content on DollarSprout includes links to our advertising partners.

(i.e. you invest $1,000, but the overall stock market drops 15%, you can expect a similar decrease in your portfolio value, depending on your allocation/appetite for risk). As with many products in today’s subscription-focused environment, Acorns offers several different pricing tiers, each with its own set of additive features. Acorns’ focus on automating investing will help users build up their savings, however, the high fees might do more harm than they’re worth. Users generally appreciate the app for its user-friendly design and the ease with which it allows them to start investing, but some have raised concerns over the fees charged and the overall value for more experienced investors. Our ultimate goal is to educate and inform, not lure you into signing up for certain offers.

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It offers access to its robo-advisor platform, tax-advantaged IRAs for retirement, plus a checking account. Its main micro-investing feature allows budding investors to start small by investing the spare change from their everyday purchases. Acorns Early Invest, an UTMA/UGMA investment account managed by an adult custodian until the minor beneficiary comes of age, at which point they assume control of the account. Customers in the Gold Subscription Plan are automatically eligible for a 1% «Early Match» promotion on deposits by the Customer of up to $7,000 a year per Early Account. All funds must be held in the applicable Acorns Early Account for at least four years of the Early Match deposit date or until the beneficiary reaches the applicable Age of Transfer, whichever is earlier.

This portfolio will adjust to hold more conservative investments as retirement age approaches. The Acorns Early default portfolio is more aggressive and holds a larger mix of stock ETFs. Reviews are solely applicable to Acorns Early, not any other Acorns product or service. Reviews are not representative of the experience of all customers and are not guarantees of future performance or success. For a larger representative sample, refer to Acorns Early reviews available online and on public review forums such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Compensation from our partners may impact what products we cover and where they appear on the site, but does not have any impact on the objectivity of our reviews or advice. Acorns’ disadvantages mostly revolve around limited manual investing opportunities for more experienced investors who ultimately aren’t the target customer demographic for Acorns. Read on for details on how Acorns works, the new features that set Acorns apart from competing investment apps and answer xcritical reviews the question of whether Acorns is right for your investing journey.

Acorns has amassed over 10 million users and claims $15 billion in assets under management. Like with Invest or Later accounts, you can choose to manually invest in Early accounts, invest a percentage of paychecks or automate contributions. Early accounts automatically invest in Acorns’ aggressive portfolio as these accounts are intended for longer time horizons.

Reset the calculator using different figures to show different scenarios. Results do not predict the investment performance of any Acorns portfolio and do not take into consideration economic or market factors which can impact performance. In addition to Acorns Invest, a taxable brokerage account, there is also Acorns Later, which allows you to open and manage a https://xcritical.solutions/ traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA and/or a 401(k) Rollover. That said, the automated savings component appears to be somewhat attractive, especially if you don’t feel like you would save/invest without it. If that’s the case, it may be worth it to continue on the $3 plan as your balance grows, even if you’re slightly overpaying on fees.