Greetings,

Anyone using Acorns? I don't have tons of time or knowledge to 'manage' a portfolio, and I don't have tons of spare money to 'play/risk' in the market.

This seems, at least on principle, for pretty much a simple/no-brainer way to get something going. Not looking to get mega-rich...just something I don't have to think about and build a little.

https://www.acorns.com/

Anyone?

Boss

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Boss1,

I don't, but looking at it, it seems like an easy way to start.

In my opinion people who only have enough money for what they are calling "micro investing" shouldn't be investing at all. You should be building up $1,000 in a plain old savings account as a rainy day fund for car repairs or when you need to buy a new refrigerator. Only then should you consider putting money into a mutual fund.

quote:

Originally posted by Fundman:
In my opinion people who only have enough money for what they are calling "micro investing" shouldn't be investing at all. You should be building up $1,000 in a plain old savings account as a rainy day fund for car repairs or when you need to buy a new refrigerator. Only then should you consider putting money into a mutual fund.

One perspective I suppose.

So if people don't have say $5-10K to just gamble with in the market, they shouldn't try to take advantage of record NYSE performance?

To a low roller like me, who's busy with work & family, finds the idea of researching stocks about as attractive as trip to the dentist, and certainly doesn't fit into these upper affluent types you see being portrayed in the investors commercials on TV, this does seem easy and a way to almost unconsciously compel/induce some saving.

I might try for a 6-12 month just to see how it plays out.

Boss

I agree with Fundman. Pay off credit cards and build an emergency fund.
If you want to gamble just buy a lotto ticket

quote:

Originally posted by Fundman:
In my opinion people who only have enough money for what they are calling "micro investing" shouldn't be investing at all. You should be building up $1,000 in a plain old savings account as a rainy day fund for car repairs or when you need to buy a new refrigerator. Only then should you consider putting money into a mutual fund.

This, then once you have no revolving debt, auto loans etc. Then you should invest in mutual funds with a solid track record.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by Fundman:
In my opinion people who only have enough money for what they are calling "micro investing" shouldn't be investing at all. You should be building up $1,000 in a plain old savings account as a rainy day fund for car repairs or when you need to buy a new refrigerator. Only then should you consider putting money into a mutual fund.

This, then once you have no revolving debt, auto loans etc. Then you should invest in mutual funds with a solid track record.

I didn't spend too much on the website, but I didn't read anywhere on there that you had to be poor to use their service. Did it say it somewhere and I missed it? Does using their service preclude you from paying down debt or also putting money into savings while you use the service?

Seems pretty cool to me. Especially if you want to use if for more risky stuff and gamble with pennies you would never miss anyways.

skins - their home page talks about "investing your spare change" and "rounding up." And what is an Acorn? A small thing that seems worthless but ends up growing into a big tree. It is obvious to me the target audience is people with little money to spare.

Don’t believe the left when they act like you have to be rich to be in the stock market. Did you know that 72% of America’s millionaires never had a 6 figure HOUSEHOLD income. Let that soak in. What that means is the vast majority millionaires are just ordinary people who contribute to their 401k’s and over many years become millionaires.

The guys are giving you great advice above. Get out of debt and quit sending all your money to the banks besides your mortgage. Once you have a rainy day fund start contributing to a 401k or mutual funds on a consistent basis.

Don’t mess with single stocks that will make you feel like you’re gambling.

With a very little research you should easily be able to find a mutual fund that has given returns if 10% a year for the last ten years. That’s not gambling that’s a track record.

Back on track:

Are there any folks here who have any personal experience with Acorns or something similar like Stash?

Boss

You might want to read through this to get some more insight.

https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/micro-investing

No experience with Acorns or other micro investing apps, but on first read, it looks like their fees are high for the "micro" amounts invested through the rounding up of transactions.

Almost every major brokerage house now offers free trades, lowering the transaction cost greatly. If you want lead pipe simple, just pick a Vanguard target date fund and throw money at when available.

Highly recommend you check out M1 Finance. I moved all my investments from Charles Schwab to M1 since it is so easy to automate my investments.

The better the advise, the fewer that will listen

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Boss1:
Greetings,

Anyone using Acorns? I don't have tons of time or knowledge to 'manage' a portfolio, and I don't have tons of spare money to 'play/risk' in the market.

This seems, at least on principle, for pretty much a simple/no-brainer way to get something going. Not looking to get mega-rich...just something I don't have to think about and build a littl

Let me re-phrase
I don't wish to commit my time to gain knowldege and my expenses and/or self discipline keep me from saving money. Opening a savings account with direct deposit from my check and having the statement sent to an email account I don't check on seems old school and not cool. How can I participate in the get rich quick of the stock market and make myself wealthy with little or no effort. Acorn sounds too good to be true so I know it is a real benefit to people like myself. Don't talk me out of it or offer any solid proven advice or I may be offended.

Fixed it for you

#Fundmanisright

The Dave Ramsey article is a great link.

I can't find an online copy any more but William Bernstein had a blog post about 10 years ago about how much more money one's broker or brokerage house makes over a lifetime than you will. These micro places are no exception.

It might be better than putting spare change in a coffee can or cookie jar but WOW is this misleading.

"As Easy as 1, 2, 3
No minimums. No trade fees. Only $1, $2, or $3 per month until you have $1 million invested."

I think a better way would be if it is possible to have a set amount from paycheck automatically put into investment account every pay period. A lot of places do that but typically into a 401K I believe. If employer does not do that another option might to have a checking account that can do the same, move money to an investment account every week.

I do not have any experience with these types of things. Why don't you just open an account with Vanguard. It is simple. Anyone can do. Pick two or three mutual funds. Put funds in when available. Check on it a couple of times a year. It is so easy.

Lots of good advice in this thread. Yes, it is very important to have a "rainy day fund," or the like, probably more so than retirement savings. Why? Because it frees one from being forced to make poor financial choices due to lack of resources. So many times in life we are faced with situations where we must accept a less-than-desirable outcome simply because we don't have enough money to follow a better path. Getting out of that potential bind should be the first, and probably most important, goal of a responsible financial management plan. Give yourself the ability to make good decisions for yourself.

My daughter and her husband started an Acorn account (along with a retirement account and savings, debt reduction plan, etc). Their logic was that it would be a reasonably simple way to save a few cents extra, and that it would be relatively painless to do.

I asked them about it after reading this thread. They have had it opened now for about 12 months, and have saved $1500ish. She says it pays 6-8% interest, depending on how aggressive you want it to be set up.

Maybe not a ton, but more than they might have otherwise been intentional about saving, and it starts to look like real money instead of falling back into the "pocket change" category.

Might not work for everyone, and I don't have an account, but it seems to be ok for them.