While investment is generally accepted as an excellent life decision, it’s prone to a lot of risks like wrong speculation, fraud, etc. But with some of the best-in-class apps out there today, investing becomes easier than ever. Here is a list of some of the best of them available in app stores across the major mobile operating systems.
1. Acorns
This is a top choice not only for seasoned investors but also for beginners. It is a robo-adviser that puts all your loose change from transactions into an investment account. Smart, eh? This also happens to be one of the easiest apps to use, as well as one of the most affordable, costing only $1 a month for investments under $5,000, and 0.25% over that. The coolest bit is it is absolutely free for college students with a valid .edu ID for 4 years.
2. Robinhood
The recipient of an Apple Design Award, Robinhood is a winner all the way. With this app, opening an account hardly takes 5 minutes, and once you do, you are not required to pay anything for stock trades or account maintenance. You don’t even have to worry about a MAB. The only payments are the mandatory ones like those required by FINRA and SEC. Robinhood allows stock trading and ETFs real time, but you cannot trade MFs, options or bonds. Another bummer is the lack of analysis, financial information and in-depth research, though these can be overcome by linking the app with third party services.
3. Stockpile
This is an app dedicated to making people invest as widely as possible by letting them buy fractions instead of full shares. So, if prices on a share you invest 50% in using Stockpile go up by $10, you get $5. A fun thing about Stockpile is that it encourages kids to invest, and has many gift cards for that purpose. It charges $0.99 for each transaction.
4. Betterment
This app uses Nobel-prize winning research methods to conduct its portfolio management service for users with a low balance, those looking for good retirement planning, goal-based investing, or those who don’t want to be much involved in it in the first place. You can have six bond ETFs and six stock ETFs in your portfolio. A nominee for Best Overall Robo Advisors, Betterment comes with three types of plans- Digital, Plus, and Premium. Digital is the best pick for those new into investment.
5. Stash
This app won’t manage your accounts directly but would help you to build an ETF portfolio. The minimum balance for investment using this app is $5, and $1 a month for those having account balance less than $5,000. This app is the best suited for beginners, for those wanting some help with their investment selections, and those looking for thematic or impactful investment. The only downer is its high subscription fee once the investment is above $5,000, as it becomes a percentage of assets after that.
6. SigFig
This a robo-adviser, very efficient at designing personalized portfolios. If your investment is between $2,000 and $10,000, you will get a free portfolio by SigFig. A good thing about this app is that it does not require you to have your investment done by SigFig to use its cool features. It helps with external portfolio analysis, live syncing of your accounts and dashboard reporting. Military personnel get free account management for a year. It is especially good for those planning to have a retirement plan.
7. Capital
Capital Com SV, the company behind Capital.com, is based in Cyprus, which is fast proving to be a popular destination for brokers. The company offers trading only via this app, meaning it is all the more suited for beginner. While the minimum deposit is $100, as the CFDs are provided on assets excluding FX, it is best to invest bigger sums. The only limitation according to many is that it offers a small selection of companies for trading, which may increase with time though.Also this a platform where you can find out more about economy news, commodities news, read article etc.
8. Wealthfront
This is a robo-advisor and service provider that offers both standard and specialized services like direct indexing and brokerage holding transfers best suited to tax patterns. This is a favorite among new investors. The questionnaire you complete in the beginning would determine the best investment portfolio based on your requirements and risk tolerances. With a minimum deposit of $500, it is free till $10,000. And referring your friends to the app would see you have an additional $5,000 managed for free.
9. Vault
This Portland-based app originated with a phone call between the CEO and his mother, and is specifically for retired people. The interface is very user-friendly and it automatically directs a part of the paycheck to a retirement fund. The minimum balance is just $1, and it allows people with unstable, or entry level jobs to invest into a safe and thoughtful retirement plan.
10. Mint
This free app helps you keep track of everything related to your investment- your balance, your net worth, your investment potential including debts. Through this app, you get all the information from your banks, cards, brokerages, etc. into your phone. Also, you also get analytics based on your spending patterns, helping you with better management of your finances. However, be prepared for ads.
11. Openfolio
It is the “digital financial assistant” you need to have a comprehensive assessment of your finances. This app compiles all your data from bank accounts, online accounts like Robinhood, Betterment and Wealthfront, investments, brokerage accounts and gives a very detailed report card with advice on your future course of action. As a bonus, it would compare your portfolio with 70,000 others to give you a very clear idea of exactly where you stand and what exactly you should do to improve.
12. WiseBanyan
They are the ‘world’s first free financial advisor’. And that is not all. Its minimum account balance is $1 and annual fee is 0%. How cool is that? This makes this app one of the most preferred among millennials. There are some customized portfolio management tools though, though their fee range is as low as 0.55 and 1%. Its best services are Milestone Tracker, the two-factor authentication and the automatic deposits.
13. Personal Capital
This robo-adviser differs from the average app of its kind in that it does not use the traditional broker model and that all its Personal Capital Advisors are Registered Investment Advisor (RIAs). It serves clients with investment from $100,000 to over $10 million, and while the fees being higher than the average robo advisor is a bother, they tend to get cheaper with higher investments. This app is best for investment tracking, retirement planning and bill and account tracking and management.
14. JStock
This app is one of the best available to monitor finances, and its USP is the excellent world index charts and detailed information of any market situation. This app would very accurately monitor your stocks and indices, your exchanges, and understand your pattern to advise you the best course of action. JStock is also famous for providing personalized news content and updates.
15. Fidelity
Because of its concentration on mutual funds and retirement plans, this app often gets overlooked by regular brokers, which is a shame really, because it is the product of a lot of research, has low commissions and a big range of investment selections. For IRAs, the MAB is $0, while for brokerage, it is $2,500. This app is the best for retired personnel, active traders, beginners and premium research.
16. TD-Ameritrade
This is one of the best apps out there for those interested in having a diversified portfolio. This is not a robo-advisor, meaning instead of being limited to 12 fund choices, you can buy just anything you want from stocks to Forex assets. This is for those interested in MFs and ETFs, which you get to invest without any commission. It also comes with the Snapstock feature through which you can snap a barcode or a picture on any item you come across to find out everything available about the company.
17. Motif
With each motif standing for a particular investment procedure, Motif is one of the sassiest money managers out there. You can have up to 30 ETFs or stocks. What makes this app cheaper than the average one of its kinds is that you can buy all the extra-traded funds or stocks under a single motif for $9.95, whereas individually, each transaction would cost you $4.95. While the app itself has a whopping 150 motifs by default, because it is very cool, you can use it to design your own based on your values and lifestyle, or to access the 18,000 plus motifs designed by other users.
18. Stock Market Simulator
This awesome app lets you have an idea of the U. S. stock market and gain some experience using virtual funds without risking any of your money. This also makes it awesome for first-time investors. The minimum investment using Stock Market Simulator is $10,000, and as the updates come only 15-20 minutes after the real market, you get to keep track your investments real time.
19. Forex Hero
Remember those days back as a kid when you learnt new things through games? Well, Forex Hero does something similar by simulating real market environments for beginners. It not only teaches you the theory but also evaluates your progress with very real-life situations. And once you are done with your training, you can move on to the very reliable and friendly brokers available on this platform.
20. E*TRADE
This is an app for traders on the go. With this app on your mobile, you get to access your accounts anywhere and everywhere and manage all your portfolios. Because of its easy interface, this app is preferred by both new and experienced investors.
21. Yahoo! Finance
While this app does not allow direct investment into accounts, this is one of the best out there for getting personalized news of the market. Through this app, you can safely sync and manage your accounts on a cross-platform basis and track information on stocks, commodities, currencies and the like. This also helps you get notified of anything that is related to your investment.
22. Benzinga
Just like Yahoo! Finance, this app brings you the latest market news from everywhere, including social media. And it is slightly better than the average news app in that it provides customized info for you to act upon. This is one app you can use in addition to your normal investment app to keep up to date with everything out there, especially if you are a first time user.
23. Invest by Rubicoin
This is another learning app for beginners, and the founders of the app want more and more people to become market conscious and start investing. All you need to do is to get your investment broker partnered with Rubicoin to ensure smooth graduation from learner to beginner. However, take care that at present, only the learning app is available on Android platforms.
24. StockTwits
Keeping in mind the advantages of having a common platform for some brainstorming sessions, there is StockTwits for all the investors and advisors. So you get answers to your problems, advice from those with more experience than you, important updates and news, and may even collaborate to create projects with and for the people you like. The $ticker tag is there to help you to navigate through the deluge of information to find precisely what you are looking for. This app is absolutely free.
25. Bloomberg
One of the most esteemed names in market reporting, and while it does not allow direct investment, this app brings you some of the most accurate news. There are many apps under Bloomberg like Market+, TV+, Businessweek+ and the like to provide the user with very specific type of information according to their choice. It is the best for beginners, and offers a lot of customization.
So, there you go. All these apps have been found to be reliable in terms of safety, operation and genuineness, and what with further and vigorous developments continuously going on, these apps are the ones to look forward to in 2018.
