Acorns Review 2021 | Is it really for you? - [UPDATED]

Tags: Personal Finance, Acorns
16 April 2019

Table Of Content

Acorns is a micro-investing app which puts saving your hard earned money on auto-pilot. It is made with a modern perspective in mind - by merging robo-advisor and automate saving tool.

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Let's look at an example

The platform invests spare change whenever you make any purchase using your linked credit card or debit card. Think of it like this - you wake up every day, you go to your favorite cafe, you buy your favorite vanilla bean latte for $4.29, and Acorns says yeah let me make you some passive income on that latte. So, Acorns rounds up that $4.29 to $5.00 and invests the difference of $0.71 on your behalf. And, voila! Few years down the lane this little investment has turned into hundreds of thousand dollars completely passively.

Let me tell you how!

How does it work?

Acorns is a computer managed investment account. All you have to do is link your credit card and debit cards which you normally use for your day to day purchases. You just have to link these cards to your Acorns account and simply continue living your life. Paying for gas, the food, your morning coffee, and so on.

Acorns will then kick in and round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest it for you. And don't worry you don't have to be a stock broker or a hedge fund manager to be doing it. The app is made for layman people who are just beginners and wants to discipline their spending and invest their money. And it is fully automated.

Acorns is an app which you just turn on and you forget it. And few months down the lane you see your pennies turned into huge bucks!

So, where do Acorns invest your money?

Acorns invest your money in low-cost ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds.). They have a number of prebuilt ETF portfolios. You just have to choose how aggressive or moderate you want your investments to be.

Rule number one in personal finance is - if you are young you can take large risks in investment. So, you are suggested to go aggressive on investments as you can. As you get older you are suggested to decrease the risk level and invest in moderate portfolios.

As any online finance preacher, I would suggest you consult with your own personal financial advisor and choose your investment style.

So, continuing with our earlier example. When you make a purchase of $4.29 for your favorite latte - Acorns will round up the money to $5. It will keep the difference in your Acorns portfolio. And when this change adds up to \$5 from your other purchases - Acorns will invest it for you.

And you know the best part? You don't have to anything at all!

Just keep making your regular purchases. Once you link up your credit cards and debit cards - Acorns will handle your investment portfolio all by itself.

What is the catch?

Well, I can understand. Everything I explained sounds super nice and dandy. But, nothing is as beautiful you might say. So, what is the catch?

To be honest - there is none!

But, yes there is a small monthly fee for managing your investment account. Acorns charge \$1 every month for managing your auto-savings account and much more.

If you are a college student you are in luck!. The fee of \$1/month is waived for college students at the time I am writing this blog.

But, you can trust me when I say this-this fee is almost negligible considering the service the Acorns platform is offering you. And considering how much other platforms or advisors charge for such services.

Pros and Cons

Let's see some pros and cons of using Acorns app.

Pros:

  • Start with as little as \$5. (Ssh! You can get it from me. Keep reading.) 📖
  • It is completely automated.
  • Prebuilt ETF portfolios. You just have to choose how aggressive your portfolio should be.
  • Shows you your investment projections.
    • It will show what your portfolio value would be in 5 years, 10 years, or 50 years.
  • Found money program.
    • It is like a builtin cash-back program.
  • Educational portal right within the app.
    • It has some great articles on managing your personal finances, getting out of debt and so much more.
  • The fee is as less as \$1 per month.
  • You can save for retirement using their Acorns Later plan for \$2/month.

Cons:

  • It has limited investment options to choose from.
    • This won't be a problem for beginners but if you are a seasoned investor you might feel this limitation.
  • No individual stocks to pick from.

Is Acorns safe?

Yes! It is completely safe. All the data is encrypted with the 256-bit encryption algorithm. So, you can be sure that no one can read your data over the network.

Acorns is also SIPC insured up to $500,000. Which mean, if acorns go out of business you will get up to $500,000 amount back.

Who is it for?

Like every other app, this app might be or might not be for you. Here's a checklist to see if you should really get into investing using Acorns.

  • Are you a newbie investor who wants to get started with investments? Get this app now!
  • Are you someone thinking of starting another stream of passive income? Get this app now!
  • Do you spend a lot more than you save your money? Get this app now!
  • Are you Warren Buffet? You can skip using this app sir.

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