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Stash is a simple budgeting app encapsulated in a simple investment account. It allows you to instantly buy stocks and other investments. Stash customers have access to a variety of financial and budgeting tools, and can do a lot of other things online. We look at the advantages and drawbacks of using Stash, so you can decide if it is worth investing money in it.
What is Stash?
Stash was established in 2015 to help ordinary Americans gain financial freedom by educating them on a wide variety of investment topics. Stash is designed to help with effective money management of young investors so that they are set up for financial success in the future. Stash is free from complex financial jargon and allows you to choose investments yourself, or choose an automated smart portfolio.
Who is Stash Best for?
Stash is best for new investors and savers, children with custodial accounts and investors looking to invest while they spend. Stash offers simple robo-advisors that may appeal to those who are new to investing or who are seeking advice on how to save money as they spend money.
Stash offers a debit card that allows you to earn stocks by spending money. You can then reinvest the stock that you earn in other ways. Its Smart Portfolios are pretty simple, with just three different portfolios that you can choose from. Investors who need a more sophisticated robo-advisor for better cash management and better portfolio offerings should look into other platforms.
This is a good brokerage if you like to manage your own investments. Stash lets customers pick out the stocks they want to invest in and have them managed themselves. It provides basic advice based on the investment goals that customers share when they set up their accounts.
It is also perfect for people who don’t want to do a lot of advanced research. Stash customers get access to the Stash Learning Center which has many investing guides and other educational articles. However, it doesn’t offer any kind of advanced tools for research like other robo-advisors do.
If you want to own just a fraction of a company’s stock, try Stash. You can buy small shares from the company that you like, and as a result you can start investing in your favorite stocks right away. You don’t even need to have a huge amount of money to buy a whole share of a company.
Stash is great if you plan to keep a large portfolio of investments. Having a large portfolio with Stash is the best way to be able to justify its monthly fee. When you are looking for a good cash management account, Stash allows you to quickly transfer money into an investment account.
How to Create a Stash Account?
Stash allows customers to easily sign up by visiting their website or downloading the app. Stash doesn’t oblige users to deposit a certain amount of money to start investing; they ask you to pay $5 for you to start investing in the platform. By the time your account is funded, you can start investing in smaller amounts — say, 5 cents or less.
It’s important to remember that you’ll be asked to provide some personal information when you sign up for an account with Stash, like your name, age and birth date (you must be 18 years old to use Stash). You must provide your Social Security number to prove that you are a legitimate U.S. citizen.
You’ll be asked to answer a few questions that will allow Stash to help you determine how comfortable you are with risk: conservative, moderate or aggressive. Once you complete your personal information, you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with the Stash app.
Benefits of Stash
Stash lets you quickly purchase fractional shares without waiting to save up enough money to buy whole shares. It’s increasingly popular to invest in fractional shares with robo-advisors, and Stash is one of the best places to start investing.
Stash accounts cost just $1 a month, and you can invest in as little as $5. Stash wants to make investing easier for its customers, and cheap shares are just one way it does that.
Stash has several great tools that allow you to automate your investment decisions. Stash offers a user-friendly mobile app that’s highly rated and can help new investors build a strong investment portfolio.
Stash customers can earn money by using their popular Stock-Back® Card to buy things with debit cards from well-known retailers. You can use the Stash ATM card any time you like, for no fee.
Stash customers can now use their mobile devices to deposit checks and make automatic payments to their bill paying accounts. Stash is FDIC-insured, so there are no minimum account balance requirements or monthly account fees. You can also make online transfers to other accounts.
Stash offers account management that you can do using both mobile and the web. App reviews for the Stash app are mostly positive. It’s easy to use and manage, but it won’t allow you to do as much research on your available funds as you would like. You can access the Stash app to manage your money and make transfers to your investment account easily from anywhere in the world.
Stash Drawbacks
Stash charges a monthly subscription fee for its services, which range from $1 to $9 a month. Price is an important factor to consider when opening a brokerage account. If you have a small account, your fees might be higher than what other robo-advisors charge.
Stash offers users a place to invest money online, but customers have to manage their own accounts. Stash provides a list of ETFs and stocks that customers can choose from, but they don’t provide services like automatic rebalancing or tax-loss harvesting that you’ll get with other services.
Stash is a great way for new investors to start learning how to invest in equities and have the option of creating a customized investment plan or using an automated portfolio management service. However, experienced investors who prefer a more robust portfolio management or people who value good advisor advice will not find a perfect match with Stash. There are also some limitations with Stash as stated above. If you find the benefits outweigh its drawbacks, give it a try.