Acorn Investments: Tracking Your Spending And Investment Strategies

Acorns is an investment app that allows users to invest their spare change by rounding up purchases made from a linked account or card to the nearest dollar. For example, if you buy groceries for $30.45, Acorns will round it up to $31.00 and invest the remaining $0.55. The app offers different subscription tiers, including Acorns Personal, Acorns Personal Plus, and Acorns Premium, each with its own set of features and benefits. The app also provides educational resources, bonus investment opportunities, and diversified portfolios.

Acorns' Round-Ups® feature

Acorns is an investment app that promotes passive investing and simplifies financial management for its users. It offers a feature called Round-Ups® that enables investors to invest their spare change from daily purchases.

Round-Ups® is a feature that rounds up any purchase made from a linked account, debit or credit card to the nearest dollar. For example, if you buy groceries for $30.45, Acorns will automatically round it up to $31.00 and invest the $0.55 difference in your future. It keeps track of all the rounded-up spare change, and once the amount reaches at least $5, it transfers that amount into your Acorns Invest portfolio from your linked primary checking account.

Round-Ups® is an easy way to get started with investing, as it automates the process of investing your spare change. You can link your spending accounts, such as credit and debit cards, and Acorns will round up your purchases on these cards to the nearest dollar as you go about your day. This feature is especially useful for those who struggle with budgeting and want a simple, automated solution to saving and investing.

In addition to the Round-Ups® feature, Acorns also offers other subscription tiers and features to help with investing and saving for the future. This includes the ability to invest as little as $5 at any time or on a recurring basis into a portfolio of ETFs. Acorns also provides educational resources, high-interest banking accounts, and the opportunity to earn bonus investments through partner brands.

How Acorns' subscription tiers work

Acorns is a saving and investing app that offers different subscription tiers to meet your financial needs. The app offers a full suite of saving, investing, and learning tools for you and your family.

Acorns Subscription Tiers

Bronze Tier

The Bronze Tier is available for $3/month ($36/year). It includes:

• Taxable brokerage account
• IRA account for retirement investing

Silver Tier

The Silver Tier is available for $6/month ($72/year). It includes:

• Taxable brokerage account
• IRA account for retirement investing
• 1% match on contributions to IRA accounts
• Checking account with Real-Time Round-Ups and a debit card
• Emergency fund with a high APY
• Earn bonus investments through the shopping portal
• Browser extension to earn additional bonus investments when you shop with partners
• 25% match on rewards, up to $200 per month

Gold Tier

The Gold Tier is available for $12/month ($144/year). It includes:

• Taxable brokerage account
• IRA account for retirement investing
• 3% match on contributions to IRA accounts
• Ability to customize the portfolio with individual stocks
• Checking account with Real-Time Round-Ups, a debit card, and competitive interest rate
• Emergency fund with a high APY
• Earn bonus investments through the shopping portal
• Browser extension to earn additional bonus investments when you shop with partners
• 50% match on rewards, up to $200 per month
• Custodial investment account for kids with a 1% match
• Banking account for kids
• Set up a will and trust (up to $259 value)
• $10,000 in life insurance

Acorns Assist

Acorns Assist is an alternative subscription plan for customers experiencing economic hardship but wanting to continue investing. It includes Acorns Invest, Acorns Earn, and Learn for $1 per month.

How Acorns compares to other investment apps

Acorns is a micro-investing app that promotes passive investing and simplifies financial management for everyday users. It is designed to be beginner-friendly and offers a mobile-first approach to building a diversified portfolio of low-cost ETFs.

Fees

Acorns offers three subscription plans: Personal ($3/month), Personal Plus ($6/month), and Premium ($12/month). These fees are charged regardless of your account balance, which is great for large balances but can be expensive for small accounts. In contrast, some other investment apps, like SoFi, have no subscription fees.

Investment Options

Acorns offers five core portfolios and four ESG portfolios based on risk tolerance. These portfolios are composed of ETFs holding a mix of stocks and bonds. However, Acorns has limited investment options compared to other apps, and does not allow direct investment in stocks or bonds.

Personalization

Acorns offers a unique micro-investing feature called "Round-Ups," which invests your spare change from purchases. It also has a feature called "Earn Money," where partner companies invest a percentage of your purchases into your Acorns account. However, Acorns has limited personalization and investment strategies compared to other apps.

Target User

Acorns is ideal for new investors and those seeking a simple, automated investing app. It offers educational resources and high-interest bank accounts. However, experienced investors may find it lacking in manual investing opportunities and advanced research tools.

Security and Privacy

Acorns prioritizes security and privacy through features like two-factor authentication and data encryption. It also conducts regular security audits and has its technical controls verified by a third party to meet industry standards.

In summary, Acorns is a good choice for those seeking a beginner-friendly, automated investing app with helpful features like Round-Ups and Earn Money. However, experienced investors may prefer other apps with more investment options and flexibility.

Acorns' cash-back rewards

Acorns is an investment app that offers three paid subscription plans with a range of investment, banking, and earning features to help users save and invest for their future and the future of their kids. One of the key features of Acorns is its cash-back rewards program, which allows users to earn bonus investments when shopping with partner brands.

The Acorns cash-back rewards program offers users the opportunity to earn bonus investments when they shop with participating retailers. Acorns has partnered with over 450 companies, including well-known brands such as Apple and Walmart, to provide cash-back rewards to its users. When users make a purchase with a linked payment method at one of these partners, they will receive a percentage of their purchase price back in the form of bonus investments. This means that a portion of the money they spend will be automatically invested back into their Acorns account.

To further enhance the cash-back rewards program, Acorns offers a browser extension for Google Chrome and iOS Safari. This extension allows users to earn rewards when shopping online with participating retailers. The browser extension makes it easier for users to take advantage of the cash-back rewards program and maximize their bonus investments.

In addition to the cash-back rewards, Acorns also offers a "Round-Ups" feature, which enables investors to invest their spare change from daily purchases up to the nearest dollar. For example, if a user buys groceries for $30.45, Acorns will automatically round it up to $31.00 and invest the remaining $0.55 in their future. This feature is included in all three subscription plans and provides users with an easy way to invest their spare change.

The combination of the cash-back rewards program and the "Round-Ups" feature makes Acorns a unique and attractive option for those looking to maximize their investments while also receiving rewards for their everyday spending. By utilizing these features, users can boost their investment accounts and work towards their financial goals faster.

Acorns' security and privacy features

Acorns is committed to maintaining the confidentiality, integrity and security of its users' personal information. Here are some of the security and privacy features that Acorns offers:

• Security Tools: Acorns uses a variety of security tools to keep its users' information safe, whether they are investing through Acorns.com or the Acorns app.
• No Selling or Sharing of Personal Information: Acorns does not sell or share its users' personal information with unaffiliated third parties for their own advertising or marketing purposes.
• Culture of Security and Privacy: Acorns takes rigorous steps to ensure its employees know and adhere to its security and privacy policies. It fosters a culture of security and empowers employees to be security-aware and vigilant against security fraud and threats.
• Industry Standards: Acorns' financial platform's technical controls are assessed by a third party to validate SOC 2 compliance, meaning it meets rigorous industry standards for protecting customers' information.
• Security Audits: Acorns' internal controls are audited by a "Big 4" accounting firm, and its systems go through continuous security testing to ensure they are up-to-date with ways to protect user information.
• Multi-Factor Authentication: Acorns uses multi-factor authentication to ensure only the user can access their account. This means the user's identity is verified during login through a security code sent directly to them.
• Limited Employee Access: Employee access to Acorns' internal systems is enforced through Role-Based Access and multi-factor authentication. Only employees who absolutely need access to those systems are given it.
• Data Encryption: Acorns uses 256-bit or higher encryption at all times to protect user data.
• Security Monitoring: Acorns' Security Operations team monitors for suspicious activity 24/7 and also monitors its own layered security defences to help protect user data from potential threats.
• Proactive Communication: Acorns will alert users as soon as possible if it detects any suspicious activity on their account. It also regularly updates users on fake Acorns emails and customer support scams and provides tips on how they can protect themselves.
• Account Safeguards: Acorns uses account safeguards such as automatic logouts and ID verification to help prevent unauthorized account access.
• Privacy Policy: Acorns has a detailed privacy policy that outlines how it collects, uses, and shares user information. The policy also explains users' privacy rights and choices, such as the right to access, delete, and correct their personal information.

Frequently asked questions