Saving for a comfortable retirement doesn’t have to mean a radical lifestyle makeover.
December 11, 2017
How much should millennials save for retirement (especially without giving up beloved treats, like avocado toast at your favorite brunch spot)? That’s the $1 million question and, if you’re a millennial, you’re probably looking for a hint so you can get your finances into shape.
Ultimately, how millennials should save for retirement depends on their income, debt, long-term financial goals and what options they have for stashing money away for the future. Even if it seems way too far off to worry about, numbers don’t lie: The earlier you start saving, the smaller are the amounts you have to sock away at any one time, and the more you will ultimately have when it comes time to kick back in retirement.
Still, 46 percent of millennials say they can’t afford to invest for the future, including by putting money into a retirement account, according to a Bankrate survey. Another survey, also conducted by Bankrate, found that millennials are not saving any money at all (or they’re not saving more than 10 percent of their income).
If you’re struggling to find the cash to save and running into obstacles to millennials saving for retirement, don’t fret. With simple changes, it’s possible to get your savings on track without committing to a total lifestyle makeover (you can still order that avocado toast this weekend). Here’s how:
1. Strike a balance between student debt and savings
Student loan debt is one of the biggest obstacles to millennials saving for retirement. The average student loan debt for graduates from the class of 2018 was $29,200, according to Bankrate. That’s a 2 percent increase from the year prior.
The interest rate on your loans is a huge factor when deciding how much should millennials save for retirement, says Michael Lux, an Indianapolis-based attorney and the founder of a website dedicated to student loan education, strategy and borrower advocacy.
“If you have a student loan with a 3.00% interest rate, it makes sense to invest in retirement rather than aggressively paying down the debt,” Lux says. “However, if you have high interest rates on your student loans, money used to pay down the debt will go much further than many investments.” So if your loans carry a higher rate than what your investments are earning before taxes, you may get more bang for your buck by accelerating your debt payoff.
While you can’t wave a magic wand to get rid of your loans, you can sometimes find a way to make them less taxing on your wallet. Consolidating or refinancing your loans at a lower rate could offer savings by potentially reducing your monthly payment or interest rate. If you’re able to lower your payment without stretching out the loan term, you could use the extra money to start compounding your savings for retirement.
2. Track your spending
Keeping tabs on spending can go a long way toward overcoming the obstacles to millennials saving for retirement.
Kevin Michels, CFP®, says having a clear understanding of your cash flow can help you find the money to save.
Using a financial app can take the hassle out of tracking your spending. These apps link with your checking and credit card accounts to record your purchases so you can see at a glance where your dollars and cents are going.
Michels says once you understand what your current financial picture looks like, you can aim to improve it. This can help answer the question of how much should millennials save for retirement.
“Can you cut out unnecessary expenses or increase your income with a side hustle?” he says, suggesting gigs like freelancing, moonlighting as a ride-sharing driver or hiring out your services via online marketplaces that connect consumers with people willing to lend a hand with everyday tasks. “Figure out exactly how much you can add in surplus each month to go toward saving for retirement.”
Once you’ve added income where you can, and if you feel like you still want to trim your expenses, taking a closer look at your discretionary spending might reveal some easy ways to save on everyday expenses. If you pay for a monthly gym membership, for example, perhaps you could change up your workout routine and start running or do yoga at home instead. If you go out to eat regularly with friends, consider swapping a night out for a potluck dinner or an at-home Sunday brunch—avocado toast and all—to save cash. Finding money for retirement doesn’t mean giving up fun completely. You may just need some new ways to approach it. This could help eliminate obstacles to millennials saving for retirement.
3. Cash in on your employer’s retirement plan
Figuring out how millennials should save for retirement begins with understanding the options. If you have access to a retirement plan at work, that’s a great place to start, says Jake Serfas, lead financial strategist at a financial planning firm in Washington, D.C.
“A 401(k) offered through your employer can be your biggest tool in terms of saving money and preparing for retirement,” he says. Contributions to a 401(k) are deducted from your taxable income, potentially reducing your tax liability for the year. And you can use a 401(k) to grow your retirement savings faster if your employer offers a matching contribution. Not capitalizing on your employer’s 401(k) plan is actually a common retirement savings mistake.
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So how much should millennials save for retirement in their employer’s plan? Serfas says you should at least be saving enough to get the match, if there is one. Matching formulas can vary, but one common match is dollar-for-dollar on the first 6 percent of employee contributions. When you don’t chip in enough to get the match, you’re leaving money on the table.
But what if you don’t have a 401(k) at work? In that case, you could open an IRA. A Discover IRA CD, for instance, offers competitive rates at fixed terms. Both 401(k)s and IRAs offer millennials a tax-advantaged way to save for retirement.
4. Don’t be afraid to start small
Getting past the obstacles to millennials saving for retirement sometimes means having to work on a small scale to achieve your big-picture goal.
Michael Banks, founder of a personal finance and investing blog, says to answer the question of how much should millennials save for retirement, you need to have the right perspective.
“There’s no minimum amount required to start saving for retirement,” Banks says. “Even $20 a month is good, if you invest it in the right places.” Banks suggests micro savings apps, which allow you to invest your spare change in various diversified investments. Banks says the convenience of being able to track your investments from a mobile device may be especially appealing to on-the-go millennials.
“The amount you’re saving isn’t what’s important,” Banks says. “What matters most is saving consistently, early and often.”
If you’re starting your retirement plan from scratch, the Discover IRA Savings Account might be a good option. With no minimum balance to open, this account allows flexible contributions to fit any budget.
Set goals to avoid obstacles to millennials saving for retirement
The question of how millennials should save for retirement doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer. Setting goals based on where you are financially can help you reach your retirement savings objective. Making small changes can help you keep the ball moving toward your ultimate goal of a comfortable retirement without feeling overwhelmed.
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A common misbelief is that one must be rich to invest. It’s easy to invest with little money in a variety of assets and save for your goals. More platforms let you “micro invest” and purchase small amounts of expensive assets.
Even if you only invest a few dollars each month, that money can start building wealth.
Consistently investing small amounts can be more effective than waiting to accumulate a lump sum because you can earn compound interest.
Some people may never invest because they don’t think they have enough money.
In This Article
Best Ways to Start Investing with Little Money
It’s possible to invest as little as $5 at a time and diversify your portfolio. As your financial situation improves, you can increase your monthly investments and try more ideas.
1. Invest in Index Funds
Investing in index funds can be the best option to start investing small amounts of money.
First, index funds let you invest in hundreds of companies with a single investment to quickly diversify your portfolio and minimize risk.
Second, most index funds have low investing fees and expense ratios. For example, a fund with a 0.03% expense ratio costs 30 cents in annual fees.
Most brokers don’t charge trade commissions to buy or sell index funds. Paying fewer fees means you can invest more cash.
Some of the types of index funds you can invest in include:
US stocks
International stocks
Emerging markets
Corporate bonds
Government bonds
Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
The various online stock brokers offer stock and bond index exchange-traded funds (ETFs). These funds trade like individual stocks. The share price fluctuates during the market day and you can buy shares at any time.
Your 401k provider likely offers index mutual funds. The investing strategy is the same except the share price updates once a day after the stock market closes.
Most online brokers offer index funds and don’t charge any trade commissions. However, some can be easier to invest with when you have little money.
Minimum Investment: $5 (varies by broker)
Betterment
Using a robo-advisor like Betterment can be one of the easiest ways to invest in index funds. This fully-automated investing app automatically rebalances your portfolio to maintain your target asset allocation.
You can also enable tax-loss harvesting to minimize your taxable investment income by selling investment losses to offset your investment gains.
You will answer several questions about your age, investment goals and risk tolerance to recommend an investment portfolio of stock and bond index ETFs.
As you grow older, Betterment shifts your portfolio to a more conservative allocation.
Not having to manage your portfolio is one advantage of using a robo-advisor when you don’t have the time or desire to self-manage your investments.
Betterment also offers fractional investing so you can buy partial shares of funds to instantly diversify your portfolio.
Other brokers may require you to buy whole shares which makes buying multiple funds at once difficult if you have limited funds.
You can create a portfolio with $0 and start investing with a $10 initial deposit. The annual account fee for Betterment is 0.25% of your portfolio value.
Acorns
Another unique way to invest in index funds is by using Acorns. This micro-investing app invests your spare change by rounding up your debit and credit card purchases.
You can choose to invest in a premade portfolio of stocks and bonds with different risk levels.
Acorns buys fractional shares of index ETFs when with as little as $5. Taxable and retirement investment accounts are available along with an online checking account.
Monthly plan fees range between $1 and $5 per month.
2. Workplace Retirement Accounts
A workplace retirement account such as a 401k, 403b or a Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), this can be the best place to start investing with little money. See if your employer offers matching contributions. If so, invest enough each month to earn the full match and invest “free money.”
If your workplace doesn’t offer a retirement plan or matching contributions, you can open an individual retirement account (IRA). Most brokers offer IRAs with no account fees or minimum initial deposits. You have multiple investment options.
One perk of investing with a retirement account is the tax benefits. You only pay taxes once. Traditional contributions reduce your current annual income, grow tax-deferred and you pay income taxes when you make a withdrawal. Roth contributions require you to pay income taxes upfront but your withdrawals are tax-free.
Your workplace retirement account investment options can include:
Stock index mutual funds
Bond index mutual funds
Target date funds
Company stock
The investment options are different for each employer yet most plans offer target date funds. Choosing a target date fund that’s nearest to your planned retirement year can be a good option. The fund invests in stocks and bonds and adjusts to a conservative risk tolerance as retirement approaches.
If you only decide to invest in a target date fund, you won’t have to rebalance your asset allocation. However, you should monitor the target date fund performance. You may also decide to self-manage your portfolio by buying index funds to reduce your investment fees.
You can invest as little as $1 at a time into each fund. If you’re uncomfortable managing your own retirement account, Blooom can provide a free portfolio analysis and recommend a portfolio allocation.
Minimum investment: $1
3. Individual Stocks
After establishing an index fund portfolio, you may decide to buy stock in individual companies. There are many online brokers to choose from and most don’t charge account fees or trade commissions to buy or sell shares.
You may decide to buy dividend-paying stocks to earn consistent passive income. Another option is holding companies with strong growth potential that can beat the stock market but may not pay a dividend.
M1 Finance is one of the best free investing apps. You can buy fractional shares of stocks and ETFs with a minimum $25 investment. There are also premade ETF portfolios that can make it easier to diversify. As you invest new money, M1 rebalances your asset allocation.
The minimum initial deposit is $100 for taxable accounts and $500 for retirement accounts to start using M1 Finance.
You can also consider investing with Charles Schwab. You can buy fractional stock slices as small as $5 for many stocks and there are no trade fees or account minimums. But, you will need to self-manage your investment portfolio.
Minimum investment: $5
Tip: Using one of the top investment sites can make it easier to research stocks.
4. Crowdfunded Real Estate
Real estate is a longstanding way to earn passive income without relying on the stock market. However, owning investment properties is expensive and can be time-consuming.
Thanks to real estate crowdfunding, you can invest small amounts of money into commercial and multi-family real estate. These properties have multiple tenants and can provide a more stable income than a single-family rental property. A property manager screens the tenants, collects rent and makes repairs.
You can earn recurring dividends from monthly rent payments. It’s also possible to make money when a property sells for a higher value than the original purchase price.
DiversyFund is one of the best crowdfunding platforms. You can start investing as little as $500. The Growth REIT lets you invest in multifamily apartments across the United States.
One downside of crowdfunded real estate is the multi-year investment commitment. Most platforms require a five-year investment to avoid early redemption fees. As a tradeoff for the long-term commitment, you can earn annual returns that compete with the historical S&P 500 average return of 7% per year.
Minimum investment: $500
5. Small Business Bonds
The bond index funds you invest in hold corporate and government debt. Investing in small business bonds can help you earn a higher yield. Worthy Bonds yield 5% per year and let you invest as little as $10 at a time.
Each bond matures in 36 months but you can sell your position sooner with no early withdrawal penalty.
Read our Worthy Bonds review to learn more.
Minimum investment: $10
6. High-Yield Savings Accounts
It’s wise to keep cash that you need instant access to in a high-yield savings account. Banks are a low-risk way to earn passive income but your returns are not as high.
You might consider keeping your emergency fund in a high-yield savings account that doesn’t charge any account fees. Also, consider opening separate “sinking fund” accounts for various savings goals to avoid borrowing money. A savings account can also be a good place to park cash until you decide where to invest it and earn a higher potential return.
Ally Bank has a competitive interest rate for the high-yield savings account. There are no account fees or minimum balance requirements. The Surprise Savings booster tool can help you calculate a “safe-to-spend” amount and transfer your extra cash into savings.
Minimum investment: $1
7. Certificates of Deposit
Investing in stocks and bonds can provide higher investment returns but carry more risk. A bank certificate of deposit locks in a specific interest rate for the investment term. For example, a 12-month term CD has the same interest rate for the next 12 months.
Instead of keeping your free cash in an interest-bearing savings account, consider opening a bank CD with a similar or higher interest rate.
If the savings account interest rate drops, the CD can earn more interest until the CD matures. Most CDs have early redemption penalties if you withdraw the cash before the term ends. At the end of the term, you can redeem your CD balance penalty-free or renew the CD at the then-current term.
Some banks, including CIT Bank, offer no-penalty CDs. These CDs don’t charge an early withdrawal penalty but may offer lower yields than a term CD.
As bank interest rates are low, the passive income you earn from CDs can be lower than the inflation rate. But earning some interest income can be better than nothing.
Minimum investment: $100
8. Peer-to-Peer Investing
You earn income from savings accounts and bank CDs as the bank lends your money at a higher interest rate. Peer-to-peer lending platforms let you earn a higher rate as you lend directly to the borrower and bypass the bank.
Prosper lets you invest in crowdfunded personal loans with a three-year or five-year repayment term. Borrowers make monthly payments and you make money from the interest payment, minus a 1% service fee. The historical annual returns are between 3.5% and 7.6%.
You can lose money if the borrower defaults on the loan. To avoid losing money, Prosper lets you buy notes in $25 increments and recommends a $2,500 initial investment to properly diversify. You can invest in multiple loans to diversify your portfolio.
Prosper also assigns each borrower a risk rating and you can see basic credit profile details. There’s also an auto-invest feature that spreads your investment across multiple risk ratings. You might be able to easily diversify your portfolio by auto-investing and avoid investing in too many risky loans.
Minimum investment: $25
9. Physical Gold
Precious metals such as physical gold and silver are a popular alternative asset. Unless you invest in gold royalty stocks, you won’t earn dividend income. You make money by selling your precious metal investments above your purchase price.
Buying gold coins and bars can be one of the best ways to invest in gold. Physical gold is expensive and you may not be able to buy an entire ounce or gram at once.
Vaulted lets you buy fractional shares of physical gold bars. Your stash is held at the Royal Canadian Mint. Once your balance is high enough, you can request FedEx delivery to receive your physical gold. There is a 1.8% transaction fee to buy or sell and a 0.4% annual maintenance fee.
It’s also possible to invest in gold trust ETFs that trade on the stock market. Most investing apps let you trade these funds. The share price mimics the price of physical gold.
But most gold ETFs don’t offer physical delivery as the fund family owns the bullion.
Minimum investment: $10
10. Cryptocurrency
When you’re deciding what to invest in first, cryptocurrency probably isn’t going to be at the top of the list. After all, this digital asset is highly volatile and doesn’t earn interest.
Many people who buy crypto do so as an alternative to stocks and gold.
For example, you might buy cryptocurrency as a way to diversify once you hold a sufficient amount of stocks, index funds and gold.
The most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. This cryptocoin has the best name recognition and more merchants accept it as payment instead of paper currency.
There are other “alt-coins” like Ethereum that can also be worth owning if you believe in the long-term potential of cryptocurrency.
It has been fairly difficult to buy cryptocurrency but more platforms are making it easy to buy cryptocurrency. PayPal and Square let you buy Bitcoin and use it to pay for purchases.
However, you won’t be able to move your Bitcoin balance off of their platform.
Another easy way to buy cryptocurrency is through an online broker like eToro. You can trade cryptocurrency futures after a minimum $50 initial deposit.
EToro also lets you copy the investment portfolios of experienced cryptocurrency investors which can improve your income potential.
A third way to buy cryptocurrency is using a digital currency exchange such as Coinbase. Buying directly from an exchange lets you own real Bitcoin and alt-coins. You can transfer them to a cryptocurrency wallet for added security from hackers.
No matter where you decide to buy cryptocurrency, you can buy fractional shares of Bitcoin and other coins. Investment minimums and transaction fees vary by platform.
Minimum investment: $2 (varies by platform)
11. Treasury Bonds
Most investors get exposure to government bonds by holding bond index funds in their brokerage account or 401k workplace retirement plan.
As bonds can be pricey and confusing to buy, bond funds make it easy to earn passive income.
You can have more control over which bonds you own by buying U.S. Treasury bonds. You can choose the maturity date. Each Treasury bond has a $100 minimum investment with a maturity date of up to 30 years.
It’s also possible to buy Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPs) as a hedge against future inflation.
Another option is purchasing Series I or Series EE Savings Bonds. Both types of savings bonds have a $25 minimum investment.
You can buy Treasury bonds from TreasuryDirect.
Minimum investment: $100 for Treasury notes and bonds ($25 for savings bonds)
12. Fine Wine
A long-term investing idea is owning fine wine. You can open a standard portfolio at Vinovest with a $1,000 minimum initial investment.
Vinovest automatically builds your wine portfolio making it easy to start if you’re unfamiliar with wine investing.
Each bottle in your portfolio remains in climate-controlled cellars across the world and is insured against damages. You decide when to sell your wine. It’s possible to request delivery if you want to open a bottle.
Collectible wine can increase in value as it ages and the scarcity of unopened bottles increases. Wine investing is like owning physical gold and doesn’t earn dividend income.
It can take up to 30 years to earn the best value before you sell a bottle.
Minimum investment: $1,000
13. Fine Art
Another unique investment option is investing in fine art. Masterworks lets you buy shares in classic and modern pieces with a $1,000 minimum investment.
The holding period for most pieces is between three and ten years. You earn a profit if the piece sells for a profit.
Due to the relatively high initial minimum investment and waiting years to earn income, you may invest small amounts of money in other ideas first to make money fast.
Minimum investments: $1,000
Summary
There are many ways to start investing little money today and earn recurring income. Many platforms have small minimum investments which make it easy to try several ideas and diversify your portfolio.
As you increase your income, you can boost your monthly investment.
How do you invest your money? Which idea are you going to try first?
Josh is a personal finance writer and Founder of MoneyBuffalo.com. He has been featured in publications like Student Loan Hero, Well Kept Wallet and the US News and World Report.
Investing in the stock market has never been easier. Many of the best online brokerages are designed for beginner investors and offer unique incentives for signing up. The good news is that you can enjoy free stocks just for signing up.
Investing in the stock market, real estate, or crypto has never been easier. Gone are the days when you had to be an expert or work with a stock broker to buy company shares or invest your money. You can invest your money in several ways, with options for every level of risk tolerance and investment understanding.
Many of the best online brokerages are designed for beginner investors and offer unique incentives for signing up. The good news is that you can enjoy free stocks just for signing up.
Table of Contents
How to Get Free Stocks
You have so many options today for investing in stocks, real estate, or crypto that investing platforms must work harder to gain your business. This means you can find many new discount brokerages and established investment platforms offering free stocks or financial bonuses to lure in investors.
We decided to look up the best free stock offers for those looking to take advantage of this opportunity.
Ready? Let’s dive in!
1. Public
Public is an investing platform offering commission-free stock trades, and it’s become a hit with young investors just starting. The platform is also a social online stock brokerage that lets you see how others invest so that you don’t feel alone in your financial journey. Public allows you to track the trade activity of verified investors with proven track records, so you’re always learning about investing options.
Another feature that makes Public attractive to young investors is that you can purchase fractional shares, meaning that you can start investing in more prominent companies even if you’re not in the financial position to buy whole shares.
Public’s platform also gives you access and exposure to asset classes like ETFs, crypto, luxury goods, and artwork. They plan to add real estate and music royalties to this list of asset classes soon.
We should note that Public doesn’t participate in payment for order flow like many other brokers do. This means that the company doesn’t sell your trades to third parties.
How do you get free stocks with Public?
Open an approved brokerage account with Open to the Public Investing.
Deposit at least $20 in your account.
Claim your reward from the top right of your home screen.
The reward, in this case, is a fractional share of a specific stock, ETF, or crypto token (you must open an account with Apex Crypto LLC for a crypto asset reward). The cash value of the reward you receive will vary from $1 to $300, with about 95% of participants receiving a reward valued at $1. According to Public, about 4.9% of participants will earn a reward valued at $5, and only 0.1% will earn a reward valued at $300.
2. moomoo
Moomoo claims that you can trade like a pro on their platform. There are no commissions, account minimums, hidden fees, or trade minimums with moomoo. The platform offers free investing tools with real-time data and AI support, plus you have access to global markets (US, Hong Kong, and China-A-shares) under one account. It also has US-based licensed specialists who are available for professional support.
How do you get free stocks with moomoo?
The moomoo home page states that you can get up to 15 free stocks valued between $3 to $2,000 each when you sign up. The offer is subject to change at any time.
Here are the different ways to get free stocks with moomoo:
Open a brokerage account and draw for a chance to earn one free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
Deposit $100 into your account during the promotional period, and you will be entered into a draw four times to earn one free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
Deposit $1,000 into your account during the promotional period, and you will get ten chances to draw for free stock worth between $3 and $2,000.
According to moomoo’s current promotional page, the free stock is completely random based on a specific probability distribution. There’s a 95% chance you’ll get a free stock worth $3 to $9.99, a 4.9% chance of getting a stock worth $10-$99.99, and a 0.1% chance of getting a stock worth $100 or more.
3. M1 Finance
M1 Finance is a free investment platform with a wide variety of professionally chosen portfolios for you to invest in. M1 Finance also offers various brokerage accounts, so there’s likely an account that will match your investing preferences.
The company refers to its platform as the “Finance Super App” since you can manage all of your financial tasks, like investing, spending, and borrowing, in one place to simplify your life. The platform comes with a checking account and lending services, and you can earn 1% cash back as a Plus user of the M1 Finance checking account.
M1 Finance is known for letting users invest in pies, which means that you can invest in different securities that make up slices of the whole pie. You can create a custom pie of stocks and ETFs based on your investment strategy. If you want to leave the guesswork to the professionals, you can use one of the expert pies created for different investors.
How do you get free stocks with M1 Finance?
M1 currently offers up to $500 for free if you deposit at least $10,000 within 14 days of opening a new brokerage account.
When you deposit $10,000 to $29,999.99 to your account, you get a $75 bonus. When you deposit $30,000 to $49,999.99, you get a bonus of $150. When you deposit $50,000 to $99,999.99, you get a $250 bonus. To earn a cash bonus amount of $500, you have to deposit over $100,000.
You can also use the M1 referral program to get $10 for free. When you sign up for an account through a friend’s link, you both get $10. You can then use this money to invest how you wish through the platform.
* Account Minimum $100
* Build custom portfolios (or)
* Choose expert portfolios
* Stocks, ETFs, REITs
Open an account
4. Robinhood
This investing platform was a game changer during the pandemic as many young folks turned to Robinhood to begin their investment journey. While there were some controversies related to Robinhood that came along with the 2021 meme stock rallies, you can’t ignore this easy-to-use app that has changed investing.
Robinhood’s popular commission-free app is designed for investors of all levels. You can invest in stocks and crypto through Robinhood, and it also provides ETFs, margin trading, and options trading for those looking to level up their investments. With 24/7 professional support, educational resources, and the ability to purchase fractional shares, it’s clear why many young investors have turned to Robinhood and its straightforward mobile app.
How do you get free stocks with Robinhood?
To get free stocks with Robinhood, you must open an account. Once you’ve linked your bank account, you’ll be given a specific dollar amount and will pick your gift stock from a list of America’s top 20 leading companies, based on market cap, in their respective industries. You can use the cash value you’re gifted to purchase fractional shares of the companies offered on the list in case you don’t earn enough to buy a total share.
The Robinhood website doesn’t specify the exact cash value you’ll receive, though it ranges from $5 to $200, with about 98% of the new account holders being granted a reward running from $5 to $10. You can use whatever amount you’re gifted to purchase stocks or fractional shares of a company.
You do have to keep the stock for three days from the day you claim it. When you sell the shares, you can use the money to purchase other stocks. If you want to withdraw this money from your account, you must keep the share’s cash value in your account for at least 30 days. Once the 30-day window is up, you can withdraw your funds without restrictions.
5. SoFi Invest
SoFi Invest is a part of the SoFi family of products. Their mission is to help people reach financial independence and realize their ambitions. SoFi Invest is an app designed to let you track and trade money. The investment platform lets you trade stocks and ETFs with no commissions, invest in IPOs before they hit the public market, invest in crypto, and even set up simplified automated investing.
The platform also offers educational resources to help you learn more about investing if you’re not comfortable with it yet. SoFi has many other personal finance products, including student loans, credit cards, banking, credit score monitoring, and personal loans. You can essentially use SoFi to handle all of your personal finance needs.
How do you get free stocks with SoFi Invest?
You must open an Active SoFi Invest Brokerage Account with SoFi Invest and deposit $10. Then you become eligible for a signup bonus that ranges from $5 to $1,000. The promotional offer gives a 0.028% probability of earning $1,000 and an 85.488% chance of gaining the $5 reward.
6. Webull
Webull is one of the new players in the stock broker space, offering zero commissions and no deposit minimums. Every member gets smart tools for smart investing. Webull allows you to diversify your portfolio with various investment products like stocks, fractional shares, options, ETFs, ADRs, and OTC.
Webull also attracts more sophisticated investors by offering innovative tools like advanced charting and comprehensive financial analysis. When you become a member, you get access to a community with millions of folks discussing investment strategies, so you’re not alone during your investment journey.
How do you get free stocks with Webull?
According to their website, Webull’s process is fairly simple, and you can get up to 12 free fractional shares with a value ranging from $3 to $3,000. This promotional offer ends on January 4, 2023.
Here are the two ways you can get free stocks with Webull:
Open an account with Webull to get two free fractional shares.
Deposit any amount of money in your new account and get up to 10 free fractional shares.
The free stocks, which include NYSE or NASDAQ-listed companies with a minimum market cap of $2 billion and a share price ranging from $3 to $300, are chosen randomly. The odds of being rewarded a stock ranging between $151 and $300 is approximately 1:10000.
7. Groundfloor
Groundfloor is a real estate crowdsourcing app aimed at debt investments, so you can get into real estate without allocating a significant portion of your savings. Real estate investing platforms have become more popular over the last few years, with more apps like Groundfloor popping up.
You can invest with Groundfloor in two ways:
The “Stairs” saving account: This is essentially a high-interest savings account with a 4% APR, no fees, and no minimum balance. You can leave your money there and let it grow until you’re ready to start investing.
Groundfloor real estate crowdsourcing: You can invest in individual renovation loans or use automatic investing tools to find projects you can fund based on your chosen criteria.
Groundfloor claims to be the only investing platform where you can securely earn up to 10% on your money with investments backed by real assets. The platform is known for “savesting” since they try to combine saving with investing.
Groundfloor has grown to about 200,000 users and over $240 million in assets under management. Groundfloor generally repays all investments every 4-12 months, which is rare considering that real assets back your investments.
How do you get free stocks with Groundfloor?
When you invest $100 into your new Groundfloor account, you get a $50 credit within 30 days. All you need to do is link your bank account, pick your investments (or let Groundfloor do it for you), and collect your interest. You and a friend can also earn a $50 referral bonus when you get them to sign up for Groundfloor using your referral link.
8. Plynk
Plynk is an app designed to make investing easy for beginners, helping you learn about financial investments as you go. You can start investing for as little as $1, so you don’t have to be intimidated by the investment process or by setting aside a large chunk of capital.
Plynk uses simple language that’s easy to understand and teaches you about investing concepts as you work on growing your money. They offer many tips and how-tos to guide you through the process. Plynk will ask you some questions that it will use to narrow down investment opportunities based on your interests.
How do you get free stock with Plynk?
You create an account, then link your bank account to earn the $10 signup incentive. You can also get up to a $100 deposit match as a bonus for a limited time.
9. Fundrise
Fundrise helps you start real estate investing with only $10. This real estate crowdsourcing app is focused on long-term investments. The best part of investing with Fundrise is adding real estate exposure to your portfolio without dealing with any of the hassles typically involved in owning and renting out properties.
Fundrise has multiple investment options depending on how much capital you have to work with. There’s a Starter level for those who want to begin with as little as $10 and packages that go in tiers up to $100,000 for accredited investors.
Fundrise also recently launched the Innovation Fund for those who want additional diversification. This investment is focused on high-growth private tech companies that could provide lucrative returns in the future.
How do you get free stocks with Fundrise?
Fundrise will automatically deposit $10 as a bonus when you open your new account and link your bank account via its promotional page. Several terms and conditions apply as to who qualifies for this offer. You can use the bonus cash for investing in one of Fundrise’s fund options. For more information on Fundrise, check out our full review.
* Invest in real estate with $10
* Open to all investors
* Online easy to use site and app
Invest now
10. Firstrade
Firstrade is a full-service online brokerage that allows you to invest in stocks, options, and mutual funds while you get access to a full suite of investment products, research, tools, and even customer service. The best part is that you get all of these services for free. Firstrade offers zero-dollar commission trades and $0 options contract fees on its award-winning platform.
Firstrade has an extensive list of services for investors, including some of the following perks:
Extended-hours trading: You can get pre-market news and after-market-hours sessions.
Trade ideas: You get access to premium research from trusted platforms like Morningstar, Benzinga, and Zacks.
Free educational resources: There are free tools and live webinars for investors of all levels.
According to Firstrade’s website, you can get up to $4,000 in cash bonuses when you sign up. While you don’t get paid in stocks, you get the next best thing, cash.
How do you get free stocks with Firstrade?
It’s very easy to earn free stocks with Firstrade, as all you have to do is fund your account to get a cash bonus. This promotion ends on January 17, 2023, and there’s a list of criteria for earning free stocks based on how much you invest. Here’s how much you can earn in cash with Firstrade:
Deposit or transfer amount
Cash bonus
$5,000+
$50
$10,000+
$100
$25,000+
$300
$100,000+
$700
$500,000+
$1,500
$1,000,000+
$3,000
$1,500,000+
$4,000
You can also get up to $200 in transfer fee rebates for account transfers and $25 in wire transfer fee rebates.
11. Acorns
Acorns allows you to save, invest, and learn with one simple app. You can set the Acorns app to save and invest for you automatically. For example, you can turn on the Round-Ups feature to invest your spare change by rounding up your purchases to the next dollar and allocating the difference to your portfolio. According to Acorns, the average new user will invest an extra $166 within four months by just rounding up and investing their spare change.
Acorns also offers diversified portfolios that experts create, including ETFs that professionals from top investment firms manage. With over 10 million sign-ups, Acorns has been helping millennials save money daily.
With Acorns, you can earn bonus rewards by purchasing products from many top brands. Since Acorns works with over 15,000 brands, including Apple, Amazon, and many others, you have multiple opportunities to earn rewards.
How do you get free stocks with Acorns?
To get your $10 sign-up bonus on Acorns, simply create a new account and make your first investment of at least $5. Acorns also offers a $5 investment referral bonus to you and a friend when you get your friend to sign up. Find out more about Acorns in our full review.
12. Stash
Stash is an investing app tailored for beginners, allowing users to start investing with very little cash. With only a $5 investment minimum, Stash allows new investors to start small until they’re more comfortable.
Stash offers banking and investing tools to its ten million-plus users. You can automate your investing, put your money into stocks, or let Stash create a customized investment based on your financial preferences. If you’re unsure which investment option to choose, the Smart Portfolio will automatically expose you to stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrency.
Among other unique features, Stash can work with parents or guardians who want to open a custodial account for their children to invest in their future. Stash also offers a Stock-Back debit card that lets you earn 1% in stock on all of your purchases. The Stock-Back card rewards you with stocks of the companies you shop with.
In addition to no hidden fees, Stash offers a Stock Round-Up feature where you can round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest your spare change in stocks. This platform is an easy, educational, and convenient way to invest in stocks.
How do you get free stocks with Stash?
Stash is currently offering $5 to anyone who signs up for a Stash Invest account which you can use to spend on more investments.
Stash also has weekly stock parties, where investors can earn bonus stock in a well-known company for participating in the party and sharing a referral code with friends.
13. Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab is one of the country’s biggest, most well-known banks and brokerages, with many physical locations available nationwide.
The Schwab digital platform offers various financial tools and accounts for investors of every level. You can find different brokerage accounts depending on your investing goals. The Schwab brokerage account features options trading, margin trading, and checking account features like paper checks and debit cards.
You can utilize the robo-advisor investing tool for a more hands-off approach to investing your money. You can also visit a physical branch near you if you have any pressing issues. There’s also 24/7 access to investment professionals if you have questions.
How do you get free stocks with Charles Schwab?
Charles Schwab touts that new investors will get its investing 101 course and a $101 cash bonus. You have to open up a Schwab Starter Kit, which includes $101 of Schwab Stock Slices, investing education, and other financial tools (like budget planners, for example).
To get free stocks with Schwab, you must open your account and fund it with $50 within the first 30 days. Then you’ll receive $101 to split equally between the top five stocks in the S&P 500.
Which is the Best Online Broker For Free Stocks?
If you’re looking for free stocks while opening up a new investment account, the good news is there are plenty of options. Those newer to investing will want to explore the various choices to see which broker works best for their unique financial situations. Every app offers distinct features and benefits that will hold different values depending on your current financial situation.
The investing app you go with will also depend on what you’re looking to invest in, as you can choose between different assets like stocks, ETFs, real estate, crypto, and so on. The best part of investing in 2023 is finding a platform that will match your investment strategy, so you can shop around until you’re satisfied.
As always, we urge you to carefully read the fine print to ensure that you qualify for free stocks if you’re solely signing up for the financial incentives.
Did the movie “The Big Short” go right over your head? Does Nasdaq sound more like a foreign country than a stock market index? When you hear about bear markets and bull markets, do you envision adorable cartoon mammals browsing for fresh produce at a local farmers market?
You’re not alone.
The stock market can be confusing, and if you’re not a financial wizard in the Wall Street inner circle, you might be tempted not to bother with stock and options trading at all. But you’d be missing out.
That’s where apps like Robinhood come in. In this Robinhood review, we’ll discuss how Penny Hoarders can go from novice traders to expert stock market gurus, no matter how much or how little they have to invest.
What Is Robinhood?
Robinhood offers a unique brokerage account with commission-free investing from your smartphone. Robinhood has been around for the better part of a decade — the company launched April 18, 2013. Its two founders, Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, met at Stanford University as roommates and eventually moved to New York City to build finance companies.
Upon seeing firsthand how Wall Street insiders and powerhouse firms paid almost nothing when trading stocks while average Americans had to pay a commission fee for every trade, they instead headed to California to develop a financial product that allowed everyone to trade easily and affordably.
The resulting financial product, of course, was Robinhood. The company today is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
Robinhood has not been without its challenges. It’s famous for serious outages during market surges in 2020 and its role in the early 2021 market chaos related to the Reddit forum called r/wallstreetbets, where it restricted member access to securities like GameStop, Nokia and AMC. More recently, Robinhood laid off 23% of its staff, just one example of the massive tech industry layoffs in 2022, and also has been in the news for questionable trades.
However, Robinhood’s overall mission to make stock market trading accessible for everyone is admirable, and it is one of many investment and trading tools that seeks to put power back in consumers’ hands to elevate the financial status of the average American.
That’s a product that, even with its flaws, we can get behind.
What Tradable Securities Does Robinhood Offer?
The Robinhood platform is a great solution for free(!) trading of stocks, options, ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), as well as cryptocurrency trading. The trading platform requires no minimum balance, offers fractional shares and includes plenty of educational resources. While Robinhood is most known for trading stocks and crypto, you can also use it for cash management.
Robinhood does not, however, offer access to mutual funds and bonds.
In 2021, Robinhood began to offer IPO access, meaning investors could purchase shares of stock in new companies at the IPO price before they go public. And in 2022, it introduced individual retirement accounts, or IRAs.
What Can You Trade on Robinhood?
U.S. exchange-listed stocks
U.S. exchange-listed ETFs
Options contracts for U.S. exchange-listed stocks and ETFs
ADRs for more than 650 globally listed companies
Cryptocurrency
What Can’t You Trade on Robinhood?
Foreign-domiciled stocks
Select OTC equities
Preferred stocks
Tracking stocks
Stocks that trade on foreign exchanges
Royalty trusts
Units
Closed-end funds
Mutual funds
Bonds
Fixed-income trading
New York registry shares
Limited partnerships
Chinese securities affected by the Nov. 2020 executive order
Spanish ADRs
How to Get Started with Robinhood
To sign up with a Robinhood brokerage account, simply visit the website and press the black “sign up” button.
Hot Tip: Robinhood is currently offering one free fractional share upon signup. There are 20 fractional shares available to choose from. To generate its 20 offers, Robinhood chose the two largest S&P 500 companies within each of the top 10 sectors based on market cap.
To open an account with Robinhood, you have to meet a few individual requirements:
You must be 18 or older.
You need a valid Social Security Number (Note: You may not use a Taxpayer Identification Number).
You must be a legal U.S. citizen, U.S. permanent resident or have a valid U.S. visa and have an address in the 50 states or Puerto Rico (exceptions made for members of the U.S. military stationed outside the country).
The Robinhood trading platform is accessible via the web or app (iOS and Android).
The process of activating your account can take some time. You’ll start by submitting an application. While Robinhood reviews the application, you can queue one deposit to fund your account, but you won’t be able to use that money to make trades until account approval.
Typically, Robinhood will take a few days to either approve your application or request more information. If they request more information or documentation, be prepared to allow five to seven days for review.
How Much Does Robinhood Cost?
Trading with Robinhood is free. That’s the whole reason its founders launched the company: free stock trading for regular people. That means you won’t pay commissions on equity trades or options trades. However, you could wind up having to pay account transfer fees, wire fees, check fees and live broker fees, among others.
In addition, Robinhood Gold allows you to trade on margin at a 7.75% annual rate (11.75% for non-Gold members). It also allows you to make bigger deposits with faster fund access. This fee for the margin account is $5 per month.
Robinhood Gold, Explained
Margin trading means trading with borrowed money. If you invest in a bad stock and lose money on the investment, you’ll owe that money back.
For example, say you borrow $500 to invest in a stock worth $500. But that stock plummets to $100. You will still owe the remaining $400 back to Robinhood. That’s what makes margin trading a little too risky for novice traders.
Not only that, but if you borrow more than $1,000 to trade on margin, you’ll owe 7.75% yearly interest on that borrowed money above that $1,000.
Because Robinhood is targeted at new investors — and margin trading is a risky practice that can break even the savviest stock market gurus — we recommend that you invest with your own money, and make sure it’s money that, if lost, will not financially ruin you.
In fact, one of our biggest stock trading tips for beginners is to stay away from margin trading.
So How Else Does Robinhood Make Money?
If Robinhood is commission-free and not everyone uses Robinhood Gold, how does Robinhood make money off you? Robinhood spells this out transparently on its website:
Rebates from market makers and trading venues: Robinhood has developed relationships with market makers and trading venues that pay Robinhood rebates for directing orders to those makers and venues. In the industry, this is known as payment for order flow (PFOF).
Stock loans: Robinhood can loan stocks held in your account to traders and hedge funds for short selling. Robinhood gets to keep the money it makes from this; you as the investor do not share in the wealth.
Income from cash: If you have idle cash sitting uninvested but haven’t moved it into a cash management account, Robinhood earns interest on that cash.
Cash management account: Every time you use the debit card for your cash management account, Sutton Bank (the card issuer) earns a fee, which it shares with Robinhood.
Robinhood Gold: Robinhood makes money off every Gold subscription, both from the monthly fee and from margin interest.
Robinhood Review: Key Features
In this section, we will break down some of the hallmark features of Robinhood.
Robinhood: At a Glance
Feature
Details
More Details
Trading fees
$0
n/a
Account minimum
$0
n/a
Tradable securities
Stock options
ETFs ADRs; crypto
Mobile app rating
4.2 on App Store
4 on Google Play
Customer support
Talk to a live agent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
30-minute guarantee
Other key features
Fractional shares
IPO access
Beginner perks
Educational resources
Free stock at sign-up
Commission-Free
Robinhood’s schtick has long been that it offers commission-free trading. That means you will spend $0 for stock trading and $0 for options trading. ETFs also are commission-free.
This was the original mission of the founders, but in the time since launching their revolutionary idea, some of the bigger, traditional players, like Fidelity and Charles Schwab, have latched onto the same idea — and are backed by a better customer support system and a better-supported platform.
That has meant the Robinhood trading platform has had to find new ways to differentiate, like cryptocurrency and fractional shares. More on these below.
No Account Minimum
Of course, you will need to put money in your account to invest, but Robinhood does not have an account minimum, nor does it charge you for having a low or zero balance. And with fractional shares being an option, you can get started investing with as little as a dollar in your account.
Note: To purchase a security on margin (through Robinhood Gold), you need to have at least $2,000 in your account. This is not a Robinhood requirement but rather a regulation set by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Cryptocurrency Trading
Cryptocurrency is still a foreign concept to many investors, but just because something is new and scary (also, it’s been around since 2009, so it’s hardly new anymore) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest. Not all brokers allow you to buy and sell cryptocurrency, but Robinhood offers support for multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Ethereum, with Robinhood Crypto (open 24/7).
In keeping with the whole “Robinhood is free” theme, Robinhood charges 0% for crypto exchanges. Some competitors charge up to 4%.
Fees
Not only does Robinhood offer free trades on stocks, options, ETFs and ADRs, it also has no account fees, inactivity fees or ACH transfer fees. Robinhood Gold, as mentioned, currently costs $5 a month.
Mobile App
Robinhood was created in the heart of Silicon Valley in Menlo Park, so, unsurprisingly, its mobile app is streamlined and easy to use. At the time of writing, the Robinhood app had 4.2 stars in the App Store based on more than 4 million reviews.
Its website, too, is streamlined. It doesn’t have a lot of extras, which is great if you are a novice trader. A more senior investor may find the site lacking, however.
Customer Support
While Robinhood offers customer support, this seems to be the biggest issue raised by members. Customer review sites often are littered with complaints that customer service is virtually nonexistent, especially pre- and post-market.
In an effort to improve its relatively low-rated customer support options, Robinhood rolled out a new customer service feature in 2021. This allows customers to request a call back, 24/7. Robinhood promises an agent should call within 30 minutes.
No Mutual Funds and Bonds
While commission-free stocks, options, ETFs and even crypto are a big pro of Robinhood, its lack of mutual funds and bonds can be frustrating for traders who want to diversify. As far as retirement accounts go, mutual funds are a key part of a retirement investment strategy.
Fractional Shares
True to its goal of making growing financial wealth more accessible to average Americans, Robinhood released fractional share options in late 2019. This means, if you can’t afford an expensive stock valued at, say, $1,000, you could instead buy a fraction of the stock, maybe $100 worth of it, or even just $10.
Right now, Robinhood allows you to buy as small as one-millionth of a share. Just like full shares, trading of fractional shares can be done in real time and is commission-free.
Recurring Investments
Another tool that Robinhood has introduced in recent years is recurring investments, which is a nice pairing with a fractional share investment strategy. For example, if Company X’s stock hovers around $200, you can set up a recurring investment in a fractional share at $25/week. Within roughly eight weeks, you could own a full share.
Most brokers structure recurring investments as buying by the share, which typically leaves your account funded with some uninvested cash. But Robinhood’s recurring investments are structured as buying by a dollar amount, which makes the best use of all your invested cash.
IPO Access
New in 2021, Robinhood gave customers access to purchase stocks in upcoming IPOs (initial public offerings) at the IPO price. No minimum account balances or special status requirements are necessary.
Cash Management Account
Another cool feature of Robinhood is the associated cash management account. You can have your paycheck deposited here, use it to pay bills and deposit checks, and, of course, fund your account. Like a proper bank account, this account gives you access to more than 75,000 fee-free ATMs (pretty much everywhere Mastercard is accepted) and comes with a debit card. And the best part: It earns 1.5% APY (4.65% APY for Gold members). For reference, the FDIC says the average interest rate for a savings account is 0.33% APY. And because the account is operated through a network of banks, you’ll get more than the typical $250,000 FDIC insurance; instead, the account is insured up to $1.25 million.
Educational Resources
A lot of now-outdated Robinhood reviews mention the lack of educational resources. We couldn’t find anything to be less true of Robinhood. Perhaps in response to some of those reviews, Robinhood has stepped up its game, with plenty of online resources on the website as well as a daily financial newsletter called Robinhood Snacks. Robinhood markets it as a “3-minute newsletter with fresh takes on the financial news.”
Pro Tip
Serious investors keep up with this kinds of news. It may not have the same appeal as celebrity gossip, but it will help you make wise decisions investments decisions.
Robinhood makes it easy to access news from Reuters, Cheddar, WSJ Markets, etc. Upgrading to Robinhood Gold gets you access to Morningstar, Nasdaq and Nasdaq Totalview Level 2 Market Data.
What Customers Are Saying About Robinhood
Because of Robinhood’s role in the recent GameStop market chaos and following layoffs in 2022, many angry investors and emboldened Redditors spoke their minds online, meaning Robinhood’s current ranking on sites like the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Google Play is suffering. This is more a reflection of reviewers’ overall criticisms of capitalism, hedge fund managers and the 1% than it is on Robinhood, which, if you take a step back, is really trying to help the average investor.
Pros and Cons of Robinhood
There’s a lot to love about Robinhood, especially if you are a new trader. More experienced traders may prefer a different approach to trading, however. Weigh these pros and cons before deciding on a Robinhood brokerage account.
Pros
The educational content is great if you are new to the stock market and want to learn the language.
The cash management account makes it easy to fund your investments and earns a decent APY.
You can strategize by combining fractional shares and recurring investments to diversify your assets and minimize uninvested cash, no matter how much you have to invest.
The commission-free trading and no account minimum truly make this accessible to anyone who wants to invest.
Robinhood gives you the option of investing in cryptocurrency and access to IPOs.
The mobile app and online trading platform are known for their ease of use.
There are no account or trading fees, nor are there account inactivity or ACH transfer fees
Robinhood is running a promotion wherein you get free fractional share upon signing up.
Cons
The role Robinhood played in limiting investments in squeeze stocks (like GameStop) in early 2021 brought the original mission of the company into question. The 2022 layoffs didn’t help.
Customer support is lacking, especially compared to larger brokers. Robinhood customers complain that customer service is especially challenging pre- and post-market.
Robinhood lacks mutual funds and bonds.
By not charging investors commission, Robinhood instead makes money through the payment for order flow, a common standard among online brokers. Some critics say this is a conflict of interest.
Are There Alternatives to Robinhood?
If you want to stay away from major players like TD Ameritrade and Charles Schwab, Robinhood is arguably the most popular trading tool.
Its most notable competitor is Webull. Both Robinhood and Webull have their advantages; it truly comes down to your personal preferences. But Robinhood and Webull aren’t your only options. In fact, we’ve rounded up the best investment apps currently offered; choosing the right app depends on your own specific needs and investment strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Robinhood
Still have questions about opening a Robinhood account? We’ve provided answers to some of the questions our readers are most commonly asking.
Is Robinhood Safe?
Yes, Robinhood is a safe platform for investing. Robinhood is a member of the SIPC (Securities Investor Protection Corporation), meaning your funds are insured up to $500,000. Robinhood also is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Is Robinhood a Brokerage Account?
Yes, Robinhood offers a brokerage account as its key offering, but you can also open a cash management account with Robinhood.
Does Robinhood Pay Dividends?
Robinhood processes your dividends automatically, crediting cash to your account by default.
Is Robinhood Gold Worth It?
Most investors will be fine with Robinhood’s free investing accounts. Being a Robinhood Gold member is ideal for margin trading, but we don’t recommend this unless you are a more seasoned investor.
Timothy Moore covers banking and investing for The Penny Hoarder from his home base in Cincinnati. He has worked in editing and graphic design for a marketing agency, a global research firm and a major print publication. He covers a variety of other topics, including insurance, taxes, retirement and budgeting and has worked in the field since 2012. Freelancer Lauren Richardson contributed to this post.
Let’s start off with everyone’s least favorite kind of data. Without checking, do you know how much you have in debt? And how much of that total is interest?
Are you cringing? I certainly am whenever I think about how much debt I owe.
Turns out, we’re not just worried about debt, we’re planning our lives around it. CBS News reports that 74% of student loan borrowers in Gen Z and 68% of Millennials are putting off critical financial decisions — like saving for emergencies and building a retirement fund — because of student debt.
This crisis means there’s a huge market for Changed, a microsaving app that funnels your spare change directly toward debt payments.
What is Changed?
Changed uses the “round up” model popularized by other spare change apps like Acorns. The Changed app rounds your purchases to the nearest dollar and transfers the rounded-up amount to a bank account, which then sends the money to your loan issuers.
Changed was founded by Dan Stelmach, who figured spare change installments could help his debt load go from ridiculous to manageable. And an automated savings app could do the work for him.
In 2018, Stelmach and his brother Nick Sky pitched Changed on the reality show Shark Tank, walking away with an investment to kickstart the company. At the time of this writing, they’ve helped borrowers pay down over $25 million in total loan costs.
Read more: Student Loan Debt: Understanding the Growing National Crisis
How Does the Changed App Work?
Download Changed on the Apple App store (for iOS) or Google Play store (for Android). There are links to download on the Changed website.
First, you enter your basic sign-up information (address, birthdate, phone number). This is only used to set up your account.
Next, Changed opens an FDIC-insured savings account for you through the financial software company SynapseFI. Banking info is encrypted and secure, as with any savings account. The account is for storing your funds until they’re transferred to the student loan provider.
Then, you’ll enter your student loan information by linking to your loan servicer. Changed links up to almost all federal and private loan servicers — if your lender isn’t listed, let Changed know and they’ll help you add the info manually.
Changed walks you through where to find all your student loan stats, like your account number and the date your loans were issued. You can round up from multiple accounts, and from more than one servicer. You can also pick which account you want to fund first.
Read more: How Student Loans Work
Finally, you’ll link your Changed account to your checking or primary spending account(s). Changed doesn’t store your checking account info, it just has you log in through the app.
From there, the app looks at your spending patterns and starts setting aside your spare change. If you’ve used other microsaving apps, this pattern will be familiar.
Each time you make a purchase, Changed rounds the purchase amount up to the nearest dollar and saves the difference. If you buy a cup of coffee for $3.45, Changed would round up to $4 and save the extra 55 cents.
Once your total round-ups reach $5, the app transfers the money to your Changed savings account. Round-up transfers are limited to $10 a day so you don’t overdraw your checking account by accident.
Once the round-up amount in your savings account reaches $50 or $100, the app transfers the money from savings to your debt balances. Until then, the money’s still available to you. Loan payments take about five to 10 days to process, and Changed limits them to $500 per week.
It’s worth noting here that Changed payments do not replace your regular payment plan. (That would be nice, right?) Instead, they help you reach your payoff goal a little faster — or a lot faster — without much effort on your part.
Read more: The Pros and Cons of “Spare Change” Investment Apps
How Much Does Changed Cost?
Changed charges users $3 a month. The app is free to download; charges kick in once you start using it.
The monthly fee covers the cost of maintaining your savings account and moving money to your loan servicer. There’s no free trial period — once you start, you’re committed. Changed auto-renews your subscription each month. But the $3 fee covers all the site’s features, so you won’t be hit with extra charges.
Changed Features
Progress Screens
Changed lets you see your repayment progress in real time, which can be super motivating.
You can toggle between a few different screens on the app. The home screen has a nifty visual to show how the money you’ve “squirreled” away is adding up.
Other screens show you:
Round-up amounts from each purchase
Extra payments applied to your loans each month
How much each payment saves you in student loan interest
How much you could save over time
How early you could pay off your loans
Pick Your Savings Speed
Changed has a few different savings speeds — Budget, Standard, and All mode — which you can select or change. This is a good feature for people whose income or expenses fluctuate.
You can also pause transfers for 15, 30, or 60 days if you need to budget money toward other goals for a while.
Extra Payments
On the other hand, if you want to accelerate your savings speed, Changed is all for it. The “BOOST” rocket on your home screen lets you make an additional single or repeated transfer of $1-20 toward your loan principal, on top of the money you’re already saving.
Read more: Principal Only Vs. Principal and Interest. Which is Better?
Link a Credit Card
If you can link your checking account to a credit card account, Changed will round up your credit card purchases. Round-ups go through the checking account so the charges don’t raise your credit card interest.
Have Another Payer Help Out
If a family member or loved one is chipping in to help you with loan costs, Changed lets them sign up for their own account. They’ll link their own checking accounts, but they’ll need your info to link their loans. You can also use this feature if you’re giving a helping hand to someone else.
Other Features
For those who want or need to refinance, Changed has a ton of bank offers on the site so you can compare interest rates.
If you have time and want to be really extra — by referring a friend, buying from a Changed sponsor, or taking their “Know Your Loan” course — Changed gives you “perk points” which enter your name in a weekly drawing to win free payments.
Read more: Student Loan Refinance Options
Stash My Cash
Changed can also help you build your savings accounts. You can choose to split your round ups and put some in savings and some to debt.
For example, you can choose to put 75% of your change towards debt but move 25% of the money into your savings account.
This will help you meet other goals while you still make progress towards your debt.
My Experience Researching Changed
I found Changed to be refreshingly forthcoming about the limits of their automated savings app. They follow federal guidelines about which loan costs to pay first — fees, interest, and principal, in that order — and they don’t promise that payments will go directly to the principal.
Their main communication method is email; I couldn’t even find a phone number on the site. I prefer email contact, so that’s fine with me.
But down to brass tacks: How much money would I save with this app? Changed, like most micro-saving apps, can’t give you an estimate before they look at your spending patterns — round-up amounts can be all over the place depending on your spending habits.
I figured many of us could spend enough to make $50 in round-ups in the average month. Then I crunched some of the latest available averages on student loans from Education Data:
The average federal student loan debt per borrower is about $37,693.
The average monthly student loan payment is around $460.
The average interest rate is a rounded 6%.
So, let’s say a borrower pays off a $37,693 loan at a 6% interest rate for 10 years.
Without any microsavings from Changed, they’d make an average monthly payment of $418.47. Their total interest would add up to $12,523.35.
With $50 a month in Changed microsavings, their average monthly payment would go up to $468.47. Their total interest would be lower, since they’re paying down the loan more quickly — just $10,648.63.
Changed would save this borrower $1,874.72 in total interest payments over the loan’s life. Even subtracting the $360 you’d pay in 10 years of Changed fees, that’s still $1,514.72 saved in interest.
These savings may be even higher if you have a larger loan principal or save more through round-ups.
It’s hard to argue with these numbers, so I may have to give Changed a try.
Who Should Use Changed?
People Who Struggle to Prioritize Extra Loan Payments
Part of the magic of spare change apps is that they take away the cognitive work of saving money, or the part where you have to remember to transfer a little extra into savings (on top of all the other things you have to remember).
If you’d like to make extra loan payments but you doubt you’ll actually make it happen, Changed may be for you.
People with Competing Financial Priorities
Micro-saving apps are designed so you don’t miss the extra round-up cash, because the transfers are so small. Maybe you want to apply heftier payments to other debts with higher interest rates, like credit cards. Changed makes sure you’re not neglecting your loans in the process.
Borrowers with Single or Multiple Loans
If you have more than one loan and you want to direct payments to a specific loan first, Changed can arrange this for you.
Borrowers in Deferments or Grace Periods with their Student Loans
Changed lets you get an early start on loan payments if you can, without affecting your repayment status.
Frequent Debit or Credit Card Spenders
The more you spend, the more round-ups you’ll have (within the $10 daily limit). If you already spend a lot on your debit or credit card each month, you’re likely to build savings quickly.
Who Shouldn’t Use Changed?
People Who Want Full-Service Repayment Assistance
While Changed has some borrower education, it doesn’t offer specific guidance — like comparing different repayment plans or exploring your options for loan forgiveness. It can work in tandem with other debt management resources, but not as your only resource.
People Who Use Other Round-Up Apps
More specifically, if you already use a no-fee spare change app or you’re already budgeting to make extra payments to your loan servicer, you probably don’t need Changed. The fee covers the work of Changed taking these steps for you.
People Who Want to Pay off Their Debt ASAP
Changed doesn’t pay your loan providers until you’ve gotten to $50 or $100 in your round-up savings, which could take some time. Setting aside extra money for student loan payments on your own may get the job done faster, if you have the funds to do so.
One of the keys when it comes to investing for the long term is to make sure you’re minimizing the fees you’re paying to invest your money.
Whether it’s plan administration fees for the company you’re investing with, mutual fund expense ratios and fees, or fees for added account functionality, the more you can minimize how much you’re paying, the better.
Morningstar reports that the average expense ratio for actively-managed equity mutual funds is 1.2% and investment-grade bond funds have an expense ratio of 0.9%. For me, I prefer to invest in mainly low-cost index funds with expense ratios that are much lower.
Beyond saving money on the expense ratios, I also would love to save money on the administration fees I pay in order to invest. My company 401(k) has fees just under 1%, which is way too much for my tastes. I’ve stopped investing there first since there is no company match.
This past week I was doing some research on the new slate of robo advisors that have popped up. One of them jumped out at me because the company is extremely affordable, but it also has shown some of the best results in the past couple of years. Not only do they invest your money for you in a slate of well-diversified ETF index funds, and rebalance your holdings on a regular basis, but they charge you a pretty minimal fee to do it.
This all sounded too good to be true, so I decided to do a full review of this new automated investing service called Axos Invest Managed Portfolios, to see what they are all about.
Axos Invest History
Axos Invest launched several years ago under the name WiseBanyan. They had the goal of being the world’s first completely free financial advisor.
Here’s their reasoning behind why they launched their site.
Herbert Moore and Vicki Zhou founded WiseBanyan after seeing that the incentives between financial advisors and clients were often misaligned. They saw this firsthand while working in asset management and investment banking respectively, and later as colleagues at a quantitative asset management firm. They realized that the main cause of misalignment was a conflict of financial interests, which often resulted in high fees, unnecessary tax consequences, and unreasonable account minimums for the clients. As a result, they set out to build a company that was not incentivized to earn money at its clients’ expense.
WiseBanyan began with the idea that investing is a right – not a privilege. Our mission is to ensure everyone can achieve their financial goals, which starts with investing as early as possible. This is why there is no minimum to start and we do not charge high fees. We hope you are as excited about WiseBanyan as we are, especially what it means for you, your friends, and society as a whole.
Axos Invest was launched with the hope of making investing easy, accessible, and cheap – even for beginning investors who could only invest a small amount every month.
While the service is no longer free (They started charging a 0.24% annual assets under management fee in 2020), they still practice the values of making investing more accessible and affordable for everyone.
WiseBanyan Holdings was acquired by Axos Financial, and as of October 2019 and moving forward the company formerly known as WiseBanyan is now known as Axos Invest.
Axos Invest has become a part of the Axos Financial online banking platform. Check out our full review of Axos Bank.
Axos Invest Account Types – Managed Portfolios Vs. Self-Directed Trading
After reading up a bit about Axos Invest I was intrigued enough to sign up for one of their accounts. I went to their site to find that there are a couple of different account types you can sign up for.
I was mainly interested in signing up for Managed Portfolios since I intended to use this as a robo-advisor to automatically invest, rebalance and reinvest my dividends for me. I wanted it to be hands-off.
If you prefer to research and invest in your own choices of individual stocks, the commission-free Self Directed Trading account may be a better choice for you.
If you’re an advanced trader the Self Directed Trading account has the “Axos Elite” subscription which gives you real-time market data, TipRanks market research, extended trading hours, margin trading, stock lending, and more for a monthly fee.
Head on over to the Axos site via my exclusive invite link below to get started on your Axos Invest account now:
Open Your FREE Axos Invest Account Now
Open an Axos Self Directed Trading account and deposit at least $2000, and you’ll get a $250 bonus for a limited time!. Open Axos Self Directed Trading
Opening An Account With Axos Invest
After going to the Axos Invest site to open my Managed Portfolios account, it dropped me right into a brief questionnaire to assess my risk tolerance, investment time horizon, and more.
While you’re answering the questions you’ll see a progress bar and a “current risk score” listed to the right, telling you just how conservative or aggressive Axos Invest believes you are.
My risk score went up and down throughout the survey based on my answers, and when I finally completed it gave me a risk score of 7.2. That would give me an estimated asset allocation of 65% stocks to 35% bonds – which seems about what most would suggest as I’m relatively conservative in my investments, and the bond allocation roughly matches my age (put your age in bonds!)
I decided that I wanted to change my risk score and asset allocation to be a bit more aggressive, however, and you can do that simply by moving the slider to the right (or left if you’re more conservative). I ended up with closer to 75/25 stocks to bond allocation.
After completing the survey you click on the “Open My Account” button, which takes you into the account opening process. It will ask for all of your personal information including an email, password, employment information, and Social Security number (like you would have to at any brokerage).
Once you’re done entering your personal information you’ll be asked to choose an account type. Currently, you can choose:
Taxable Investment Account
Roth IRA
SEP IRA
Traditional IRA
After you choose an account type you’ll be asked to link a bank to fund your account. You can then choose to fund the account with as little as $500. If you want, you can also set it up to automatically invest for you every month. I have it set to automatically invest $300 for me on the 15th and 30th of the month.
Once you’re done your account will be sent to Axos Financial for approval. Their site says it takes about 5 business days for an account to be approved.
Axos Invest Investment Philosophy
Axos Invest will invest your funds based on Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT).
We use the tools of Modern Portfolio Theory to design the optimal portfolio for a given level of risk. In addition, we further optimize our investment process to minimize tax consequences and streamline the reinvestment of dividends and contributions.
Their investment philosophy is built upon four main pillars:
The value of diversification
Keeping fees as low as possible
The value of passive investing
Starting sooner rather than later
Axos Invest will attempt to give you a portfolio that is well-diversified, low-cost, and at low minimums so just about anybody can get started now. They’ll use the ideas behind MPT to give you the optimal portfolio for your given risk score.
The Actual Investments
So what are you getting when you invest with Axos Invest? You’re getting a well-diversified portfolio that contains passively managed exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”).
The funds held with Axos Invest have an average fund fee of 0.12% – the only fees you’ll pay to invest. Here is the breakout for the individual funds they use (the funds used by Axos is subject to change, and probably will) and their expense ratios:
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): 0.03%
Schwab U.S. Broad Market (SCHB): 0.03%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA): 0.05%
Schwab International Equity (SCHF): 0.06%
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO): 0.15%
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets (IEMG): 0.14%
Vanguard REIT Index Fund (VNQ): 0.12%
iShares U.S. Real Estate (IYR): 0.42%
iShares Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD): 0.15%
Vanguard Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond Index (VCIT): 0.05%
Vanguard Intmdte Tm Govt Bd ETF (VGIT): 0.05%
iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (ETF) (TIP): 0.19%
State Street Global Advisors Barclays Short Term High Yield Bond Index ETF (SJNK): 0.40%
PIMCO 0-5 Year High Yield Corporate Bond Index (HYS): 0.56%
Vanguard Short-Term Corporate Bond (VCSH): 0.05%
As you can see they have a broad diversification that also includes real estate via the Vanguard REIT Index fund, which isn’t something that Betterment gives you.
The performance of Axos Invest has been pretty good. As you can see from the screenshot from Barron’s “Ranking the Robos” article below, WiseBanyan/Axos Invest had the second-best two-year annualized return, through 6/30/19. Not too bad!
Axos Invest Mobile App
When the service first came out one of the complaints some users had was that there was no mobile app for the service. A mobile-optimized app for iOS was released shortly thereafter, as well as an app for Android users.
From the app, you can now do things on the go like check your balances, view your allocations, make a quick deposit, and more. The apps really are very pretty to look at and are a pleasure to use.
Axos Invest Fees & Account Charges
One of the biggest draws for Axos Invest when they started was the fact that they were essentially a fee-free service. While that is no longer the case, they are still very low-cost, one of the lowest-cost robo-advisors on the market.
Here are a few of the fees (or lack thereof) that you’ll see with the service:
Managed Portfolios
Management fee: 0.24% of assets under management. Accounts less than $500 pay $1/month.
Trading fees: FREE
Rebalancing fees: FREE
Dividend reinvestment fee: FREE
Self-Directed Trading
Stock Trading fees: FREE
ETF Trading Fees: FREE
Options trading: $1 per contract
Self-Directed Trading – Axos Elite
Axos Elite is the premium self-directed investing service that offers more powerful investment tools, real-time market data, extended trading hours, lower fees, stock lending, and margin trading.
Monthly fee: $10/month
Stock Trading fees: FREE
ETF Trading Fees: FREE
Margin Trading: 5.5%
Options trading: $0.80 per contract with Axos Elite
So essentially the Axos Invest service is very low cost with only the 0.24% AUM fee for Managed Portfolios. There are no trading fees, and no fees to rebalance your account or reinvest dividends. Competing services often charge much higher annual management fees, so with Axos being one of the very lowest when it comes to fees, you’re saving on those fees right off the bat.
There are some fees related to transferring funds via wire transfer, or do a full account transfer out, although regular electronic funds transfers (EFT) are free.
Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) fee: FREE for deposits or withdrawals.
Wire transfers in: FREE (although your bank may charge).
Wire transfers out: $30 per domestic wire transfer.
Account closing fee: FREE.
Full account transfer out fee: $75 per account.
Partial account transfer out fee: $5 per security ($25 minimum/$75 max).
Disbursement of funds by check by mail: $10 per check.
Returned check fee: $40 per occurrence.
As mentioned above, Axos Invest’s product and service is very low cost and there are only a few small fees for certain types of transfers or check disbursements.
Premium Add-On Products & Services
There are several premium packages in your Axos Invest account that have a fee associated with them. You can turn them off and on whenever you want.
Currently, the premium packages include:
Portfolio Plus: The ability to create your own custom portfolio from an expanded list of investments. You can choose from lists of different investment classes and types and add up to 20 investments to each portfolio you create. It costs $3/month to use this add-on package.
Quick Cash: When activated this gives you quick same-day deposits, auto-deposit scheduler, and overdraft protection. It costs $2/month to use this add-on package.
Tax Protection: This package will give you tax loss harvesting, selective trading (to remove ETFs you hold elsewhere to avoid the potential for wash sales) and IRAutomation, which helps you to maximize the use of your retirement account deposits, setup auto deposit plans and more. Each month the cost will be the lesser of 0.02% of your average Axos Invest account value (0.24% annually) or $20. So if you have $5,000 in your account, the monthly cost would be $1.
Using these add-on packages is purely optional, but even if you were to turn them all on it likely isn’t going to cost you more than a few bucks per month.
Axos Invest: Great For Cost-Conscious Investors
When I first read about Axos Invest I dismissed it out of hand because I thought that there had to be a catch somewhere, there’s no way they were offering this service for such a low cost when others are charging anywhere from .35%-1.0% annual management fees for similar services.
After looking into it further, however, it does truly seem like Axos Invest is committed to offering a low-cost investing service for both self-directed investors and those who want their portfolios managed for them.
Axos Invest does seem like a good option for newer investors. Not only can you start investing with no account minimums, and low management fees – but you can buy fractional shares with as little as $10 and get a highly diversified portfolio that should match the market in the long term.
The account has SIPC protection that covers up to $500,000 per client as well, so if Axos Invest were to go under you’d be covered.
I’ve signed up for my own Axos Invest account and have been with them now for years. They are my go-to recommendations for new (and even experienced) investors.
Webull is an online brokerage that offers commission-free trading on stocks, options, and ETFs. Key features of the platform include real-time market data, advanced charting tools, and a customizable newsfeed.
With most investing apps now offering commission-free trading, online brokers must find more creative ways to stand out. Robinhood, for example, is now offering a 1% match on IRA contributions. Webull, on the other hand, tries to place the focus on the customer by offering free stocks, fractional share investing, a user-friendly trading platform, extended hours trading, and 24/7 support.
But is Webull a suitable platform for beginner investors? In this Webull Review, I cover Webull’s trading platform, key features, pros and cons, and more.
About Webull
Launched in 2017, New York City-based Webull is a self-directed investment platform that offers commission-free trading. You can buy and sell stocks, options, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and even cryptocurrencies. And unlike many newer online brokers, you can trade over-the-counter (OTC) stocks with Webull.
Webull describes itself as “a financial company with the customer at heart, the Internet as our foundation, and technology as our lifeblood.” The company delivers on this description by providing a user-friendly investment platform, free real-time quotes, multiplatform accessibility, full extended hours trading, and 27/7 online support.
Key Features
Zero Commissions
No deposit minimums
Hold crypto alongside stocks, ETFs, etc.
Taxable or IRA accounts available
Supports margin trading
Paper trading option
Access to initial public offerings (IPOs).
Webull Community allows you to share investment strategies with other investors on the platform.
24/7 online customer support
Free stock bonus, as well as a referral bonus program
Is Webull Legit?
Yes, Webull is 100% legitimate. They are a US-based broker-dealer, and a FINRA, SIPC, NYSE, and NASDAQ member. It’s estimated that Webull has more than 12 million users and over $40 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).
At the time of this writing, the company has a rating of 4.4 out of five stars from more than 174,000 Android user reviews on Google Play and 4.7 out of five stars among more than 275,000 iOS user reviews on The App Store.
Unfortunately, they rate poorly with other major rating agencies.
Webull has a Better Business Bureau “F,” the lowest rating on a scale of A+ to F. It scores 1.07 out of five stars, though that rating is based on just 54 reviews.
The company doesn’t do much better with Trustpilot, where it rates 1.3 out of five stars, or “Bad”. However, it’s worth noting the Trustpilot rating is based on just 137 reviews.
Webull Account Types
Webull offers two taxable account types: cash and margin. With the cash account, your buying power is limited to the funds you have on deposit. The margin account allows you to use leverage for the purchase of securities in excess of the cash value of your account.
The margin account requires a minimum of $2,000 to be maintained in the account at all times. Since a margin account will involve leverage, you must maintain a minimum account balance of $25,000 for unlimited day trades (see below).
You can also open a Traditional, Rollover, or Roth IRA with Webull. Each user can have one IRA account, but you must have an individual account before you can open an IRA.
Day Trading Rules
According to FINRA rules, you can make no more than 4 day trades in a margin account within five business days; otherwise, you will be flagged as a pattern day trader (PDT). That will trigger the requirement of the $25,000 minimum balance.
Margin accounts are also available for LLCs, C-Corps, and S-Corps with 2X overnight leverage and 4X day trading leverage.
Webull Trading Platform
The platform offers intuitive tools and support for traders and supports extended hours of trading, both before and after the market closes.
You can do the following on the Webull trading platform:
Real-time quotes
Customizable screens
Stock market trading ideas from top traders
Sort stocks between top gainers, top losers, and most active and best-performing industries.
More than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools.
Quant Ratings to provide an overall rating for each stock based on objective data.
The ability to analyze your past trading performance to look for areas of improvement.
Real-time stock alerts to notify you of price action and technical conditions.
In addition, you can execute the following orders:
Limit order
Market order
Stop order
Stop-Limit order
Trailing Stop order.
Stop-Loss/Take-Profit orders (Bracket orders)
One-Triggers-the-Other order (OTO)
One-Cancels-the-Other order (OCO)
One-Triggers-a-One-Cancels-the-Other order (OTOCO).
Margin Trading
Webull offers margin trading for both long- and short positions. You must maintain a minimum account balance of $2,000 in your margin account to qualify for margin trading. The account will provide up to 4X buying power per day trades and 2X for overnight trades.
Webull Paper Trading
Webull offers their Paper Trading feature to help you learn how to trade or to become a better trader without risking real money. And unlike some paper trading accounts offered by other brokers, Webull Paper Trading comes with unlimited virtual cash.
You can take advantage of real-time quotes, explore integrated charts with indicators, and set up price alerts, the same as you would with live trading. The feature offers more than 50 technical indicators and 12 charting tools. Paper trading can be used for options trading practice.
Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
IPOs are when a private corporation offers stock to the public for the first time. The stocks are in registration and awaiting listing on the secondary market. The registration phase allows the issuing company to raise capital from public investors, who will be the first to receive the stock as of the listing date. In theory, it’s an opportunity for investors to get in on a newly listed company as it is going public.
Webull makes IPOs available to investors. You can locate IPOs by going to the Market page, then to the IPO Center for a list of available offerings. You can even subscribe to notifications of upcoming IPOs as they become available.
Cryptocurrency
You can trade cryptocurrency on Webull commission-free. As is the case with most cryptocurrency exchanges, Webull charges a spread of 100 basis points on both the purchase and sale of crypto. You will need a minimum of $1 to begin trading crypto.
Crypto trading requires either a cash or margin account for crypto trading (no IRAs). You can trade 44 cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Stella Lumens, Ethereum Classic, Cardano, Tazos, USD Coin, and many more.
Crypto trading hours are from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 PM, Eastern time, seven days per week (23 hours per day).
Crypto Wallet. Webull offers a crypto wallet so you can buy, sell, store, and transfer crypto to and from the wallet.
Stock Lending Income Program
This program allows you to earn extra income on fully paid stocks in your account. If you allow Webull to borrow certain stocks, you’ll be paid interest while those stocks are loaned out.
Apex Clearing, Webull’s clearing agency, will identify fully paid stock in your account, which is considered “in demand” based on the market. You will be paid 15% of the interest earned by Apex Clearing on the loaned stock.
For example, if Apex earns 10% per year, you’ll earn 1.5%. Interest earned through the program is credited daily and paid monthly.
Webull Community
Webull adds a social component to its investment platform. You can participate with millions of other Webull investors to discuss market and exchange strategies, and swap ideas with other investors.
How Does Webull Make Money if they Don’t Charge Fees?
Webull charges very few fees, but they do charge some. After all, they can’t stay in business without any revenue. Here is a list of Webull revenue sources:
Payment for Order Flow (PFOF). This is a common practice among commission-free retail brokers. When Webull sends trades to market makers, they receive rebates for the practice. This income flow is part of the reason why brokers can allow commission-free trading.
Securities lending. This is another common practice in the brokerage industry. Webull uses the services of Apex Clearing as their clearing agent. Through the Stock Lending Income Program, Apex can loan out investors’ shares to other investors and institutions, usually for short sales. Those borrowers will pay interest to Apex, a portion of which is rebated to Webull.
Interest on cash balances. Since Webull doesn’t pay interest on uninvested cash held by investors, the company retains any interest earned on those funds from outside sources.
Interest on margin trades. When you use margin to purchase securities, Webull charges interest which represents income to the company.
Deposit and withdrawal fees. Webull charges fees of between $8 and $45 per transfer for both deposits and withdrawals made by wire.
The basis point spread on crypto trades. Webull earns a 100-basis point spread on the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies.
Other Features
Income Tax Reporting
Webull provides a consolidated Form 1099, which includes reporting information from 1099-B (transactions), 1099-DIV (dividend income), 1099-INT (interest), and 1099-MISC (other income and information). The form can be downloaded from the Webull app.
Account Protection
Webull is a fully regulated broker-dealer, and your account is protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000 in cash and securities, including $250,000 in cash. For additional protection, Webull offers two-factor authentication for an added step on accessing your account and to prevent unintended parties from entering your account.
Free Stock Bonus and Referral Bonus
Webull is currently offering a free stock bonus to include free fractional shares in two stocks. The stock will be worth between $3 and $3,000, which could make the bonus as high as $6,000 in total. You must be new to Webull and meet other eligibility requirements.
You can also receive fractional shares in four, eight, or 10 free stocks by depositing any amount into your new account within ten days. Each fractional share will be valued between $3 and $300. That means you can earn up to 12 fractional shares with a total value of as much as $9,000. Stock rewards must be claimed within 30 days, or the offer will expire.
Under the Webull Referral Bonus, refer family and friends to Webull, and you’ll receive three free shares of stock. Refer three friends, and you’ll receive nine shares. Once you’ve received nine shares, each successful referral will provide you with two free stocks. Each share of stock will be worth between $12 and $1,400.
Your referral must use your unique referral link, and the free stock will be issued when the new user opens a brokerage account with an initial deposit of at least $100.
How to Sign Up for a Webull Account
You can sign up for Webull from either the website or the mobile app by clicking “SIGN UP” at the top of the page. You’ll need to enter your phone number and a referral code if you have one.
Webull will require you to supply your name, US residential address, date of birth, taxpayer identification (Social Security number or individual taxpayer ID number), telephone number, and citizenship.
To verify your identity, Webull may ask for copies of your driver’s license, passport, or other information as necessary.
Due to Webull’s review process, it will take a minimum of 24 hours to open your account. More time may be needed if manual verification of information is required. Webull will perform a soft credit check, which will not negatively impact your credit score.
Funding Your Account
You’ll need to connect a bank account to fund your Webull account. Webull will make two micro-deposits to your account to confirm a valid account connection. Once verified, you’ll be able to begin transferring funds to and from Webull.
The easiest way to fund your account is through ACH transfers, which are free to complete. (Note that Webull charges domestic and international wire transfer fees.)
ACH deposits initiated before 4:00 PM Eastern time will give you instant buying power, enabling you to begin trading immediately. However, the instant buying power feature is a provisional credit representing a portion of the deposit. Full ACH deposits are generally available on the fourth or fifth business day after the ACH is initiated.
Alternatively, you can transfer securities from another broker into your Webull account. The transfer securities must match those available through Webull.
Webull Pros and Cons
There’s plenty to like about Webull, but the platform also has limitations. Here’s my list of Webull pros and cons.
Webull Pros:
No minimum initial investment
Commission-free trading
Get free stock when you open an account and make a deposit
Available crypto wallet where you can manage your cryptocurrency holdings
Connect with millions of investors in the Webull Community
24/7 online support
Webull Cons:
No joint taxable accounts, custodial or trust accounts
You can’t invest in mutual funds, penny stocks, or bonds
Must have a taxable account to open an IRA
No dividend reinvesting option
No interest on uninvested cash
Fees for domestic and international wire deposits and withdrawals.
Webull Alternatives
Before signing up with Webull, I recommend checking out these alternatives, which offer many of the same features as Webull.
Robinhood
Robinhood is a popular online brokerage that offers zero-commission trades of stocks, options, ETFs, and cryptocurrency. No minimum deposit requirement exists, but like Webull, Robinhood doesn’t allow bond or mutual fund trades. One very interesting feature: Effective December 2022, Robinhood now offers IRA accounts with a 1% match, the first online brokerage to do so.
According to Robinhood, “the IRA Match is an extra 1% that Robinhood adds to eligible contributions to your IRA. It’s not counted toward your annual contribution limits and is typically available to invest immediately.” For more information, check out our full Robinhood Review.
Public
Public is an easy-to-use trading app that is geared toward new investors. Like Webull and Robinhood, Public doesn’t charge any trading fees. You can also buy fractional shares and connect with other users in the Public social community. That said, intermediate traders will want to steer clear of Public due to their lack of advanced trading options – they don’t offer IRA accounts and have little in the way of market research tools.
Learn more in our Public Review.
Interactive Brokers
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is a truly global trading platform offering investors access to 150 markets in 33 countries. You can also trade in more than 24 currencies. Like Webull, there are no commission fees on stock and ETF trades. Interactive Brokers is hands down the more powerful platform for sophisticated traders looking for access to global markets, but it may be overwhelming for new and intermediate investors.
Webull FAQs
Is Webull good for beginners?
Webull is a safe trading platform for new investors. Accounts are protected by SIPC insurance for up to $500,000, and the platform uses numerous security features, including two-factor authentication.
We also like that Webull has no minimum initial investment requirement, though you will need to deposit funds to begin trading. And as a beginning investor, you can certainly benefit from the paper trading account with unlimited virtual cash.
However, other investment brokers may be a better choice for new investors. Webull is designed primarily for active traders and those with at least an intermediate level of experience. Larger brokerage firms will be able to provide higher levels of customer service and a greater variety of account tools and educational services.
What is the minimum deposit for Webull?
There is no minimum deposit requirement for a Webull account, but a $2000 minimum balance is required for all margin accounts.
What is the downside to Webull?
The main drawbacks to Webull include the lack of a dividend reinvestment program and the inability to buy fixed-income and mutual fund investments.
Does Webull work in Canada?
Webull is a US-based online broker. Because it’s not registered in Canada, it’s not available to Canadian citizens.
Final Thoughts on Webull
Webull is an intuitive trading app where you can trade more than 40 cryptocurrencies on the same platform where you hold more traditional investments. They offer plenty of investment tools, including margin trading, day trading, and short sales.
And if you’re new to Webull or have friends to refer, you can take advantage of free stock bonuses.
While Webull is geared more toward intermediate and advanced traders, its intuitive trading platform shouldn’t overwhelm new traders. That said, beginner investors may want to give Robinhood and Public a long look before signing up with Webull.
If you’re seeking to earn extra income during the colder months, consider shoveling snow.
Many folks are unable to or just don’t want to shovel snow off their driveways and walkways.
Being in the 21st century, you don’t need to worry about going door to door and soliciting your services. Thanks to the smartphone app Shovler, you can see those in your immediate area looking to hire someone just like you.
The 2023 winter season has already seen a few powerful storms, especially in the South. Now’s the time to sign up for a service such as Shovler and be prepared to rake in the dough during the next blizzard.
What Is Shovler?
The Shovler app uses GPS to connect people in need of snow removal with nearby users willing to do the shoveling.
Registered snow shovelers can use the app to quickly view and accept jobs within 20 miles of their current location — no haggling or in-person contact required.
There are about 150,000 snow shovelers available for hire on the Shovler app, according to the company’s founder, Daniel Miller.
Miller, who lives in New York City, created Shovler in 2016 after a winter storm buried his car in snow — and he didn’t own a shovel.
He spoke to others in the same situation and came up with the idea for the snow shoveling app.
“I used to shovel snow as a kid in the ’90s,” Miller said. “I always had a great sense of satisfaction after completing a large driveway for a neighbor.”
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How Do You Get Started On Shovler?
Before you can put your snow shoveling skills to the test, you’ll need about 10-15 minutes to sign up (including connecting the required payment platform).
Download the Shovler app, select “Become a Shoveler” and fill out your information to get started. You will also need to connect a Stripe payment system account to get paid.
After creating your account, the app makes it super easy to find snow shoveling jobs in your area.
You can search for nearby jobs within the Shovler app or select “go on duty” to be notified when new snow shoveling jobs are added.
There are different types of snow removal jobs to choose from. You can make money shoveling driveways and walkways, or digging out cars parked on a city street.
Business owners can also hire shovelers to clear the snow in front of their businesses or small parking lots.
What You Can Expect as a Snow Shoveler
Nathan Simondet, a Shovler user in Minneapolis, joined the app in 2019 to make some extra cash.
“The main problem is there is only work when it snows, and there is competition with other shovelers to accept jobs before they do,” Simondet said. “But the work is usually pretty easy.”
According to Simondet, a typical snow removal job takes 20 to 30 minutes, more if there’s a lot of snow.
“My last job only took five minutes,” Simondet said. “There was only an inch of snow, and all I had to do was the front sidewalks.” And since you get paid by the job, not the time it takes, a quicker job is really worth more money.
Snow shovelers bring their own equipment, including a shovel, brush, salt and any other tools they might need to remove snow.
Investing in the right snow removal gear and equipment can also help boost profits.
“Last year I did 70 jobs and made about $3,000,” Simondet said. “I already had a snow shovel and a snowblower, but I ended up investing in a bigger shovel to do jobs faster.”
You should arrive at a job within 45 minutes of accepting it. Once you’re done, you’ll upload a picture of your work to the Shovler app for evaluation.
How Much Money Can You Make as a Shoveler?
A Shovler shoveler can expect to make between $35 and $75 for small jobs, while bigger gigs like clearing small business parking lots bring in more cash.
The Shovler app factors in the size of the job, the type of area to be shoveled and current weather conditions to determine the price.
For example, you’ll make more money during a snowstorm than after a light snowfall. If demand is surging, the price increases.
The person creating the job also has the option to increase the price.
Shovler Pay Rate
Situation
Amount
Details
Parked car
$30 to $40
On a city street
Driveway
$35 to $75
Two-car driveway
Sidewalk in front of house
$35 to $75
Average length
Parking lot
50c to $2 per sq foot
For businesses
Sidewalk
50c to $2 per sq foot
Public or private
Like many side gig apps, Shovler takes a cut from each completed job, and in this case, it’s 20%. However, that won’t impact your expected earnings. The fee is taken out before the job is listed as available.
You’ll need to bring your A game too. If a job is rated lower than four stars, the Shovler app reduces your pay. You’ll get docked 5% for each missing star, so a two-star rating equals a 10% reduction in your pay.
A Holiday Side Gig
Jayson Abro, a Northeast shoveler, said the app makes it easy to earn extra money around the holidays.
“I made more on Shovler in two days than I did trying to do Uber for a month,” Abro told The Penny Hoarder.
Abro said he can quickly find jobs by simply opening the app after a big snowfall.
“We get a few big snowstorms a year so I just log on during those days and see hundreds of jobs and work through the ones that are close,” he said.
Like Simondet, Abro said he made about $3,000 during winter 2020-21 using Shovler.
Another cool perk: Snow shovelers get to keep all the tips they receive. Shovler noted that “over 75% of users tipped their shoveler and the tip amount to shoveler’s pay was an average over 30%!” — that’s quite a hefty bit of extra change coming from tips.
During a 2020 winter snowstorm, Shovler reported that users tipped their shovelers an average of 44%.
All Shovler transactions are completed through the app using credit card information. Shovelers receive payment once the job is reviewed by the customer or 13 hours later, whichever is sooner.
Stripe will transfer money into your account every two to three business days.
How Busy Will You Be Shoveling Snow?
If you’re looking to make Shovler a lucrative job, it’s wise to keep an eye on the local weather forecast.
The app is available everywhere in the United States and parts of Canada, but snowier parts of the country draw more business.
In 2020, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Michigan were the busiest states on Shovler, due to record snowfall in the Northeast. During a typical year, Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin and Illinois take the top spots, according to Miller.
“In order to fill every job on the platform we need shovelers everywhere in North America — at least the places that get snow,” Miller said.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How Does the Shovler App Work?
The Shovler app connects independent snow shovelers with those looking to purchase their services. The entire process works within the company’s Android and iOS smartphone apps. Rates (and shoveler payments) are set based on the specifics of the job requested.
How Much Do You Make on the Shovler App?
An independent contractor can expect to make between $35 and $75 for small jobs. Larger jobs, such as clearing small business parking lots, bring in more cash.
How Do You Start a Snow Shoveling Side Hustle?
Signing up for an app like Shovler is a great way to connect yourself with locals who need snow shoveling services. You’ll also need to be equipped with the proper warm attire, snow shovels and additional supplies, such as ice salt and car-cleaning tools.
Contributor Jenna Limbach writes on financial literacy and lifestyle topics for The Penny Hoarder. Michael Archambault is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
Information from former Penny Hoarder writer Carson Kohler is included in this report.
*This article may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
One of the topics I keep coming back to on Bible Money Matters is the idea of finding ways to cut your regular recurring expenses. One of the big ways that we’ve saved was by cutting our mobile phone costs and home phone costs.
We cut our mobile phone bills substantially by moving to a no-contract cell phone provider several years ago. My wife and I both switched to Virgin Mobile pre-paid cell service. We’ve saved hundreds over the years by making the switch from our old traditional contract provider.
My wife has recently been complaining about how her old smartphone just isn’t working very well anymore. The GPS never seems to work despite being on, it’s always running out of storage and it’s just too slow and old to run some of the newest apps.
Since she isn’t on a contract I decided to see if we could find a better deal on a phone and plan than the one we’re on with Virgin Mobile – a $35/month plan that gets her basically all she needs. One provider that keeps coming up when I research low cost no contract cell providers is Republic Wireless. They have plans as low as $15/month! Today I thought I’d do a quick post talking about Republic Wireless, who they are, what they have to offer and how you can use them to save.
Save With Republic Wireless
Republic Wireless History
Republic Wireless is a wireless communications service provider and subsidiary of Bandwidth. Bandwidth is an internet and telephone service provider co-founded in 1999 by CEO David Morken in his spare bedroom. Morken is an avowed capitalist, but also is outspoken about his Christian faith, and he talks about how his Christian values help to inform the company’s focus on integrity and service:
It’s amazing when you can have an economic alignment with a service orientation and a service heart. You don’t just tell the truth because it’s going to have an economic benefit, you have to tell the truth when it’s going to cause economic harm as well.
Bandwidth’s expertise is in telephony and VOIP services, so a consumer focused VOIP cell service like Republic Wireless was a natural outgrowth of the company.
Republic Wireless was created in January of 2010 and first launched as a private beta service in November of 2011 with 2 available smartphones. A year later in 2012 they launched an open public beta. Finally in November of 2013 they came out of their beta testing period and began offering several calling plans ranging anywhere from $5/month to $40/month depending on the level of service you buy. As of September of 2017 they will have 8 smartphone options available to purchase on their store. They range from the high end Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge ($599) to the mid level Moto G4 ($179) all the way to the entry-level Moto E ($99).
Republic Wireless is an MVNO for the Sprint and T-Mobile networks depending on which plan you’re on, so they’ll have the same coverage as Sprint or T-Mobile. What sets them apart, however, is their new “Hybrid Calling” techonology that allows you to make phone calls over WiFi, or if WiFi isn’t available, via the cell networks as normal phones do. You’re even able to do mid-call handoff from calls started in WiFi, and pass it over to the cell networks with no call interruption.
Republic’s idea is to use WiFi data whenever possible to make cell service more affordable, since cellular data costs so much more to use. Here’s how they describe their service.
Our mission at Republic Wireless is simple: to make enjoying the features of a smartphone more affordable and accessible for everyone. Through Hybrid Calling technology (that’s WiFi + cellular), we’re able to offer our customers remarkable mobile service plans at unheard of rates. You see, WiFi is cheap and plentiful while cellular (especially data) is more scarce and much more expensive. By relying on our members to use the cheap and plentiful WiFi wherever it’s available, we’re making great progress on our mission—delivering a mind blowing total cost of ownership that’s leaving a lot of folks scratching their heads (happily!).
When the service first started I heard a lot of complaints about call quality, and problems handing off calls from WiFi to cell networks. Most of the more recent reviews I’ve read, however, have been much more positive about the quality of service.
Republic Wireless – How It Works
Making calls over WiFi is much more affordable for the wireless communications provider, so what Republic Wireless has created is a more affordable way to have cell service.
Their Hybrid Calling technology allows them to offer more affordable plans than many other providers just by giving WiFi calling priority over the cell calling. So if WiFi is available where you are, your call will be routed over the WiFi networks, and if it’s not, then calls will go over the Sprint or T-Mobile cell network (or Verizon’s network if Sprint is not available).
The more prevalent WiFi is where you typically go, the more likely you will be to choose one of their WiFi only plans, and save a ton of money!
What Phones Can I Get?
Currently there are 8 phones available for Republic Wireless, The Moto E4, Moto E4 Plus, Moto G5 plus, Huawei AScend 5W, Moto G4, Moto Z Play, Moto Z and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Available phones are always subject to change, and often do. Go to the Republic Wireless site via the link below to see current options.
View Current Phones @ Republic Wireless
So what do you get with each of the phones?
Motorola Moto E4 – $99: This phone sports a 5″ HD display, with 16 GB of internal memory, 2 GB of RAM, 2800 mAh removable battery and a MicroSD slot.
Motorola Moto E4 Plus – $199: This phone has a 5.5″ HD display, with 32 GB of internal memory, 2 GB of RAM, 5000 mAh rapid charging battery and a MicroSD slot.
Motorola Moto G5 plus – $299: This phone has a 5.2″ HD display, with 32/64 GB of internal memory, 2/4 GB of RAM, 3000 mAh rapid charging battery and a MicroSD slot.
Huawei AScend 5W – $149: This phone has a 5.5″ HD display, with 16 GB of internal memory, 2 GB of RAM, 3000 mAh battery and a MicroSD slot.
Motorola Moto G4 – $179: This phone has a 5.5″ HD display, with 16/32 GB of internal memory, 2 GB of RAM, 3000 mAh Turbo Charge battery and a MicroSD slot.
Motorola Moto Z Play – $349: This phone has a 5.5″ AMOLED HD display, with 32 GB of internal memory, 3 GB of RAM, 3510 mAh 50 hr battery and a MicroSD slot expandable up to 200GB.
Motorola Moto Z – $499: This phone has a 5.5″ HD display, with 64 GB of internal memory, 4 GB of RAM, 2600 mAh battery and a MicroSD slot expandable up to 200GB.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge – $599: This phone has a 5.5″ Quad HD display, with 32 GB of internal memory, 4 GB of RAM, 3600 mAh 33 hr battery with wireless charging and a MicroSD slot expandable up to 200GB.
Here is an unboxing video of our older Moto X that we received a while back (which is no longer sold, but you can still find used).
[embedded content]
View this video on YouTube
When it comes down to it, all of their phones are going to be good phones, it just comes down to how much speed, memory and other bells and whistles that you want. The faster the processor, the more memory and better display, the more the phone will cost.
Available Monthly Plans
So what are the plans that are currently available on the Republic Wireless network?
Here are the new calling plans on the new Republic Wireless 3.0 plans:
The plan that most people use is the unlimited talk & text + 1GB of LTE data for just $20.
It is an amazing deal, and $5 cheaper than their old Republic Wireless 2.0 1GB data plan!
They do have a bunch of other calling plans, however. The plans start at a $15/month for a plan with no data, all the way up to a $90/month 10GB plan:
$15 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data
$20 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data + 1GB of Cell Data
$30 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data + 2GB of Cell Data
$45 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data + 4GB of Cell Data
$60 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data + 6GB of Cell Data
$90 Unlimited Talk, Text, and WiFi Data + 10GB of Cell Data
Depending on how much data you use in a typical month, or if you use data at all, the service can be extremely affordable. I know some people that don’t really use data that go with the $15/month plan, while others like me who use a small amount of data can go with the $20/month plan.
Switch Your Plan Up To 2X Per Month At No Extra Charge
One nice feature that Republic Wireless offers is the ability to switch your monthly plan up to twice per month. This will come in handy, for example, if you’re traveling one month and want to have more 4G LTE data access available on your phone.
So let’s say you’re on the $15/month plan with no cell data, and you want to switch your plan (right from your phone if you want!) to the $30/month 2GB data plan while you travel. You can switch it while you’re traveling, and then when you come back switch it back to the more affordable plan again.
How is it charged? You’ll pay the daily rate for each plan, for the days that you use it. So for the $15 plan you’d pay about $.50 a day, while the $30/month plan would be about $1 a day. Just figure out how many days of the month on each plan you used and you’ll figure out what your charges for that month will be. Piece of cake, and a great way to save!
Check Out Plans @ Republic Wireless
Pros & Cons
What are the pros and cons of cell service with Republic Wireless? Here are a few:
Pros
Low cost – affordable: Depending on your needs your service will be anywhere from $15-$45/month. Much cheaper than the average $96/month phone bill (according to J.D. Power).
Ability to switch plans up to 2x per month: If you want to switch your plan with Republic, for example, if you’re traveling and want to have 4G data access, you can do that up to 2x per month. So you can be on the $5 plan, and switch to the $40/month plan for the month – and then switch back.
Good phones available: The Samsung Galaxy S7 has received rave reviews and by all accounts it’s a great phone. The other phones that are available are good mid and entry level smartphones as well.
Roaming on other networks available: If you don’t have a T-Mobile tower in your area, the service will roam on another network for voice calls at no added cost.
Make calls on WiFi – even in your basement!: If you typically can’t make cell phone calls in your basement, or at your job – as long as you’ve got a WiFi signal you can now make calls!
Unlimited talk, text, data: All of the plans will give you unlimited talk, text and data if you’re on WiFi. You can also get unlimited talk and text via cell networks on the $15-45/month plans. No worries about going over your minutes or text limit!
Make international calls, as long as you have good WiFi: I remember paying through the nose for calling cards when my family took a cruise a few years back. Now, as long as you have WiFi you can make calls to the U.S., even if you’re overseas.
Port your existing number: You can port your existing phone number to the service as long as it’s compatible. Be sure to check beforehand, I did and my number is available to port.
30 day trial: You can try the phone for a no risk 30 day trial. Just be sure to read the caveats (like not opening accessories if you’re not sure you want to keep the phone, and that you’ll have to pay a $10 shipping charge).
Cons
Limited phone choices: There are currently only a limited number of phones you can buy on the Republic Wireless site. They are all great phones, but if you want something different like an iPhone for an example, you’re out of luck. Thankfully they do have some “bring your own phone” options as well.
Occasional phone service hiccups in WiFi/cell handoffs: Some people have noticed hiccups when moving from a WiFi connection to cell connection. This seems to have improved, however, and most people don’t have issues with this.
No short code support: As of this writing there is no support for short code messaging – in other words sending messages to 4-6 digit numbers services. (Example: text 32456 for a listing of movies) This is being changed however, and they anticipate support for short codes to be added soon. UPDATE: Republic Wireless announced on October 10th, 2014 that there is now support for short codes. One more thing to scratch off the cons list!
Overall Republic Wireless is a great non contract cell service option. It ends up being cheaper than most of the other services that I’ve looked into, and if you have good WiFi coverage like I do, it can be considerably cheaper. I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re looking to cut an out of control cell phone bill.
Are you using Republic Wireless? How has the service worked for you? How much are you saving?
Find out more about the service and sign up via the link below.
More Details About Republic Wireless
Moble Virtual Network Operator (MVNO)
Mobile Network
Minimum Plan Price
Free Tethering
Review
Gen Mobile
Sprint
$5 (Unlimited Text – No Talk, No Data) $10 (300 Min Talk & Unlimited Text – 1GB Data) Discounts if prepaid for 3 months.
Yes
Review
Tello
Sprint
$5 (100 Min Talk & Unlimited Text – No Data)
Yes
Review
Twigby
Sprint, Verizon Wireless
$9 (300 Min Talk & Unlimited Text – No Data)
Yes
Review
Ting
Sprint, T-Mobile
$9 (100 Min Talk & No Text – No Data)
Yes
Review
Red Pocket Mobile
Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile US, Sprint
$10 (500 Min Talk & 500 Text – 500 MB Data)
Yes
Republic Wireless
Sprint, T-Mobile
$15 (Unlimited Talk & Text – No Data)
Yes
Review
Mint Mobile
T-Mobile
$15 (Unlimited Talk & Text – 3GB Data) If prepaid for 1 year. Prepay in 3,6, 12 month increments. Buy 3 Months, Get 3 Free)
Yes
Review
Unreal Mobile
AT&T
$15 (Unlimited Talk & Text – 3GB Data). Prepay in 3,6, 12 month increments.
Yes
Review
TracFone
Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile US, Sprint, U.S. Cellular
$15 (200 Min Talk & 500 Text – 500 MB Data) If put on auto-renew save 5%.
No
Google FI
T-Mobile, Sprint, U.S. Cellular
$20 (Unlimited Talk & Text – No Data)
Yes
Total Wireless
Verizon Wireless
$23.70 (Unlimited Talk & Text – No Data) $25 without auto-pay.
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Empower Personal Wealth, LLC (“EPW”) compensates Money Bliss for new leads. Money Bliss is not an investment client of Personal Capital Advisors Corporation or Empower Advisory Group, LLC.
You are looking for the best investment app to help you save money, but all of them seem too complicated. You want something that is simple, easy to use, helpful, and even better if the app is free.
Empower is an online service for tracking your finances. Before a merger, the company began in 2009, and to this day it has been growing exponentially with a user base of over two million people.
Personal Capital is now Empower.
The app works on desktop as well as mobile devices, giving users the ability to track their spending easily wherever they go.
Empower also offers a suite of tools that help you get out more information about how you are using your money so that you can make better financial decisions.
On this Empower review, we will focus on what they do well, how it works for those who use it, and where Empower could improve.
Don’t forget… here is a list of all of the budgeting apps on the market.
If you are looking for an easier way to monitor your financials and see how healthy your finances really are, then you may want to check out what Empower has to offer.
What is Empower?
Empower is an online tool for tracking your finances.
It has been called the best financial app out there, and I agree with that statement. But, I personally use it as one of the money management tools to help guide our financial decisions.
I have used Empower to track my investments for over six years now, which probably makes me a bit of an expert on this topic because I use it on a regular basis.
Overall, Empower is a financial planning and wealth management tool that users can use to manage their net worth. The product offers tools for managing investments, retirement, debt payoff, and other personal finance goals.
How does it work?
First of all, Empower is a FREE app that helps you keep track of all your accounts. It can help you to invest better and did we mention… it is free to use!
To get the most out of this app, you’ll have to link each of your financial accounts one by one so that Empower can learn how you spend money.
It takes a couple of minutes to create an account and verify your identity.
The longest step is linking accounts to the Empower app. Just make sure you do this step within 7 days to get the most out of the app.
Features of Empower
The features of Empower include the ability to visualize your overall financial picture, keep track of your investments in a dashboard, and see which companies you are invested in.
Most people associate Empower as one of the best tools to help with investing, like a stock screener and an investment calculator.
But, there are many great features available for free including:
Net Worth Planner
Retirement Planner
Fee Analyzer
Cash Flow Management
Savings Planner
Budgeting
College Savings Planner
Investment Checkup
Pros and Cons of Empower
First of all, Empower is free to use. So, you might as well test drive the system and check out if the Empower app fits what you are looking for.
Just like any of the Empower reviews will tell you, there are positives and negatives with every type of money management app available.
You just have to decide the most important features for you. As well as what you are willing to pay.
Pros of Empower:
Free portfolio management tool.
Good for new investors who want a free-to-use tool with minimal features.
Easy to use and can be accessed on multiple platforms.
Can track investments across multiple accounts.
Tracks over 23,000 securities and over 1,000 mutual funds. – check
Offers a free app for on-the-go access.
Offers in-depth analysis and investment research on stocks, bonds, and ETFs.
Cloud-based platform
Free to use!
Cons of Empower:
Sales call from staff
Wealth management service is more expensive than a traditional advisor or simply investing in index funds.
High wealth management fee
Unable to reconcile your bank statements with Empower, but since they are coming from your bank directly, they should already be in sync.
No credit health information
Budgeting Tool needs improvement
Limited transaction management and budgeting
No import option for transactions from any platform including YNAB, Quicken or Mint
Cloud-based platform
Many people report that the Empower app requires $100,000 in investment assets to be eligible. That is untrue. In fact, it works best for those who have at least $100k in some form of investments – 401k, IRA, brokerage accounts, or even cash!
Empoweris incredibly easy to use and has helpful financial planning tools.
Overall, it is one of the many great tools to help further push you to financial freedom.
Empower Pricing
While Empower is free to access personal finance tools, it does come at a small price of annoyance.
Empower is free
Empower is a free online portfolio platform that helps people save and invest their money. It offers tools to track net worth, create investment plans, compare retirement accounts, view savings goals and cash flow, and more.
This is the great part of using this app!
The downside is to make these dashboards free is they are trying to entice you to move to their wealth management services.
You do not need to invest your money with Empower to use this platform.
It is best to keep everything invested where it currently is and use their free tools to analyze and make the necessary changes.
As such, once you sign up, you will receive calls on a reoccurring basis offering you a free analysis. There is no pressure to do this. Once you have said no enough times, they will stop calling you.
For those under $1 million in investable assets, their fee is 0.89%.
As you can read in this book, there are many ways to invest yourself without paying that fee.
In fact, this is my favorite book explaining how much harder and longer you have to work by paying someone a 1% wealth management fee.
However, for a small percentage of people, this may be a more cost-effective way of receiving professional advice, as it eliminates hidden costs from this type of service.
Empower Tools
Empower is a financial management platform that provides tools to help individuals manage their personal finances. The platform offers tools for portfolio tracking, performance analysis, and retirement planning. The company also provides its users with educational resources on financial topics.
Under their free dashboard, these are the tools you can use for free.
Net Worth Calculator
This simple tool will keep track of your net worth. Very simple and always available.
Know where you stand, by downloading the free app to see your true net worth in real-time.
Understanding your personal financial statement is important.
Savings Planner
One of the most asked questions is how much I need to save for:
Retirement
Emergency Fund
To Pay Down Debt
Calculate how much to save each year with a 70% chance of reaching your retirement goals. Learn how much you are currently savings and how much you need to start saving.
Cash Flow
Cash flow is the amount of cash available for expenses at a certain time. This term used in personal finance describes the rate at which one’s income and expenses change over time.
The Cash Flow tool is easy to use because Empower automatically tracks deposits and spending. The time saver feature allows users to see their cash flow, balance sheet, net worth, asset allocation over a period of time.
Cash flow is a budgeting tool that offers limited information on spending. It provides a second check when using another program that gives you more details like Quicken or Simplfi.
Retirement Planner
This is the #1 reason I recommend Empower especially if you are looking to stay away from a financial planner.
Trying to figure out how much you need for retirement by yourself seems like picking a random number from the sky.
The retirement planner is used by millions of people to figure out how on track they are for retirement. Plus get tips on what they can do to improve their chances of success.
Budgeting
Budgeting is a method of allocating financial resources by identifying and evaluating needs, prioritizing them in order to meet goals, and monitoring the achievement of those goals.
Empower includes a budgeting section to help you set monthly spending targets and track your spending. They automatically import the information from linked accounts such as checking, savings, and credit card statements.
Using their free online financial dashboard, allows you to track your spending and investments. There are interactive charts, graphs, pie-charts, and even widgets. All to make sure your budgeting is on track.
Investment Checkup
This portfolio analysis is the process of measuring performance and risk in order to develop a strategy for capital allocation. The goal of portfolio analysis is to improve return on investment, which can be achieved by increasing return on assets, decreasing the risk of losses, or reducing the variance.
The Empower app lets you explore your entire portfolio visually. It also provides asset allocation tools and tax optimization tools to help manage a person’s financial life.
Fee Analyzer
A fee analyzer helps people to determine the annual fees they are paying in their retirement plan.
401K Analyzer also calculates how much your retirement is costing you and provides a breakdown of any hidden fees that may be present within mutual funds with which it has been linked. This Retirement Planner tool uses assumptions about account holdings and investment behavior for calculating expenses against an estimated portfolio value.
Consequently, these fees add up over time and will drastically put a drag on your portfolio and reduce your retirement savings.
Empower Dashboard is Free
Just remember, you do not need to hire an advisor to use the platform.
Empower is a free tool for individual investors.
Empower provides users with access to all of the above-mentioned advanced tools for free. In addition, they offer free financial advice through their blog and social media pages.
It allows users to track their investments and get a personalized financial plan. The service also offers apps for iOS and Android devices, which makes it easy to manage finances on the go.
Empower Wealth Management Review of Services
In addition to offering free financial tools, Empower provides wealth management services.
You get to work one-on-one with an advisor who will give you personalized advice based on your situation.
They help you to invest, save money and track your financial goals.
Their advisors start by determining your risk tolerance and goals in order to construct the best personal financial plan for you.
If you are interested in getting a better understanding of your financial situation, Empower is an excellent option. It gives users the tools to understand their investments, budgets, and cash flow all with one app.
All it requires is that you sign up for free without any obligations or commitments from them whatsoever. You do not have to agree to use their wealth management program.
Personally, I cannot comment on an Empower advisor review as I have not used this service personally.
Empower Investment Strategy
The Empower investment strategy is a simple way to invest your money for the long-term.
This means that you will be able to retire and live a comfortable life without any concern about how you will be able to live.
They employ the tactic called Smart Weighting because they invest equally across all sectors and industries, which can provide diverse returns with minimal risk. The best part of this strategy is it’s easy to use as Empower has created an interface that makes portfolio management simple for users on any device or platform.
Empower’s software is able to identify tax-loss harvesting opportunities (opportunities where the investor sells an investment after it has fallen in value and pays fewer taxes than if the sale had occurred earlier) than investing on their own.
In addition, Empower invests passively for cost efficiency which means that they don’t take any active management into account.
The best part about Empower and one of the key areas I prefer, is they include socially responsible investments as well as an investment strategy to fit any budget.
They identify which companies are doing good work for society and invest in them accordingly. This feature makes personal finance much more interesting and easier than ever before!
Wealth Management Tiers
Many people invest in various financial services and products, such as mutual funds or stocks. They are promised that these investments will generate a good return, but they do not always make the best choice. Wealth management services are a way to help people manage their personal investments. They may charge fees for their service, but that is not always the case.
Depending on your level of assets, will determine the amount of services you will receive.
Investment Services:
This is the most basic level to receive financial and retirement planning guidance from their team of experts.
$100K in investment assets
Unlimited advice from any of the available financial advisors
Managed ETF portfolio
Wealth Management:
This is where you can receive more personalized services and dedicated support to manage your money as you move through new financial challenges.
$200K minimum in investment assets
Two dedicated financial advisors
Access to specialists in real estate, stock options, and more
Regular reviews on your customized portfolio
Tax optimization
Private Client :
This is the most exclusive level at Empower to help you receive comprehensive financial planning. They will help build a customized investment plan to reach your lifestyle goals.
over $1 million in investment assets
Two dedicated financial advisors
Priority access to specialists
In-depth retirement and wealth planning
Wealth Management Fee Structure
Empower charges only an all-inclusive annual management fee at a fraction of the cost of traditional financial institutions. In addition, they do not charge hidden fees, trailing fees, or trade commissions.
First $1 million = .89%
First $3 million = .79%
Next $2 million = .69%
Next $5 million = .59%
Over $10 million = .49%
Overall, if you want a financial advisor or a second opinion, using Empower wealth management services may be for you.
Even if you don’t join, you can still use the tools for free, no questions asked.
My Empower Review from Experience
I have had a lot of experience using Empower in the past. They provide snapshot financial pictures of your personal situation that are very informative.
Plus it is a free tool to use, which is always a bonus.
Empower is one of my favorite online tools to see all your finances in one place.
It is eye-opening to see the overall picture. Also, tracking investments across multiple accounts can be overwhelming, but they make the process seamless and help you stay on top of things.
Personally, my favorite tools are the net worth, fee analyzer, and retirement planner.
I use Empower in conjunction with Quicken. Read my Quicken review.
My Empower dashboard is my overall financial picture whereas Quicken tracks all of my day-to-day spending and helps me remember when we purchased something for a return.
The app has a convenient interface that makes managing your personal financial situation easy, even if you’re not familiar with finance jargon or investing terminology. With this tool at hand, keeping track of where everything stands financially becomes easier than ever before!
Just to note… to get the best financial picture, you must include all of your accounts. The more time you spend in the Empower dashboard, the more helpful analysis you will get from the tool.
Empower Alternatives
In addition to Empower, there are other financial apps that can help you allocate your portfolio.
These include Betterment with Wealthfront also being a viable option for those who want the best of both worlds by tracking their investments in stocks and bonds. However, these alternatives have much higher fees than what is charged by Empower which makes it an appealing alternative if the fee does not bother you.
Also, if you are looking for budgeting capabilities you may want to look at Quicken, Mint, YNAB, or Simplifi.
At the end of the day, you have to decide what your goals are and what you are looking for.
From all of the free and paid budgeting apps, here are our top budgeting apps to check out!
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Personal Capital Advisors Corporation (“PCAC”) compensates Money Bliss (“Company”) for new leads. (“Company”) is not an investment client of PCAC.
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Is Empower right for you?
Empower is a company that offers tools for personal finance management. This app has more than one hundred different tools to help you with your finances, including monthly budgeting and investing tracking.
Empower also helps people manage their credit card debt, establish emergency funds, track retirement savings progressions, calculate their net worth, and much more!
The smartphone app integrates locations, bank accounts, and credit scores which allows users to access current information on their financial situation.
The online portal allows for comparing available investment options.
This tool allows people to plan out the future of their money as well as provides them with valuable financial information in an easy-to-read format so they can make informed decisions.
As stated before, Empower is a financial app that can help you manage your investment assets. It has many features and it’s not perfect, but it’s the best out there in terms of value for money.
You can always test drive it and see what you learn about your personal finance situation.
Now you can try it free (no credit card required!)
Know someone else that needs this, too? Then, please share!!