Acorns App Breakdown: Invest Your Spare Change Effortlessly

Jul 31, 2024 By Susan Kelly

Acorn is a unique robot-advisor that automates investing "spare change" from debit and credit card purchases. After enabling Round-Ups in their Acorn investing account settings, consumers can easily invest the difference between their purchase amounts and the nearest dollar. This novel idea lets anyone invest a few pennies on every purchase. New investors and those who struggle to save will like Acorns' simplicity.

Acorns' monthly fees may overshadow its savings function, especially for investors with Acorn accounts who only transact occasionally. The Acorn investing app makes it easy to invest in spare change, but you must examine whether the profits justify the monthly expense.

Account Creation

An Acorns account can be created simply on their website. When making an account, the investor's earnings, age, risk tolerance, time, and monetary goals determine the portfolio's asset allocation. Acorns recommends a broad ETF portfolio based on your Acorn investing goals and interests. A digitally-linked ETF lets you personalize investments at any account level. Moreover, you can select stocks to personalize your Premium account investments. After setting up the account, investors can enable automated Round-Ups or recurring investments. Acorns automatically reinvests dividends, rebalance, and diversify.

Acorns' Round-up micro-saving strategy sets it apart from other robo-investing platforms. This Round-Ups feature lets consumers invest "spare change" after buying common things. For example, when an investor uses their Acorns debit cardor any other linked credit or debit cardto buy $10.25, the total is immediately raised to $11.00, with $0.75 invested for the future.

Setting Goals

Acorns investors have four account options:

  • Investment: This is for regular accounts
  • Later: Your savings plan can become a conventional, SEP, or Roth IRA.
  • Early: Future savings (Premium level only) for kids
  • Online Banking: Online banking lets you invest spare change instantaneously and set up automatic investments for each pay cycle.

Acorn investing app mixes banking and investing. Opening a bank account lets investors set up automatic Round-Ups. Investors can invest any spare change from Acorns debit card purchases immediately. However, if an external checking account or credit card is used, the spare change will only be invested once $5 is reached.

Account Services

Acorns is unique as a robo-advisor since investors can receive extra investments for shopping. By installing the Acorns extension on Chrome or Safari, you can automatically earn investment bonuses from over 400 in-app partner businesses and 15,000 major brand offers when you shop from your desktop or smartphone.

Moreover, Acorn accounts are exclusive to the side hustle search. Users can find part-time, full-time, and remote employment on JobFinder to make extra money. Ultimately, Acorns customers can earn bonuses by inviting others to join. Acorns also match bonus investments up to 25% for regular members and 50% for Premium members.

Cash Management

Features available to all Acorns members:

  • Savings and investment checking account
  • Real-time Round-Ups invest spare coins instantly.
  • Zero overdraft fees
  • No ATM fees at 55,000 US and international locations.
  • Acorns Visa debit card

Plus and Premium customers can open an emergency fund account and earn 3.00% on their checking account and 5.00% on the emergency fund.

Displaying Portfolio With Acorn

Like other robo-advisors, investors will be guided to submit their investment goals and preferences during account setup. Acorn investing app recommends ETFs by subject.

Customization

Portfolio customization is limited to answering questions about investment objectives, time horizons, and risk tolerance during account formation. Each acorn investing strategy can accept a few preferences, including ESG or digitally-linked reserves. In the Premium account, individuals can choose equities to customize their portfolio.

Management

Investors enter their income, age, time horizon, risk tolerance, and financial goals to establish portfolio asset allocation. Since your assets may have deviated too far from the core weightings, Acorns will automatically rebalance them once a month. What constitutes a "significant shift" to trigger automated rebalancing is unclear.

Acorns tries its best to allocate fresh funds among all of your ETFs to keep your portfolio in line with your allocation goals. However, tax-loss harvesting is not considered when rebalancing, purchasing, or selling assets because it is not currently offered. Accessing Acorn accounts shows investors' objective progress in real-time. Round-Ups lets investors invest in real-time on Acorns. The spare change from Acorns' bank account can be invested immediately. External account investments will only be made with the $5 minimum.

User Experience

Desktop

Online investors can open accounts in minutes. Desktop preview makes account access and modifications easy. Installing the free Chrome extension can help users save more and earn more perks at their favorite merchants.

Mobile Screens

You can download Mobile Acorns for iOS or Android. Mobile users can easily access and change their Acorn accounts because they have the same capabilities as PC users. The desktop version does not support checking balances, which are only available in the mobile app. Users must log into the app to upload check photos and enter the amount since ATMs cannot deposit checks.

Costs and Commissions

Investors should know Acorns' costs for each account type:

  • $3/month for Acorns Personal
  • $5/month for Acorns Personal Plus.
  • $9/month for Acorns Premium

The Personal account offers basic Acorn investing, banking, earning, and learning options, while the Plus account has a few extras. The Premium account gives GoHenry (banking for kids), $10,000 life insurance for qualified customers, and a free will to help plan for the future. Additionally, the company assures that there will be no unexpected charges in banking.

Final Verdict

Acorn investing app is unique among robo-advisors. The Round-Ups application lets consumers who struggle to save invest their "spare change" from every credit or debit purchase linked to their account. The most basic membership level for Acorn investing is $3/month, so prospective investors must assess if they can save enough through investments or bonuses to afford it.

For those seeking a straightforward, automated investment solution, Acorns' investment bonuses, children's accounts, life insurance, and free will make it worth the monthly price.

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