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We don’t normally think of investing when it comes to college students, however it may be more important and beneficial thank you think. Investing in college may seem impossible because money for a college student is hard to come by, and often times we need every penny we earn in order to eat and pay necessary bills. Investing while still in college will help you gain valuable experience and start a solid foundation that can produce enormous returns. Investing in these simple and easy to use apps can help you save and invest in school, while on a very limited income.
Mint
Although Mint isn’t an investing app, it is an app that EVERYONE not just college students should have. Mint is the all-in-one finance app that lets you track and budget your finances in one and simple to use app. Mint allows you to:
Track your bills: from credit cards to rent to Spotify subscriptions it is all in one place and easy to monitor.
Create Budgets: By calculating your average spending by category, Mint allows you to budget your bills and even provides a plan for saving up for things like a car, vacation, home, etc.
Check your Credit Score: Your Credit Score may be the most important part of your fiscal life that most people never pay attention to before they graduate college. With Mint you can get your free credit report within minutes so you can better understand it and learn how to improve it.
Track Investing: Mint allows you to track and record your investment portfolio, while helping reduce unnecessary fees.
Stash
Stash is my personal favorite investing app. Stash aims to make finding and purchasing investing stocks simple and easy for beginning investors who are looking for guidance. You can invest Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF’s) which are themed groups of individual stocks and/or bonds bundled into one singular fund. You can also buy into individual stocks as well, even if the price tag is too high, you can buy fractional shares which allow you to purchase what you can afford. By answering a few questions, Stash will customize your profile as they see fit for your investing needs. You can even visit the Stash Coach which helps educate you and help you become a smarter investor. Some of the things I LOVE about Stash include:
Low Start-Up Fees: With just a $5 initial investment you can begin investing today, which means no long term commitments.
Auto-Stash Feature: In order to make myself continuously invest I enabled the Auto-Stash Feature which takes $10 automatically from my bank account and places it in my Stash account each payday before I get the chance to spend it!
Exchange-Trade Funds: These themed groups really let you invest what your passionate about! I love sustainable energy so nearly 35% of my investment portfolio is electricity, water, gas and renewables companies all packaged up into a ETF called High Voltage.
$1 Monthly Fee: This one is pretty self explanatory, it only costs $1 to manage all of your investments! (and your first month is FREE)
Acorns
Acorns is the investing app I am newest to, with only a few weeks of experience under my belt using it I can confidently say this is the absolute easiest way to invest and you hardly even notice doing so. Essentially Acorns is an app that allows you to invest your spare change through a system called Round-Ups. For example, if you go to Dunkin’ Donuts and buy a coffee for $2.50, Acorns will automatically “Round Up” to $3.00 and invest that additional $0.50 into your investment portfolio. Like Stash, by answering a few questions Acorns will determine which portfolio best suits your needs as an investor and will automatically invest that money into your account. It is COMPLETELY hands-off. Some things I like about Acorns include:
Low Start-Up Fees: With just a $5 initial investment you can begin investing today, which means no long term commitments.
Round-Ups: This is literally the reason I downloaded the app. The weight of investing is taken off your shoulders and there is no obligation to take any money from your paychecks!
Found Money: This is an amazing feature that helps built your portfolio value very quickly by just purchasing things you would ordinarily! Found Money is essentially a way for your favorite companies to invest in you when you shop with them. Some of the worlds biggest companies like Apple, Nike, Walmart and Amazon will invest anywhere from 1.2% to $200 of your purchase with them right back into your Acorns account! For example, if you buy $100 worth of apparel at Nike.com, Nike will invest $5 right back into your Acorns account. Cash forward is the new cash back!
Robinhood
I have been investing with Robinhood since I was a Junior in high school. Robinhood is the easiest and cheapest way to learn and invest money in the stock market. I learned much of what I know about investing from playing around with $20 on the Robinhood stock market. Never paying fees. Ever. With Robinhood, you can learn to invest in the stock market as you build out your portfolio. I don’t invest as much money into Robinhood as the other apps, however I do pay the most attention to it. Things I LOVE about Robinhood include:
Zero Commission Trading: You pay ZERO fees for buying and selling stocks, it is so simple, fast and most importantly free!
Learn the Market: As I said I learned most of what I know about the market and investing from Robinhood. It is the safest and simplest way to get your hands dirty in the stock market.
No Account Minimums for Basic Accounts: Opening an account is free and cash accounts have no account minimums.
These are the basic apps I use to invest, I don’t have a ton of extra money laying around so cheap and easy apps like these help me control my investing without getting overwhelmed and without breaking the bank. Gaining experience in investing now can be very useful when you get your first real job out of college and you have more money to play around with.
"How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case." - Robert G. Allen
If you’re interested in trying any of these apps here are some referral codes for some FREE money:
- Stash
-Acorns:
-Robinhood: