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Are you ready to finally start your financial journey? Do you want to learn how to invest and make sustainable passive income? Keep reading to learn about the best investment apps in 2020!
We are so glad you stopped by to learn about our favorite ways that new investors can dip their feet into saving money!
Now, if you are new to this blog, we’d like to say a quick “hey!”, but also give a heads up that we have a free workbook that you can download to get a headstart on your financial journey. Might as well now than later!
Let’s dive right in by chatting about the dreaded word: investing.
How many millennials or young women do you regularly hear talk about saving money in a RothIRA, a mutual fund, or in stocks?
It is likely that there are very few.
And, honestly, that’s because investing isn’t taught to us in our high schools or even to the typical college student.
We are thrown into the world, piled high with student debt, and expected to know how to handle money and how to properly invest money for a great retirement.
Plus, investing is marketed almost entirely to men. In this article we look into the importance of women learning about their personal finances, and it may be a great place for you to start!
Nevertheless, investing is honestly pretty scary and weird for pretty much everyone. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and there don’t seem to be easy ways to start.
With that said, we have been recommending a few apps throughout this blog, on our Instagram, and in person, that are changing the game for young investors.
If you have any desire to start investing, to start learning about investing, or to even begin budgeting your finances, these apps are our top recommendations.
Plus, we’ll tell you exactly why we like them in comparison to competitors and how we’ve been successful with them!
As we’ve mentioned plenty of times throughout this blog:
You are never to young or too old to begin saving and investing. It is simply important that you begin.
App #1: Personal Capital
Download the Personal Capital app here!
How Much it Costs: FREE
What is it for?: Tracking everyday expenses, planning for retirement, analyzing your investments, budgeting
Be sure to check out our full review for this app!
If you are a frequent flier over here on our blog, you’ll know we love this app.
For spending absolutely no money to get and fully use the app, it offers far more than what other competitor apps can offer.
So, why is this the first app we recommend?
Simple. To begin investing, you much first understand your net worth. Net worth is essentially how much money you actually have to your name, including:
- Savings and Checking accounts
- Student loans
- Credit card debt
- Investment accounts
This app will lay everything out onto graphs and charts, and give projections for your financial future. You can then learn about what to invest in, depending on your age, current financial situation, and goals for the future.
We also love Personal Capital because it will regularly keep you in the know regarding your everyday spending habits.
Every week you can get a notification or email about how much you spent in comparison to your past, which is great for all beginners to this whole “money” thing.
This app is perfect to have in conjunction with the following apps. This is because it will not directly invest anything for you, but will track it all and help you make investing decisions as you continue to learn more!
App #2: Acorns
Download the Acorns app here!
How Much it Costs: FREE (for college students), $1-$3/month for everyone else
What is it for?: Learning how to save money, building an emergency fund, investing for millennials
We’ve had a ton of fun with this app recently, and were excited to add it to the list!
Acorns works by rounding up the “cents” portion of your purchases.
For example: Let’s say you went on a Target run and your total was $45.87. Following the transaction, Acorns will automatically “round up” your total to $46.00, by taking $0.13 and placing it in a fund or savings account.
So, $45.87 goes to Target, and $0.13 gets invested. Easy!
Essentially, Acorns is like a digital piggy bank. It puts small amounts away, and helps you to save money without really thinking about it!
So, the real question here is: How much can you actually save up with this app in a year?
Between our experience and what we’ve discovered from others, is that you can save up anywhere from hundreds to thousands each year with this app.
Pretty cool for not putting in any work!
What to do with the “round up” money that you save:
- Save up an emergency fund in 1 year
- Pay off credit card debt
- Begin investing in an account, directly through the app
- Save for a vacation
Like Personal Capital, Acorns can give you regular updates regarding you savings, to keep you on track!
App #3: RobinHood
Download the Robinhood app here!
How Much it Costs: FREE + get a FREE stock when you sign up through the link above!
*Full disclosure: This link belongs to a ThirtyEight Investing family member. When you use this link, they’ll receive a free share too! It’s a win-win!
What is it for?: Investing in stocks for all ages and backgrounds, learning about investing
In fact, we have been using and recommending this app for longer than any other financial app!
So, what is so special about Robinhood?
First off, you can use all of the important features for free. This is one of the biggest factors that makes this investing app so competitive in comparison to other apps.
Most other investing apps either require a monthly fee (like a subscription service) or charge to use their products and services. Although Robinhood does have options for advanced investors to pay into, everything that you’ll need is totally free!
Second, it is 100% beginner friendly!
Interested in putting away just a few dollars, to start learning about investing?
With this app, there is no need to hire a financial advisor, pay for other unnecessary fees, and to be clueless with your financial decisions.
Literally, Robinhood is the easiest way I’ve found to invest. In addition, it is the prettiest (yes, we care about graphic design too), and the most educational app for all new to investing.
If you download this app, make sure to do so through the link above to get your FREE STOCK!
Now, it is important that you don’t just jump right in and invest tons of money into stocks without knowing much of what you’re doing.
That’s why we highly recommend Robinhood, since our link gives you a free stock to start learning about the stock market, without putting any money of your own into stocks!
Plus, what’s great is that this app links directly into your Personal Capital account with a simple log in. You’ll be able to track your stocks through that app, without the need to click through numerous apps regularly.
So, Now What?
Really guys, it can’t get simpler than this!
So, what are you waiting for? Even if you are absolutely brand new, these apps can help you to start from the bottom up, from tracking your spending, to saving up some cash, and learning how investing works!
Plus, did we mention the apps are free? 😊
You can check out each of the apps through links above, or through the summary below. Let us know of your experience with the apps, or if you have other recommendations, down in the comments. We’d love to hear from you all!
The 3 Apps You Need To Start Investing:
- Personal Capital: Great for budgeting, planning retirement accounts, tracking all of your assets and liabilities, and graphs/charts of your net worth. Beginner friendly and available on desktop and phones.
- Acorns: A perfect way to learn to save money! Great option if you want to save an emergency fund, collect money for a vacation, or begin investing with small amount of money. Beautiful designs and ideal for millennials.
- Robinhood: Our favorite way to invest in stocks. It is quick, easy, and thorough. The best option for anyone new to investing. (You get a free stock when clicking on the link and signing up!!)
Thanks for stopping by! We hope you learned something new today!
ThirtyEight Investing
All advice and opinions provided in this post are reflections on experience and are for educational and entertainment purposes only. Please see our disclaimer page details.