10 Best Investing Apps (September 2022) – Securities.io

byJohnny Syntax -September 10, 2022

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There is a lot of money lying in investing, although you cannot get to it without risking some of yours. However, with the right tools and a proper understanding of how investing works, you can earn it fairly easily simply by employing good strategies, investing into strong and worthwhile assets, and, most importantly — by choosing the right investment apps for the job.

When it comes to other factors, you will have to do the research on your own and apply the methods that both work for investing in the asset you are interested in and work well for you as an investor. However, we can help you out in terms of using the right tools, and the best way to do it is to recommend some of the best investment apps that will let you handle routine financial tasks, shuffle money between accounts, track spending, and more. So, without further delays, here are the apps that we recommend as some of the best for those who are dreaming big when it comes to investing in various assets and letting the market do the rest.

The first on our list is Ellevest, which is considered to be one of the best apps for socially-responsible investing. It is among the highest-ranking robo-advisors, but also an app that aims to help female investors make the best possible investing decisions. Of course, anyone can become a client, but we found it interesting that the app is trying to boost the number of female investors by targeting them specifically. There is no minimum balance required in order to start, and the only thing that you need to keep in mind is that there are monthly fees to pay that can be $1, $5, or $9.

We like the app because it creates strong investment portfolios and plans, which take into account the different circumstances of women, like lower lifetime earnings. It also allows all clients to build their own portfolios that include up to 53% of their portfolio in ESG, which is known as the Impact portfolio. This costs only around $13-$19 per year on average, for every $10,000 invested. We believe that this is the best app for anyone who seeks socially responsible portfolios, and it can offer some rather attractive returns.

Moving on, we have Charles Schwab, which is easily among the best investment apps or beginners. If you have little to no experience, this is the app you will want to start with. Of course, that doesn’t mean that experts won’t find it useful — just keep in mind that it was designed for novices, meaning that it offers a lot or resources, tons of research and educational materials, and alike, all for the purpose of helping newcomers get up to speed on investing.

It requires no fees nor a minimum balance to get started, and we particularly like it because it offers fractional shares. That way, you can invest into fractions of major, top-performing stocks, which are usually too expensive for novices. Other than that, it features commission-free stock and ETF trades, and it is great for mutual fund investors. There are more than 4,000 funds that come with $0 transaction fee. Lastly, it has a great customer service, and if you deposit $25,000 or more, you get an excellent cash bonus as part of its sign-on promotion.

So, if you are seeking a friendly company to point you in the right direction and offer some unique opportunities, this is the app for you.

In the third spot, we have Fidelity Investments, which is a great app for managing all your finances in a single place. Essentially, this is a perfect app that can replace your dependence on multiple others, with a top integrated experience. You can use it to set up your own investment account, checking accounts, business retirements account like SEP IRA, or just a regular IRA. On top of that, you can use it as a savings account, a robo-advisor account, a source of funds for paying your bills, managing your credit cards with it, and more. It is really a one-stop shop and a great place for novices and experts alike.

In addition to everything mentioned above, the app will help you get some solid research on ETFs, mutual funds, articles regarding budgeting and managing personal finance, and more. And, if you ever need help, you will be able to reach out to the Fidelity rep at any time.

Next, we have Wealhfront, which is our recommendation for anyone who needs an app for some top-notch portfolio management. The app is among the largest independent robo-advisors in the industry, and while it does require a small fee — it can help you out a lot by managing your funds. Regardless of whether we are talking about IRAs or taxable accounts of some other kind, this is an app for you.

Now, it does require a minimum balance, unlike our previous entries, but it is only around $500. Other than that, we mentioned a management fee which is at around 0.25% of assets, annually. But, if this is not a problem, we expect that you will quickly learn to love this app for its ability to connect you to hundreds of ETFs, which you can use to construct your portfolio. It will take into account how much risk you are willing to take, it will add your money to your portfolio and keep your account well balanced, and it will bring attractive cash management accounts. You will even be granted early access to direct-deposited paychecks and a debit card, all of which will come with no extra fees.

Halfway down the list, we have Wealthbase. This app is the best for contests and trading games, and it is something of a new addition to the world of stock market games. Even so, it might be one of the user-frienliest apps of this kind to hit the market in recent years. Its goal is to make investing fun, especially when it comes to choosing stocks to invest in. You can use it to set up games with friends, and you can make them last as much as you want, from only a few hours to days, and even weeks. In terms of fees, there aren’t any if you only go up to five players. However, after that, there is a game fee of $20 up to 1,000 players.

We liked the app for its combo of social media and stock investing. It lets you see what stocks your friends are choosing, it provides daily updates on who is winning, and you can even engage in some friendly trash talk, all in good spirit. On top of that, the app feels smooth, polished, and fun, and we definitely recommend checking it out.

Moving on to number six, we have Robinhood, which is one of the best-known investment apps in the world. It features a smooth interface, it allows users to avoid trading commissions, and so whatever they wish to trade, be that stocks, ETFs, options, or even cryptocurrency — they will find it here. The app is specially made for mobile with a rather slick interface, and using it is very smooth and even fun.

Apart from the no commission for ETFs, options, stock, and crypto, there is also a $0 minimum balance required in order to use it. On top of that, you can access and use all kinds of charts and vital statistics, and generally speaking, navigation is very simple and intuitive. As such, we recommend it for everyone, whether they are an experienced investor or a complete novice.

In seventh place, we have Acorns, which is our go-to app for savings. In fact, you could consider it one of the new breed of saving apps, which is what it is given how simple it is to use. All you need to do is set it up, and you can simply forget about it and let it do all the work for you. Like most others, it has a $0 minimum balance required in order to start using it, although there are monthly fees that can be $3 or $5 per month, depending on the service tier.

All you need to do is link your debit or credit card and it will round up the total on your purchases to the next dollar, while the difference will be invested into an ETF portfolio. That way, it is pretty much investing your leftovers, which you likely will not even feel — at least not until the time to withdraw the earnings arrives. So, if you want to make some cash on the side without having to do much, this is a perfect app for that.

Next up, we have Investr, which is among the best educational apps when it comes to investing. Essentially, it is what you get when you combine investing, learning, and community, all in a single app designed to give beginner investors a way to get into stocks — particularly for the fans of games and gaming. The application offers combinations of fantasy stock games, where you can manage a virtual portfolio, with access to investors’ thoughts on stocks and investments in general.

The app has a free version and a pro version which costs $3.99 per month. It allows you to trade stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and more, all commission-free. The fantasy game gives you virtual money, about $1 million, which you can use within the app’s social network and news feed. Essentially, it is a great place to learn about investing from an investing community, while investing.

Nearing the end of the list, we have an app called Betterment, which is generally considered the best investment app overall. It is among the largest and most popular robo-advisors, as it provides professionally managed portfolios using carefully selected ETFs that are calibrated in a way to fit against your risk tolerance. The app can create socially-responsive portfolios that focus on things like climate change, social impact, and alike. It has a low management fee of 0.25%-0.40% of assets annually, but other than that, it doesn’t cost too much to use. It has a $0 minimum balance required for digital service, but $100,000 minimum for premium service.

Generally, it is the best for those who don’t mind a bit more risk in exchange for higher returns. If you need a safer portfolio, the app can offer it. It also offers a robust cash management account. For the most part, you do very little, as most of the work is done by professional managers.

The last on the list, we have Webull. It is an excellent app for investing and education, and it shares a lot of similarities with Robinhood. In a similar fashion, it offers commission-free trading on stocks, ETFs, options, and digital currencies, with no required minimum. It also grants access to brokerage accounts, commission-free IRA investing, traditional, Roth, Rollover IRAs, and more.

The app features a highly-customizable desktop version, if you prefer to use it on your PC, and investors can have extensive extended trading hours both before and after the market’s working hours.

How to choose an investment app?

When it comes to investment apps, the first thing to consider is how you want to use them and what you want to use them for. If you are a novice and you require an educational tool, you focus on apps that offer a bit more educative content. If you are looking to trade and invest, apps like Robinhood and Webull are likely among the best for that. Or, if you wish to mix in with the investment community, there are apps that offer that approach too.

Other than that, we recommend deciding upfront how much money you wish to dedicate to investing, and try to stick to the money that you can afford to lose. These are professional apps that will likely bring earnings rather than waste your money, but the markets can be unpredictable, and it is best to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.