The 5 Best Investing Apps for Beginners in 2021
If you are looking for a tool that can help you reclaim control over your finances, but you never adventured much in the world of investments, this article might be exactly what you need to start. Nowadays, there are many apps available online that can assist you in learning, experimenting, and safely investing in traditional or alternative financial opportunities. Using these finance apps can optimize these tasks and help you to dive into the world of investing.
Thus, here are some of the best apps for starting to invest your money. These apps aren't from the major stock brokerage houses. This list actually features apps from fintech disruptors that can help you handle your money and invest. So here are the top 5 investing apps for beginners in 2021.
Invstr
- Learn About Investing
- Gamified Experience
- Available Via Mobile App
Invstr is a great app for beginners. When you combine learning, real-life investment, and community into an app, you get Invstr. This app is built to help new investors get into stocks with a gamified interface and user experience. The app incorporates a fantasy trading game in which you can manage a virtual fund worth $200 billion. You also get access to investor opinions on stocks and other investments.
The fantasy game provides you $1 million in virtual cash. To create your investing strategy, you can get inspiration and ideas from the app's social network and news feed. On top of that, the month's best performers are now eligible for cash prizes. You can also purchase fractional and entire shares commission-free in the app if you'd like to transform any of your dream picks into real-life stakes. You will be able to learn from a group of investors, understand why they go for specific stocks, and participate in a fun role-playing game.
Wealthbase
- Learn About Investing
- Social Media-Like Experience
- Available Via Web and Mobile App
Wealthbase is another fantasy gamified investing experience app. This app is a newcomer to the stock market gaming scene. Although this app is a newcomer to the stock market gaming scene, it could be the most user-friendly trading tool available for having fun and choosing stocks. One of the app’s features is scheduling games with friends that can last as much time as you want them to. Some games go on for a few weeks, others for days, and some even less than a day.
Another very interesting feature of Wealthbase is its social media-like user experience. Through the app’s feed, you are able to see the stocks your friends are investing in, as well as frequent updates on who’s thriving. You can even start some friendly “trash talk” at your peers’ posts to add more fun to the experience. This app also runs incredibly smoothly, without any delays or glitches. Thus, Wealthbase has everything it needs to stand out in the stock simulator universe, and that is why it is usually quite fun even if you are not that into stock picking.
Acorns
- Investment App for Savers
- Easy to Navigate
- Available Via Web and Mobile App
Acorns might be among the oldest of this new breed of financial apps, but it is still as good as they come. This app is one of the most popular finance apps available nowadays and the main reason for that is how simple it is to use Acorns.
Once you set up the app, you don’t need to make much more effort. After you attach a debit or credit card to your account, Acorns will round up your transactions to the next dollar and invest the difference in one of several ETF portfolios.
To have access to Acorns’ features, you will have to pay at least $1 per month, which is the price of Acorns Lite. If you can – and want – to invest more into this tool, this app offers other services. To upgrade to Acorns Personal you will have to pay $3 per month. This slightly pricier package includes an individual retirement account (IRA), which you can do in one of three ways: standard, Roth, or SEP.
Acorns builds your portfolio based on how much time you have before you retire (calculated as age 59 ½). Then it gets increasingly conservative closer you are to that age. This tier also includes an FDIC-insured checking account with no maintenance costs and fee-free access to tens of thousands of ATMs.
You can also acquire Acorns Family for $5 a month. This level contains all the functionalities of the first two packages, as well as savings accounts for youngsters, without a minimum balance.
Outlet
- Seamless High-Yield Investing
- Savings Account-Like Experience
- Available Via Mobile App
Outlet is a savings app that helps you to collect over 50 times more money than a conventional savings account. It does that by paying you investment dividends on your extra cash. This app pairs you with the top-yielding lender from its network of overcollateralized lending partners. Outlet is actually a niche lending service. However, as a user, you will notice this platform behaves and feels like a savings account. This is possible due to its user-friendly, safe app that is designed to look, behave, and sound like a savings account.
The reason for this savings account setting is so clients can easily navigate through the crypto lending environment. This way, you can take advantage of crypto’s attractive interest rates without needing to have expertise in this field or to take any major risks. On top of all that, Outlet is completely free to use and doesn’t charge any hidden maintenance fees. Outlet holds your funds with SOC II Compliant custody partner.
Robinhood
- Investment App for Easy Trading
- Seamless Interface
- Available Via Web and Mobile App
Robinhood is that app you just cannot avoid mentioning when talking about best investing apps. If you want a seamless setup and no trading fees, Robinhood is the app to get. You might have heard about his app due to its strong presence in the media in 2021. But media coverage is not what made this app so successful, but its endless trading options offered through an extremely easy-to-navigate interface. You can trade stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrency on Robinhood for free. And then, what were once complicated tasks, became as easy and buying stuff online with the seamless user experience offered by the app. This platform is so easy to use that after a while you will be switching from screen to screen instinctively as you trade in the market.
The app also offers some other features. A search bar at the top of the screen will take you to a stock's tab, where you will be able to see charts and relevant statistics. It also has a feed that gathers content from news and investing sites that can be helpful in keeping up with the financial market.
When it comes to minimum balances and hidden fees, Robinhood is also great. The app doesn’t require a minimum balance to open an account. Then, the platform doesn’t charge any commissions for stock, ETF, options, or crypto trades. Robinhood does offer a Gold membership with premium features.
Should I Use All These Investing Apps?
Not necessarily. Some applications have exclusive features that are more focused on education, while others are more focused on trading. If you want to start with pretending, maybe choose between the gamified trading apps. Then, when you feel more comfortable you can move to an investing app focused on savings, which are usually less risky. If you eventually feel like you are ready to dive into real-life stock picking and trading, you can explore the apps focused on this end. This can be a game plan. Or you can start with actual trading but in small amounts.
At the end of the day, it is up to you how you will approach your investing education. The idea is that you find the ideal app for you to be able to learn and take advantage of the great investment opportunities available. One thing is for sure, you shouldn’t leave your money sitting around.
