Squirreling Away Cash- Acorns App Review

I'm a numbers person and I love saving money! The Acorns app is a new tool to add to my arsenal of savings methods.  When I was working outside the home my husband and I were able to save in a much different way than we are now.  I have had to take a new approach to budgets, spending and saving which has led me to work hard to save every penny we can.

The Acorns app is a program rounds up your charges to the nearest dollar and deposits the change into a portfolio of your choosing (conservative, moderate or aggressive).  For example if you spend $1.85 on a coffee then $.15 would be placed into your savings account. Per Acorns the portfolios are automatically adjusted to align with your targeted level of risk. The concept is great because it allows for continuous and painless savings.  It isn't going to produce enough cash for you to send your kids to college but it might pay for the books.  The app includes a projected portfolio value tool that helps take the guess work out of the account value based on investment and time.

I've been utilizing the application for a month with a moderate portfolio and have seen a rate of return of 1.60%.  Within the same time period the S&P has had a rate of return of 5.38%.  This is just a jumping off point as a month hasn't really allowed enough time to fully evaluate the returns.  If you download the app you can view your net return with the History tab. 


 How it works: 

-Synch up credit cards, debit cards and bank accounts of your choosing.  You will need to provide usernames and log in information so that the application can connect to your accounts. 
-Set up automatic round ups or select the expenses you want to round up**
-When the total round up meets or exceed $5 your bank account will be debited and the funds will be placed in a savings portfolio

 
Quick Facts:

• Available on ios and Android/US Only
• Rounds up each purchase and withdraws from your bank account
• Invests based on set of portfolios (conservative, moderate, aggressive)
• There is a monthly fee ($1) as well as .25 - .5 % a year.  Take some time to review the detailed fees page.

**In the beginning you will want to pick the round up expenses as it tends to add up quickly.  The application preloads a few weeks back so the initial debit amount would be large if it was not monitored.

I think I have found an app that I love...stay tuned!