Acorns is one of the best financial decisions I made just starting out in investing. With just a few clicks you can be setup to automatically invest your spare change too! Signing up is easy and I’ll walk you through the process.
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Instructions for Signing up To Acorns
- The first step is to click here and open the sign up page
- Next enter your email address and a password
- You will need to click the agreement and disclosure boxes
- You will then connect your bank account (this is the account that will be used for round-ups and withdrawals)
- Next you’ll be directed to enter your personal information (name, date of birth, social security number, etc) – don’t worry it’s secure 🙂
- Then Acorns will let you pick out how you want your money invested
- Once your account is verified, you can sit back and watch the money grow!
What is Acorns and How Does it Work?
If you aren’t familiar with Acorns, you may be having some questions. I actually wrote an article on the topic which you can find by clicking here. But if you just want the short run down, I’ll cover the basics for you.
Acorns is an investment company that links to your bank account and credit cards. It takes each transaction and rounds the amount up to the nearest dollar. If you spend $8.50 at Wal-Mart it will round up the transaction and invest the $0.50 for you (it waits until round-ups equal $5 or more before withdrawing). That money is then placed in mutual funds, bonds, and company stocks. Acorns lets you decide what level of risk you want to take but once that is set, they take care of buying and selling for you.
There are a lot of ways to customize your investing strategy. You can have Acorns double your round-ups or even remove that feature, you can add a monthly recurring investment amount, and you can make one time deposits. It is also easy to withdraw money but you can expect a little bit of a delay. It usually takes 5-7 days for a withdrawal request to hit your bank account.
Acorns does charge a small fee. As of the writing of this article, they charge $1 a month with other features available for $1 or $2 more a month. I just use the basic features for $1 a month.
Why I Like It
I’ve heard comments across the online investment community that downgrade Acorns. I’m going to address the top two concerns I’ve heard and then give you a list of why I love Acorns.
First concern: The $1 fee is way too high if your account only has a few hundred dollars in it.
My Answer: Would you rather have $500 in a “free” savings account earning virtually no interest or $500 in Acorns earning at least 6% a year (that’s $30)? This concern is stupid if I’m going to be honest. Yes, you’ll be paying $12 a year for this service. That still nets you $18 more than your savings account!
Second concern: You can earn a much higher return if you invest in stocks on your own.
My Answer: Can you though? I mean, yes, it is entirely possible and a lot of people successfully earn on average 10%Â or more in the stock market each year. But can YOU do that? Do you want to take the time to do your research, evaluate the performance of mutual funds, ETFs, company P&Ls and balance sheets, and constantly be watching to buy or sell at the right times? If you do, then bravo! Acorns is not for you. Acorns is for someone who wants to benefit from the stock market without spending any time on it. Unless you have thousands of dollars, it’s going to be hard to convince a stock broker to do all the work for you for the small fee Acorns will charge.
My List of Reasons for Why I Love Acorns:
- I have netted a profit (thanks to the stock market of course) the last 3 years and haven’t even noticed the $1 fee.
- Before signing up, investing sounded hard and like I needed $10k before I could use a broker to manage my portfolio. Acorns made it easy for me to start small.
- I don’t even have to think about my investments! Money is automatically being taken out of my account and stocks purchased for me!
- I’d rather earn some interest and invest some money with a $1 fee than let it sit in a savings account earning practically nothing.
- In the past couple of years I’ve invested $650+ just in round ups (not counting my recurring investments and one time deposits). I don’t know about you, but that’s money I know would’ve been spent if it hadn’t of been withdrawn and put in my Acorns account.
I probably won’t look at Acorns as my long term investment strategy (eventually I hope to have thousands for a broker to manage) but I do look at it as my start. I think that’s how you should look at it too. If you don’t want to wait until you have $10k to invest, then start with Acorns. It’s easy and I can guarantee you that you’ll save more each year with it than you would without it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Acorns phone number? I’ve never used it before but I’m told 855-739-2859 will get you through to them.
Is Acorns federally insured? If you are asking if they are legit then yes. They are members of the SEC. But your account could lose money. It’s the stock market not a certificate of deposit.
Is Acorns better than Robinhood? Apples and oranges. Acorns is hands free investing. Robinhood is for the active investor who does their own research and their own buying and selling.
Can I stop the round ups? Absolutely. I did this after a couple years and reverted to just making monthly deposits.
Is there a fee to withdraw money? No, which is a relief. However, Acorns does charge a $1 monthly fee for your account and withdrawal requests can take 5-7 days to go through.
==>Click here to get started and receive $5 for using my link!
Final Comments
I’d love to hear your comments! Post your experience below if you’ve used Acorns. Thanks!