You don’t need a financial advisor to start making investments. In fact, all you need is a computer. Here is a list of a few online investing platforms that anyone can sign up for today, even if you don’t have your series 7. The list starts with less risk and continues into brokerage platforms that might need more skill to use.
You can download the Acorns app on your phone to invest change on every transaction you make on a certain debit card. The app will round every transaction you make on the card up to the next dollar amount, taking the change required to reach the next dollar amount and investing that change into an ETF. According to the Acorns website, “ETFs for short, are made up of broad holdings of stocks or bonds. Often, these ETFs replicate an asset class or index like the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average.”
2. Betterment
Betterment is another ETF trading platform that you can download as an app on your phone. You pick the amount of money you want to put into your portfolio, and the app uses robo advisors to pick a portfolio of several, diversified investments. One of the main selling points that the Betterment advertises is their low fees. According to their website, “Our approach to long-term investing can help you earn 2.66% more per year than a typical investor. Our technology helps make this possible by lowering taxes, lowering fees, diversifying your portfolio, and enabling better investor behavior.”
Charles Schwab’s website lets you to invest in hundreds of different types of ETFs and index funds. You can customize your portfolio by picking and choosing your own investments. This means you can diversify or have more focused trading based on whatever you want to do. So you can get rid of a robo advised portfolio that might have slower returns, but you might also be getting rid of the safety net of diversity.
4. Capital One Investing
Capital One Investing’s website allows you to buy and sell individual stocks on your own. Currently, the brokerage charges $6.95 per buy or sell. If you are skilled with investing in individual stocks, then you could maximize your returns by focusing on individual companies. However, you’ll no longer have the help of a robo advisor and you’ll also be getting rid of the diversity of an ETF.
5. Coinbase
You can sign up on the Coinbase website to trade the infamous Bitcoin, along with other digital currencies. I’m not sure what the fees on the website are because I’ve never invested in digital currency. Be aware, there might also be another set of fees if you use a credit card.
