Acorns Review: How To Make Money With Investing (Free $5 Bonus)

ACORNS REVIEW INTRO

Acorns review: Acorns is one of the hottest micro-investing apps on the market right now. It has more than 4 million users building wealth with their service. It’s a simple and easy-to-use investment tool to help you save while generating income.

Everyone needs to invest whether you’re selling subscriptions with Subbly, selling t-shirts through Printful, hosting a blog on SiteGround, or an influencer using Kicksta to get more followers.  How does it help you save and generate income? It invests your spare change into an Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) of your choice. The ETFs are some of the most popular iShares and Vanguard ETFs.

Investing for some could be a scary thing filled with anxiety and all right intimidating especially for people who don’t have a financially background. Acorns understands this and it’s the reason why they made their app as seamless as possible.

ACORNS INVESTORS

We feel its important to mentioned Acorns investors in our Acorns review.  In 2014, Acorns launched its app and it quickly gathered investors including like Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Durant. What’s more, Acorns’ investors are some of the biggest investment firms in the world. Here are their institutional investors:

Let’s start our Acorns review!

HOW DOES ACORNS WORK?

Acorns concept is pretty revolutionary. They took the age-old concept of change jars and drawers, but Acorns is using the change to invest for you. It’s a really simple concept and it doesn’t break the bank.

How many of us notice spare change lying around our house or in between your car seats? We don’t even look twice at it. How much is all those pennies, quarters, dimes, and nickels if you add them up?

Now, Acorns provides a seamless way to potentially save hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars each year and grow your retirement fund. How does Acorns do this?

Acorns app is based on a Round-Up concept where every purchase you make on your card will be rounded up to the nearest dollar. The spare change will be cumulated until it reaches a threshold then withdrawn from your account and then invested into your chosen ETF.

For example, on Tuesday, you make a purchase at Starbucks for $3.59 in the morning, you bought lunch for $10.45, and dinner for $24.25. Your Acorns Round-Up balance is $1.71. Once it reaches $5, Acorns will withdraw it from your checking account then invest the money for you.

Moreover, you can apply the Round-Up to all your purchases or selected purchases (e.g., Starbucks only). Plus, you can use Acorns Multiplier to boost your savings. In other words, Your Round-Up amount will be multiple by 2, 3, or 10. For example, 41 cents Starbucks purchase will be $4.10.

Should you start planting some Acorns?  Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?

WHO IS ACORNS MADE FOR?

Acorns isn’t targeting seasoned investor even though they’re able to use it. Acorns is tailored for “novice” investors or new investors just getting started. Good news is that everyone can use it.

So, who are the people using Acorns?

• High school graduates
• College students
• Young adults
• People who don’t actively invest
• Folks who don’t have an investing or saving routine.
• Investors who don’t want to manually manage their investments.

Plus, Acorns doesn’t charge any fees for college students. All they need to do is register with a valid .edu address and they can use Acorns for free for 4 years as long as their employment status is “student.”

How much would a high school grad make with a $1,000 initial investment? They’ll double their money by 26.

FEATURES

Acorns comes with loads of features and services. There are ways to increase your Round-Up, setup recurring deposits, earn extra cash via Acorns Found Money, no transactions fees, IRA accounts, and more!

Here are some notable Acorns’ services:

• Acorns Later – Acorns Later is Acorns IRA offering, which includes Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and SEP-IRAs.
• Acorns Spend – Acorns Spend is a branded branded checking account and Visa debit card provided through Lincoln Savings Bank. It’s fully FDIC insured. Every purchase made via Acorns Spend account is eligible for up to 10% cash back from local participating retailers.
• Acorns Learn – Acorns Learn provides answers to some FAQs, a glossary of investment terminology, and investing basics articles.
• Acorns Grow – Acorns Grow is Acorns educational section providing tutorials, interviews, and current investment news. You can access it via their website or app.
• Acorns Potential – Acorns Potential provides different scenario projections for your potential investment value. You can change your Round-Up, Multiplier, and recurring deposits to see how it will impact your future investment account.
• Acorns Gift Cards – Give the gift of Acorns via their branded Gift Card. Gift cards start at $25.
• Found Money – Found Money works similar to a cash back credit card program. If you buy something from a Found Money partner, the partner will invest in your Acorns portfolio. Partners include Blue Apron, AirBnB, Lyft, Nike, Macy’s, Expedia, Sephora, and more!
• Automated Round-Up – Selected or all purchases on your linked debit or credit card will be automatically Round-Up and invested.
• Round-Up Multiplier – Acorns Users speed up their investing by multiplying their Round-Up by 2, 3, or 10.
• Recurring Deposits – Setup daily, weekly, or monthly recurring deposits to increase your investments.
• No Fees – College students don’t pay any management fees for 4 years. Plus, Acorns never charges any transaction, trading, or withdrawal fees.
• Customer Support – Acorns offers customer support and they aim to get back to people within 24-48 hours.

Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?

FOUND MONEY PARTNERSHIPS

As briefly mentioned above, Found Money is another way to earn more money for your Acorns investment account. With Found Money program, partnering companies will invest in your Acorns account for certain purchases made on their website. It’s essentially a “cash back” program, but with the potential to earn more money.

How does it work? The partnering companies will give you money back every time you make purchase from one of the them with your linked cards. The reward takes about 30 to 60 days to reflect in your Acorns account.

Found Money creates another opportunity for you to passively build your wealth via Acorns’ spare change concept.

Here are the current Found Money partners:

Here are their associated “cash back” amounts:

PORTFOLIO

After signing up, you’ll be directed to answer a few questions about your investment goals, employment information, personal information, and some standard brokerage firms required by the SEC.

Next, based on your answers, Acorns will suggest an investment portfolio. But you are free to choose a different investment portfolio based on your risk tolerance level. If you want a higher return, you would go with a more aggressive portfolio. If you want stability, you would want to go with a more conservative portfolio.

Acorns utilizes a Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) approach, which was developed by Nobel Memorial prize winner — Harry Markowitz. Markowitz is one of the world’s renowned economists and an Acorns’ advisors.

MPT emphasizes asset diversification instead of holding a single asset type. It spreads your market risk across different types of assets like bonds and different size market cap companies.

Here are Acorns asset classes:

• Government Bonds
• Corporate Bonds
• Real Estate
• Large Company Stocks
• Small Company Stocks
• Emerging Markets
• Developed Markets

Here is an asset type breakdown of Acorns’ portfolios:

With any investing, returns are never guaranteed and you could potentially lose money on your investments. What’s more, you should stay away from any company offering guarantees. Acorns doesn’t offer any guarantees, which is a good thing.

Acorns invests in Vanguard and iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), which are some of the most popular ETFs. The company is SIPC insured, which is a government mandated for all brokerage firms.

Here are Acorns’ available ETFs:

Here are Acorns retirement accounts:

• Personal Savings
• 401(k) Rollovers
• Traditional IRAs
• Roth IRAs
• SEP-IRA

Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?

ACORNS REVIEW PROS VS CONS

Pros

• Simple way to invest
• Simplified complexities of investing
• No minimum investment
• College students don’t pay fees for 4 years
• Automation investing
• Doesn’t break the bank investing
• No significant lifestyle changes
• Informative and educational content
• Popular Found Money partners like Nike and Sephora
• No transactions fees for trading or withdrawals
• No cash out fees
• Simple option for new investors
• Recurring deposits features to boost savings
• Multiplier feature to invest more

Cons

• Investing is risky, but stock market has always provided a return
• Small extra savings unless Multiplier and recurring deposits are use
• Limited ETFs, but available ETFs are very popular
• No tax-loss harvesting, but you always consult a CPA to find ways to offset any losses
• Relatively high fees on small account balances

Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

There will always be ups and downs with the stock market. It doesn’t matter who you use as your investment brokerage firm. Fidelity, Prudential, Charles Schwab, and all other brokerage firms are not immune to market volatility.

Historically, the stock market will always rebound. The two perfect examples are the market crashes of 2007-2009 and March 23, 2020. In both situations, the market value dropped by more than 30%. Within less than two years, the stock market recovered all its losses and continue to gain value.

Since April 2009, the S&P 500 value increase by approximately 262%. That said, investing isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon and you have to be in it for the long term. You’re pretty much guaranteed a return on your money and there is no better time to invest than today.

With investing, you should consider where you are in your career, tax benefits, and your current lifestyle. Any savings is better than no savings. With Acorns, you can save and get a return on your money. The more you invest the better as the S&P 500 historical increase has shown us.

Now, let’s talk about taxes. You will pay taxes on all investment income. It’s just a matter of when you pay taxes. With traditional IRAs and 401(k) accounts, when you make a withdrawal, you will have to pay ordinary income taxes. With Roth IRAs, you pay today’s ordinary income tax rates and your future withdrawals are tax-free.

While investments purchase through brokerage firms like Acorns, the tax rate will depend on when the investment is sold. If held for more than a year, capital gains tax rates will apply. If the investment is held less than a year, ordinary income tax rates will apply.

As mentioned earlier, investing should be a long game. You should plan to hold onto the investments for a long time.

“If you don’t feel comfortable owning a stock for 10 years, you shouldn’t own it for 10 minutes.” Warren Buffet

With a savings account, you’re losing money because most major banks interest rates are 0.01% to 0.03% and online banks offer anywhere from 1.30% to 1.75%. How are you losing money? Inflation. The average historical inflation rate is 2 to 3% annually.

Acorns will help you start your savings and it’s one of the better micro-investing apps on the market. Per Investopedia, the average S&P 500 return has been 10-11% from 1926 to 2018, which is way above the historical inflation rate of 2-3%.

Here’s our hypothetical return on your money comparison with inflation:

COSTS

Next up for our Acorns review is cost. How much is Acorns going to cost you? Acorns doesn’t charge any transactions, trading, or withdrawal fees. In other words, Acorns won’t charge any fees if you decide to move your money from your Acorns account to your checking account.

Secondly, it’s completely free for college students. If you’re currently in college, you’ll just have to use you a valid .edu email address at registration and keep your employment status as “student”.

Thirdly, you can transfer up to $20,000 a day into your Acorns account and/or transfer out any amount without being charged any fees.

Here are Acorns monthly fees:

For all of Acorns services, the $3 monthly fee is less than a Carl’s Jr Famous Star, which is about 10 cents a day and much better for your health.

In addition, with Acorn Spend, you can earn up to 10% cash back on your participating local retailers (i.e., grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, etc.). Plus, Found Money is free and provides cash back on specific partner retailers.

If you have a small balance, the monthly fee relatively expensive in terms of Assets Under Management (AUM). Plus, ETFs charge their own management fees. The ETF management fee is charged regardless the brokerage firm. However, as your Acorns balance grows, the monthly fee is a great deal to have someone manage your investments.

Here are Acorns monthly fees from a management fee (Acorns fee ÷ Acorns balance = Management Fee) perspective:

Lastly, with Acorns, you’re paying for someone to manage your wealth for you. It’s a small fee to pay especially when you’re just getting started.

Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?

IS IT SECURED?

With every review, we always discuss security and our Acorns review is no different.  Acorns is equipped with 256-bit “bank-level” security encryption. That said, Acorns doesn’t store your bank account’s login information and you can add multi-factor authentication. We strongly recommend using multi-factor authentication on all your online accounts.

IS ACORNS INSURED?

Acorns is Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insured. It covers investments up to $500,000, which includes up to $250,000 for cash balances. SIPC is a federally mandated and it protects investors if the brokerage firm goes under or fails.

So, what does that mean? If Acorns goes out of business, your money will “probably” be covered. SIPC doesn’t protect you against stock market losses. If your investments loses half its value, you can’t file a claim.

ACORNS REVIEW CONCLUSION

Is Acorns worth your time and money? Absolutely. If you’re just getting started and don’t understand investments, it’s a great way to start saving and grow your retirement fund passively. In addition, it doesn’t significantly affect your lifestyle with its spare change concept.

If you’re currently in college or a high school grad, it’s absolutely free to use. It doesn’t get any better than investing without paying any management fees. What’s more, you can setup recurring transfers to grow your account faster.

There’s a lot of complaints about the monthly fee on other Acorns review. But, $1 to $3 a month is absolutely nothing. People pay more for a cup of Starbucks coffee on a daily basis. It’s only 3 to 10 cents a day. The only difference is Acorns grows your wealth and it’ll eventually pay dividends. That wraps up our Acorns review. Want a special invite to get $5 to start with Acorns?