Lists Of User-friendly Investment Apps

Investment apps have made stocks, mutual fund and other types of investment a very painless journey. Unlike before when starting an investment portfolio required a long process that begins with getting a reliable stock advisor and gathering well-detail information about the stock investment portfolio. However, today, with the rise of technology,  what would have taken up to a month only take a few moments and taps on your phone. Without any physical encounter with a stock advisor or any investment expert, investors can trade their stock on their own. They can receive a tailored portfolio and even check their investment performance on their phone. Both fintech startup and traditional brokerage have an investment portfolio, hence finding the one that works for you would not be a challenging experience. This article is a compilation of the twelve best investment apps for the stock, mutual funds, retirement plan and other types of investment portfolios. 

Twelve Best Investment Apps 

• Robinhood

If you don't want to face the rigorous process of trading commissions, then Robinhood is for you. The investment app allows interested investors to trade in stocks, cryptocurrency, and EFTs for free. From the moment of investment to the moment of cashing out the money, all processes are carried out electronically. All that is required of the investor is to download the app, create an account, connect it with a bank account, fund the account and then trade for free. However, if you wish to upgrade your account and trading hours, you would be required to use the RobinhoodGold for a token.

Since Robinson does not attach payment of a particular fee to their program, it means that most of the money paid to run an investment portfolio is not applicable to the app. While the app is generally free, except for the RobinhoodGold, the app does not run any retirement account or portfolio. Also, Robinhood is taxable and self-managed.

Basically, the company makes its money from interest earned on account cash balance and money paid by Robinhood Gold users.

• Round

Round is one of the best high-end investment portfolios. Although it uses a questionnaire to generate its portfolio, it works with fund managers like the Doubleline, Guggenheim Partners and Gabelli to make provision for individual stocks to all interested investors. The management of the investment app works with alternative strategies and assets including asset-backed securities, merger arbitrage, and real estate. Irrespective of the account that is being operated, Round charges a 0.5%management fee. In fact, should a negative return occur, the investment app waives its monthly fees.

• Acorn

Acorn is advisable if you don't want to think too much about the investment portfolio but just want to contribute regularly to the progress of your investment. It is generally simple and very flexible. This is what has made it one of the most popular investment app today. 

To get started on Acorn, the investor would download and create an account, then link this with his or her debit or credit account. The investment app then runs a total on purchases to the next dollar and invest that difference into one of a few ETF portfolios.

The Acorn management fee is a token of $1 for an account of $5000 and $0.25 for the account that is above $5000. For college students, the app is generally for the first four years starting from the day of registration.

The investment app offers other features for interested investors who want to grow their portfolios. An investor can easily upgrade to Acorns Later which is a bundle of Acorn Invest. Acorn Later operates in a similar way as the individual retirement account. It is the companies version of the retirement investment portfolio and as such it allows investors to operate any of the three versions of IRA:  traditional, SEP or a Roth account.

Also, if you already have a 401(k) retirement portfolio or the Roth, you can easily roll over your account into the Acorn Larger.

Investors operating any of the IRA accounts cannot make any withdrawal until the retirement age of 59½. Any withdrawal before this age would attract tax payment and penalties.

• E*Trade

This is another great app investors can use to start a stock investment portfolio. With the app, investors can buy into a wide range of investments like mutual funds, ETFs,  E*Trade stocks and many more. The E*Trade app provides an avenue for users to dig deeper into dividends, earnings, company news and metrics like debt-to-equity ratio. 

The management fee is relatively cheap. Investors only pay $6.95 per trade. As a result of the vast investment opportunities available on the investment platform, E*Trade is one of the best picks for interested investors who want to get started with stock investment 

• Stash

Stash is very similar to Acorns, the only difference is that whiles Acorn invests for you, Stash offers a low-cost method to build your investment portfolio. It takes you through all the necessary steps involved in stock investment and helps you to make the best investment decision

The app is made up of educational content that would help boost your knowledge of how investment portfolio works. On Stash portfolio, you can choose between a value-driven portfolio focused on different investment themes, or build a custom portfolio.  To fund your account, you can do this manually through your bank account or set up an Auto-Stash plan for recurring investments.

Stash account can be opened with a token of $1, but as you progress on the app, you would be subjected to more fees, especially from the individual investment you choose. 

• Betterment 

This is one of the most popular and largest investment apps. One of the reasons for the popularity of the app is that it offers a best-of-breed socially responsible investing (SRI) portfolio. Betterment’s large-cap SRI holdings score 42% higher on its social responsibility index. 

Betterment works like a Robo-advisor and provides a professionally managed portfolio for users. The app is calibrated against the investors' risk. An investor who is able to take a little more risk with the app can get a higher return on investment. A beginner who is just getting started with investment can easily create a betterment account and allow the app to do its work 

Recently the app services have been split into two: Betterment Digital and Betterment Premium.   The management fee is relatively smaller than what is charged in a traditional financial adviser. For the basic account, ie, the betterment digital,  the management fee is 0.25 percent. This would give a total of $25 per year on an investment of $10,000. In a betterment premium, an investment of $100,000 attracts a few of $0.40.  The app does not place restrictions on the number of accounts an investor can run, and allows you to run your investment portfolio by setting the goals you want to reach. These could involve retirement plans and safety nets. 

• Vanguard

This is one of the oldest and lowest investment apps. The app offers options for buying into ETF or mutual funds. It is generally free but attracts a little trading commission on investors operating the ETFs. The app does not require a minimum balance and users who operate the electrical form of accounting do not pay for service fees.

• Vault

Vault is excellent for an investor who is looking for a retirement investment portfolio. It is a very good choice for self-employed persons who might not have access to the 401(k) retirement plan often set up by an employer for his or her employee. With Vault, the investor can open any of the three types of individual retirement plans. The investor can operate the traditional IRA, the SEP-IRA or the Roth IRA account. For self-employed like the freelancer, the SEP-IRA is more preferable since it is basically for self-employed. However, this is not to say that your choice is limited to the SEP-IRA alone, you can choose any of the IRA accounts of your choice 

Vault allows you to divert a percentage of your paycheck into any of the retirement accounts you choose. When you get paid, the designated percentage goes into your vault account. The payment is usually automated. The management fee method of Vault is the some with Stash and Acorn.

• Stockpile

This is another unique investment app. It allows you as an investor to buy and sell stock from any company of your choice. On a stockpile, you can buy a fractional share of any company of your choice. To fund the account, you can do this manually or through the stock gift card that rewards any lucky recipient with shares of stock starting from $5

However, unlike the other investment app, stockpile does not offer a monthly fee, rather all trades attract a payment of $0.99. The app is a very great one especially for a grandparent who has been wanting their grandchildren to start investing. The gift card of shares on stockpile can be used as a way to lure in the grandchild. The app allows the kid to share a wishlist of stock with their friends and families and track their investment at regular intervals. 

There are over 1000 investments on the stockpile. This includes ETFs and single stock. For instance, as a lucky gift owner, you can gift shares of a stock like Apple or Disney or gift a variety of stock in an ETF from the likes of iShare, Vanguard, and other institutions of your choice. You can also gift an e-gift card or fund an account using a bank transfer. This is one of the gifts on a stockpile that pays a dividend. 

• Clink

In this type of investment app, your level of aggressiveness determines how much of your fund would be invested. Clint is a saving-based app that invests your money into a portfolio like the Vanguard ETFs. This is currently the only assess option in Clint. Depending on your investment portfolio, a certain percentage of your purchase can be added to your clink account after you have made your purchase. For instance, if you are someone who really spends on dinner, you can easily transfer 10% of your dinner purchase to your clint account.

Clint does not operate a minimum investment plan, the limit per day is $10,000. For a portfolio that is up to$5,000, there is a $1 monthly fee, however for a portfolio that is above $5,000 the monthly fee is 0.25%. Clint helps you to shop and save at the same time by reinvesting a percentage of your usual purchase.

• Invstr

The app is a combination of three crucial aspects: real-life investment, learning, and community. It is designed to help beginners who are just getting started with investment catch up quickly with it. For investors who love games, the app is a combination of fantasy stock game, this gives a user the opportunity to manage a $200 billion virtual portfolio. The investor can easily share his or her thought on stocks and other investment portfolios that are being offered 

The fantasy game allows the investor to use the app's social network to source for an idea and gives $1 million in virtual money. The top performer of the month wins not just virtual money but also real cash that can be converted into fractional shares from $0.99 per trade and to the whole share from $2.99 per trade.

• Wealth front

This is a very good investment option for people who wants to use passive investments to build their wealth. The app is designed with some built-in intelligence that helps maximize investment while keeping the risk tolerance in mind. It works in a way that all your most important account is first collected into the app, then it analyzes all your spendings and goals so as to create a personal strategy for you. The app rebalanced your portfolio regularly based on market fluctuation and deposit. 

For the first $10,000, the Wealthfront app is generally free. After this, the management fee charged is 0.25% per year. The app operates a minimum balance of $500. 

Summary

Investment apps are one of the best ways to get started with investment. It is very easy to operate and not too demanding like operating a physical branch investment portfolio. The management fee for the twelve investment portfolio explained in the article is very low. Investing through any of these apps would help cut down the rigorous process of physical investment.