I’m a numbers person and I love saving money! I have been using the Acorns app for around four years and have been super happy with the results. 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 that 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.
Like I said I have been using this for a little over four years and with an aggressive portfolio I have seen a rate of return of around 10%. There is a ton of flexibility so you can pick how many accounts you want to link. Obviously for the greatest savings potential you want to link all of your credit/debit cards, that being said I only attach it to my debit card as I’m using this as a way to save for a huge family vacation down the road (at this point – who knows with the potential this has it could be for something even larger!).
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:
- Rounds up each purchase and withdraws from your bank account
- Invests based on set of portfolios (conservative, moderate, aggressive)
- Monthly Fee is between $1-$3 Acorns Pricing Page
Happy Saving!