I am glad to share my experience about making money at home and about investing in Acorn vs Stash vs Robinhood. Saving and investing money is very important; it’s the only way that most people can ever dream of retiring or becoming a millionaire. Everyone should be saving and investing for their future! but these “new” investing apps have finally made it possible for anyone to be able to get started. If you have $1.00 you can get started! And you should! There are many ways to invest money, and no two people have the exact same view, but every investor agrees you should diversify your portfolio. That’s why I use all three of these apps to split my money up and maximize the strengths of each of these platforms.
Fractional Shares
The ability to purchase a fraction of a share is crucial for investors with a smaller portfolio. This means even though Apple stock is trading for over $200.00 a share, you can own a piece for any amount you want, even $1.00, technically Stash allows you to purchase a stock for $0.01.
Stash allows you to purchase shares in any amount you want. Stash is the only app I currently use to purchase fractional shares.
Acorns platform is not setup for purchasing individual or fractional shares.
Robinhood does technically support purchasing fractional shares, but you have to get on a waiting list, which I’ve been on for quite some time. So I do not have any opinion yet on their abilities.
Portfolio Management
A managed portfolio allows you to just simply invest cash and watch it grow. Your money is invested in stocks, bonds, ETFs, and more for you. You don’t choose any individual investments.
Stash does not offer portfolio management.
Acorns is the platform I use for my managed portfolio. The app will walk you through and ask you questions to determine how conservatively or aggressively your money is invested.
Robinhood does not offer portfolio management.
Charts and Information
It’s important to study charts and information such as current news articles, earnings, etc. to determine if a stock is currently valued high or low and if the price is likely to go up or down. Let’s see what these apps have to offer.
Stash gives you a basic overview of the company with a description of their business, a risk level assessment, and the dividend yield. The app also has a basic chart with 1, 5, 10, and 15 year options. Nothing fancy, but I do use the charts and dividend yield to help me determine if a stock is a good long term investment.
Acorns doesn’t really offer a lot, but when you’re choosing a level of investment they do have a chart and breakdown to show what categories your funds will be invested in.
Robinhood is the most advanced of these three apps. They offer a slightly more sophisticated stock chart with the option to show candlesticks, which is nice. There are much more insightful stats listed on each stock like the 52 week hi/lo, average volume, and more. The app also shows recent news articles for any relative companies at least. They also has analyst ratings, and some stocks have Morningstar bull say/bear says articles. Scroll further down and you will find earnings information, and a description of the company including their headquarters location, founded year, and number of employees.
