You might have heard of Acorns before, especially if you’re new to investing. It’s especially popular with millennials because of the app’s excellent user experience. If you’re curious about it, the first natural question that comes to mind is: Is Acorns worth it?
Well, I’m going to answer that question in this post. Read on to find out whether Acorns is worth a try or not.
Acorns: The Basics
First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page here. What is Acorns anyway? Acorns is a fantastic way to save and invest money. It’s a brilliant approach for new investors to get a better return on their money.
Again, It’s trendy among millennials because the app allows you to check in on your progress from your phone. Consider it a method of automatically investing spare change.
When you purchase with a synced credit or debit card, Acorns rounds up the amount. Then it transfers the total into an investment account. Recurring investments can be programmed to deposit on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
There are no restrictions on the number of credit cards or accounts you can attach to Acorns. This gives you the prerogative to invest your spare cash whenever possible.
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All About Acorns Portfolios
Acorns smart portfolios are built around your investment objectives and risk tolerance. Expertly crafted Acorns portfolios alter automatically as you and your money grow.
So, what happens to your money? When creating an account with Acorns, you have the option of selecting one of five portfolios.
These can be altered as an Acorns customer based on your financial position throughout your investment adventure. The profiles themselves are made up of popular exchange-traded funds (ETFs):
Conservative
40%: Short-term government bonds
40%: ultra short-term corporate bonds
20%: ultra short-term government bonds
Moderately Conservative
60%: government and corporate bonds
24%: large company stocks
12%: international company stocks
4%: medium company stocks
Moderate
40%: government and corporate bonds
35%: large company stocks
18%: international company stock s
5%: medium company stocks
2%: small company stocks
Moderately Aggressive
47%: large company stocks
24%: international company stocks
20%: corporate and government stocks
6%: medium company stocks
3%: small company stocks
Aggressive
55%: large company stocks
30%: international company stocks
10%: medium company stocks
5%: small company stocks
Acorns has over 9 million customers and $3 billion in assets under management. This micro and Robo-investing service charges a tiered fee based on product: $1, $3, or $5 for funds up to $1 million.
Is Acorns A Legitimate Service?
The Securities and Exchange Commission regulates Acorns, making them legitimate and safe to use. By providing information on investing businesses, the SEC protects and assists investors in making educated decisions and investing with confidence.
Acorns is also a constituent of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which assures that the company’s actions are legal.
How Acorns Works?
The Round-Up investing strategy is practiced at Acorns. It essentially takes your spare change and invests it for you automatically.
Acorns rounds up to the next dollar and micro-invests the change every time you make a transaction. Of course, these transactions have to be associated with your credit or debit card.
Let’s say you spent $10.25 on snacks. This purchase will be rounded up to $11, and the difference of 75 cents will be deposited as micro-investment.
Acorns creates a portfolio for you, allowing you to diversify your assets over 7,000 equities and bonds.
How Do You Sign Up For An Acorns Account?
First, you need to fill out your personal and legal information. Then all that’s left is to get verified, which usually takes around 24-48 hours.
Please note that you need to be a US citizen to open an Acorns account. You’ll need a valid Social Security Number and at least one eligible personal checking account. Each Acorns account is linked to only one Social Security Number, meaning you can only have one.
How Do You Make Money With Acorns?
Invest your spare change.
You can opt-in for Round-Up investments once you’ve linked your debit or credit card to Acorns. This allows you to invest your spare change from everyday purchases automatically.
When you shop with an Acorn-linked card, Acorns will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar. Then it will invest the difference in your account.
For example, if you spent $26.35 on groceries, Acorns will round it up to $27. It will then invest the $0.65 change in your account automatically. According to Acorns, you can expect a 7.5% return on your assets on average.
Acorns Found Money
When you use your Acorns connected debit or credit card at any of Acorns’ partnered businesses, you’ll get cashback. Walmart, Sephora, Nike, Airbnb, and other major retailers are among Acorns’ partners.
When you shop at one of the participating merchants, that retailer will contribute a certain amount to your Acorns account.
Shopping With The Acorns Card
When you use the Acorns tungsten metal debit card, you can gain up to a 10% bonus on your investments.
Extra Info On Acorns
Account Management Fees
Personal and Family memberships are available from Acorns every month. For a personal membership, you have to pay $3 every month.
For the Family membership, it’s $5 every month. This tier includes everything in the lesser tiers along with Acorns Early. AE allows you to contribute on behalf of your children. When they become of age, they can have access to their investment account.
Account Minimum
To begin investing, you’ll need at least $5 in your account.
Accounts Supported By Acorns
1. Spend
Spend comes with a debit card and an online checking account, allowing you to save and invest while you spend.
2. Invest
Invest allows you to invest your spare change automatically at any moment or on a recurrent basis. To stay in your target allocation, Acorns rebalances your portfolio and diversifies your investments to over 7,000 stocks and bonds.
3. Later
Later is a retirement account that allows you to invest for retirement automatically by setting up recurring installments. Choosing a retirement account is simple since Acorns suggests the best plan for you based on your objectives. Your employment and income at the time of sign-up are also taken into account.
4. Early
You can open an investment account for your children and invest on their behalf if you start early. When your children reach a certain age, they will be able to access their investing accounts.
Investment Expense Ratios
Expense rates for exchange-traded funds range from 0.03% to 0.18%.
Tools
By modifying the investment dollar amount, you can see how your total investments will grow over time with Acorn’s Potential Tool.
Account Fees (for transfers, annual, and closing)
To transfer investments to another broker and end your Acorns account, Acorns costs $50 per ETF.
Customer Service
Acorns provides phone and chat help 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Response time may take up to 48 hours. The majority of your inquiries will, however, be answered on the Acorns website.
How To Withdraw Money From Acorns
You can request a withdrawal using the Acorns app by completing the steps below:
- Log into your account.
- Choose the account you want to access (invest or later).
- Select the “withdraw” option.
- Put in the amount you want to take out.
- Tap the “withdraw” button to confirm.
Acorns Pros and Cons
Pros
- When you shop with an Acorns-linked debit or credit card, you can use Found Money to establish an investing portfolio. Select retailers will make a cashback contribution to your investing account.
- Investing for children helps you to not only save but also invest for the future of your children. When your child becomes of age, they will become the owner of their investment account and be able to manage it.
- By changing your contributions to automatic, you can save time and effort.
- The website’s educational content makes it ideal for new investors, as it outlines vital topics in plain English.
Cons
- You can only invest in five ETF portfolios because you have a small portfolio.
- Acorns has high account transfer fees. If you’d like to transfer your assets to another provider, Acorns charges $50 per ETF. Transferring 5 ETFs would cost $250 at this rate, but most other providers would only charge $75. If you sell your investments and transfer the money to your bank account, you can avoid the cost.
So Is Acorns Worth It?
Acorns is paying off for many new investors by amassing returns over time through the stock market and other securities investments.
According to a Reddit member, they first used Acorns in June of 2016. Their portfolio is set to be reasonably aggressive, according to their post.
They started modestly, like many Acorn consumers, and progressively increased their investments over time. As of this writing, they claim to be contributing $250 each week, with a 10X multiplier on credit card round-ups.
So for every $5 in credit card round-ups, they put $50 into their Acorns account. This user claims to have saved and invested $52,758 using Acorns since 2016, with a profit of $10,926.
That’s a gain of over 26% in the stock market! So, are acorns really worth it? It’s difficult to dispute that it isn’t.
Related Reading: How to make money as a teen – Click Here To Learn More.
Final Thoughts
Acorns is an excellent investment because it has a meager monthly membership charge compared to what it provides. Acorns makes investing simple, entertaining, and profitable for everyone, especially new investors. I suggest you give it a go!
