My taxes are done and I have money on the brain. I claimed $19 from Acorns on my taxes! ha! I’ve intended to write about Acorns for a while, but I have finally reached a milestone on the app so it feels appropriate to share how I’ve used it so far.
This weekend I reached $500 in my Acorns account!! If you’ve been watching the market recently, it took a bit too long to get to that goal, my account has certainly been struggling lately!
The app works by rounding up your change for every purchase you make on a card you link to the account. Once you reach $5 in change, it will transfer money from your bank to your Acorns account. The money is then invested in your portfolio. For the duration of my use of the app, I’ve only had my debit card connected, but there’s the option to add other cards. I use my debit card the most frequently so it works the best for me. I also opted in to making an additional monthly recurring investment of $5. It usually adds up to ~$35 dollars a month.
The money that’s rounded up from purchases made on the card + any recurring investment go into a portfolio/ savings account. I have my portfolio set on Moderately Conservative, which just means the majority of places my money goes are more stable like Government Bonds and large company stocks, but you can choose to invest more aggressively.
It took me over a year to reach the $500 milestone. I’ve been using the app since mid-2015, but I took out money at two points, August 2016 ($100) and January 2017 ($400). For the past year (February 2017-February 2018), I didn’t have to take money out! It allowed my portfolio to grow.
On the round-up page, it’s more clear the total amount I’ve invested over the two and a half years.😲
I find that having this app and portfolio is a great way for me to save a bit extra each month in addition to the savings account I already have with my bank. A little extra security blanket. The app only charges $1 a month for a fee and there’s no penalty for withdrawal. It’s super easy to use and I’m learning more about investing along the way! If you want to try it, you can use my link and get $5 to start.
Heather Allen 
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