12 Best Investment Apps In January 2024 | Bankrate (2024)

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As of January 01, 2024

Looking for the best investing apps to get your financial life back on track? A solid finance app can handle routine financial tasks, shuffle money into investment accounts, and track spending. But the best investment apps can also let you quickly trade stocks, follow your account in real time, help you learn about the markets and more. Because they can do so much, investment apps have become increasingly popular.

Here are some of the top apps for getting your finances organized and invested.

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On This Page

On This Page

  • 12 best stock investment apps
  • What to consider when choosing an investment app
  • Investment apps FAQs

12 best stock investment apps

All of these apps are great for beginners, and they make it easy for thosejust starting to investor looking to play a stock-picking game for fun.

  • Betterment – Best app for automated investing
  • Invstr – Best app for education
  • Acorns – Best app for saving
  • Wealthbase – Best app for trading games and contests
  • Wealthfront – Best app for portfolio management
  • Fidelity Investments – Best app for managing money all-in-one
  • Robinhood – Best app for active trading
  • Stock Rover – Best app for stock research
  • Charles Schwab – Best app for beginners
  • Ellevest – Best app for socially responsible investing
  • Public – Best app for learning about companies
  • Fundrise – Best app for direct investment in real estate

Betterment - Best app for automated investing

Bettermentis one of the largest and most popular robo-advisors, and for good reason. The app provides professionally managed portfolios using a selection of ETFs that’s calibrated against your own risk tolerance and when you need the money. Betterment can createsocially responsible portfoliosfocusing on climate change or social impact.

Minimum balance required:$0 for digital service; $100,000 for premium service

Fees:Management fee of 0.25 – 0.40 percent of assets annually

Invstr - Best app for education

Invstris what you get when you mix learning, real-life investing and community into an app that’s designed togive beginning investors a way to get into stocks, especially if you like games. The app combines a fantasy stock game, where you can assist in managing a virtual portfolio, with access to investors’ thoughts on stocks and other investments.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees: $0, $3.99 a month for Invstr Pro. Can trade stocks, crypto and ETFs commission-free with a $5 minimum investment.

Acorns - Best app for saving

Acornsremains one of the most popular of the new breed of savings apps, because of how easy it is to use. You really don’t have to pay much attention once you’ve set it up.

Minimum balance required:$0 for savings account

Fees: $3, $5 or $9 per month depending on the service tier

Wealthbase – Best app for trading games and contests

Wealthbaseis a top player in the world of stock market games, and it may be the most user-friendly investing app out there for having fun and picking stocks. You can set up games with friends to last up to 15 days or even just until the end of the day.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees:$0 up to 5 players. $20 game fee up to 1,000 players, plus five cents per player per day.

Wealthfront – Best app for portfolio management

Wealthfrontis one of the largest independent robo-advisors. For a small fee, it can manage your money, whether that’s in a taxable account or anIRA.

Minimum balance required:$500

Fees:Management fee of 0.25 percent of assets annually

Fidelity Investments – Best app for managing money all-in-one

If you wanted to live your whole financial life onFidelity Investments, you could do it with little issue – and have the top integrated experience. At Fidelity, you can get an investment account, a checking account, an IRA, a business retirement account such as a SEP IRA, bill paying, a savings account, arobo-advisor accountand even credit card accounts, to cover the big ones.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees:$0 for stock/ETF trades, $0.65 per contract on options.

Robinhood – Best app for active trading

Robinhoodis the app to have if you like a smooth interface and avoiding trading commissions, whether you’re trading stocks, ETFs, options or cryptocurrency. You’ll get to do it all with no commission and using a slick mobile interface that makes smooth work of it all.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees:No commissions for stock, ETF, options or crypto trades

Stock Rover is the app to use if you’re looking to access detailed financials and research reports on thousands of publicly traded companies and funds. You’ll be able to screen for stocks and funds, chart valuations over time and access what seems like an endless amount of data.

Fees: A free plan as well as three subscriptions ranging from $7.99 to $27.99 per month or discounted annually

Charles Schwab – Best app for beginners

Charles Schwabdoes well for experts, but it’s also a great app for beginners, because of all the resources it provides. Schwab provides tons of research and education, helping newer investors get up to speed on topics such as investing and personal finance.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees:$0

Ellevest – Best app for socially responsible investing

Ellevestis one of the top-ranked robo-advisors, but it’s also the top app for socially responsible investing. Ellevest’s mission is to help women investors make smart investing decisions (though, of course, anyone can become a client).

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees: $12 a month (or a discounted $129 annually)

Public – Best app for learning about companies

Publicis a trading app geared toward helping new investors learn about business and investing. You can trade stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrency, but what sets Public apart from others is the educational content, including “town hall” meetings with business leaders and its podcast Public Live. Users will also have access to a social feed to discuss stock picks with other investors.

Minimum balance required:$0

Fees: Commission-free stock and ETF trades; $5 semiannual inactivity fee for accounts less than $20

Fundrise – Best app for direct investment in real estate

The Fundrise app allows individual investors to invest in commercial real estate with virtually any amount of money. The app provides information about potential deals, and then you can select the ones you’d like to participate in. But if you can bring more money to the table, you can get access to even more select deals. The app even allows you to reinvest your dividends.

Minimum balance required:$10

Fees: 0.15 percent annual advisory fee, annual asset management fee of 0.85 percent; 1.85 percent for Innovation fund.

What to consider when choosing an investment app

When it comes to investment apps, think about how you’ll plan to use them. Do you need an educational tool or are you looking to actually trade and invest? Some apps charge fees that can eat into your investment returns, while others have very low costs and offer commission-free trading. If you’re interested in trading things like cryptocurrencies, you’ll want to make sure that’s a feature offered by the app or broker –not all brokers offer crypto trading.

Deciding how much money to invest

The good news for investors starting out today is that it requires very little money to get started. Fees are so low or even non-existent that you can start with virtually any amount of money. In fact, what you start with matters much less than your saving and investing discipline over time.

The key to achieving ongoing investing success is toadd money regularly over time. So you’ll want to add cash to the account and keep investing in your positions regularly over time in order to build wealth.

How much you actually invest depends on your own financial situation and needs. And today’s low-fee brokerages and apps leave more money in your pocket to actually invest.

Investment apps FAQs

Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation.

12 Best Investment Apps In January 2024 | Bankrate (2024)

FAQs

What is the best investment in 2024? ›

11 best investments right now
  • High-yield savings accounts.
  • Certificates of deposit (CDs)
  • Bonds.
  • Money market funds.
  • Mutual funds.
  • Index Funds.
  • Exchange-traded funds.
  • Stocks.
Mar 19, 2024

What is the safest investment with the highest return? ›

Here are the best low-risk investments in April 2024:
  • High-yield savings accounts.
  • Money market funds.
  • Short-term certificates of deposit.
  • Series I savings bonds.
  • Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
  • Corporate bonds.
  • Dividend-paying stocks.
  • Preferred stocks.
Apr 1, 2024

What is the best app to start investing on? ›

Best investing apps to help you make money
  • Stock Rover – Best app for stock research.
  • Charles Schwab – Best app for beginners.
  • Ellevest – Best app for socially responsible investing.
  • Public – Best app for learning about companies.
  • Fundrise – Best app for direct investment in real estate.

Where can I get 10 percent return on investment? ›

Investments That Can Potentially Return 10% or More
  • Stocks.
  • Real Estate.
  • Private Credit.
  • Junk Bonds.
  • Index Funds.
  • Buying a Business.
  • High-End Art or Other Collectables.
Sep 17, 2023

What stock will boom in 2024? ›

2024's 10 Best-Performing Stocks
Stock2024 return through March 31
Avidity Biosciences Inc. (RNA)182%
Arcutis Biotherapeutics Inc. (ARQT)206.8%
Janux Therapeutics Inc. (JANX)250.9%
Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (DJT)254.1%
6 more rows

Where do I put cash 2024? ›

Money market mutual funds generally offer the greatest level of flexibility and liquidity along with the lowest risk of principal loss among the available short-term investment products. Fixed-income securities are subject to credit risk, liquidity risk, call risk, and interest-rate risk.

What investment is 100% safe? ›

What are the safest types of investments? U.S. Treasury securities, money market mutual funds and high-yield savings accounts are considered by most experts to be the safest types of investments available.

Should a 70 year old be in the stock market? ›

If you're 70, you'd look at sticking to 40% stocks. Of course, there's wiggle room with this formula, and it's really just a way to get started. And for many older investors, a 50-50 split of stocks and bonds is what's preferred throughout retirement, and that's fine, too.

What are 3 very risky investments? ›

While the product names and descriptions can often change, examples of high-risk investments include: Cryptoassets (also known as cryptos) Mini-bonds (sometimes called high interest return bonds) Land banking.

Should I invest through my bank or an app? ›

You definitely do not want to invest through your bank. You will have poor service and very high costs. Robinhood and Wealthsimple are ok options and if that is what you are comfortable with go with that.

Should I use Webull or Robinhood? ›

Bottom Line. Webull may be the better choice for nearly any investor who wants an online trading platform. Sophisticated investors are unlikely to find any significant benefit in Robinhood's ease of use. However, both platforms make trading easy and quick, whether from a desktop or a smartphone screen.

Why is Fidelity better than Robinhood? ›

While Fidelity offers clients access to more than 10,000 mutual funds, including many proprietary funds, Robinhood doesn't allow mutual fund trading at all. Fidelity also offers the opportunity to buy CDs and bonds, and Robinhood doesn't.

Where can I get 20% return on investment? ›

Pro tip
  • Mutual funds. Mutual funds are investment tools managed by fund managers, which pool people's money and invest in stocks and bonds of different companies to yield returns. ...
  • Senior citizen Savings Scheme. ...
  • Public Provident Fund. ...
  • National Pension Scheme (NPS) ...
  • Real estate. ...
  • Gold Bonds. ...
  • REITS. ...
  • Government bond.

How can I invest $10,000 for quick return? ›

Best ways to invest $10,000: 10 proven strategies
  1. Pay off high-interest debt. ...
  2. Build an emergency fund. ...
  3. Build a CD ladder. ...
  4. Get your 401(k) match. ...
  5. Max out your IRA. ...
  6. Contribute to your HSA. ...
  7. Invest through a self-directed brokerage account. ...
  8. Open a high-yield savings account.
Mar 14, 2024

How can I get 15 percent return on investment? ›

Consider investing Rs 15,000 per month for 15 years and earning 15% returns. After 15 years, the total wealth will be Rs 1,00,27,601 (Rs. 1 crore). According to the compounding principle, if we implement these very same returns and contributions for another 15 years, the amount we accumulate grows enormously.

How are people making money in 2024? ›

Money making apps like DoorDash, UberEats, and GrubHub make it easy to accept delivery gigs from restaurants in your area. You can get paid an hourly rate plus tips for your time. If you'd prefer to deliver groceries or other items from local stores you might check out Instacart, Shipt, or Postmates instead.

Will 2024 be good for stocks? ›

Stocks and bonds may both be poised for success in 2024. Easing inflation and a pivoting Fed should reduce headwinds that have faced both asset classes in recent years. Resilient growth may prove to be an additional tailwind for stocks.

Where to invest $50,000 for 3 years? ›

7 Ideas for How to Invest $50,000
  • High-Yield Cash Account. Considered one of the safest investments, a high-yield cash account can potentially keep your money safe. ...
  • Tax-Advantaged Investment Account. ...
  • Taxable Investment Account. ...
  • Real Estate. ...
  • I-Bonds. ...
  • Precious Metals. ...
  • Alternative Assets.
Apr 4, 2024

How should I invest $100,000? ›

8 Ways to invest $100K
  1. Max out contributions to retirement accounts. ...
  2. Invest in mutual funds, ETFs, and index funds. ...
  3. Buy dividend stocks. ...
  4. Buy bonds. ...
  5. Consider alternative investments. ...
  6. Invest in real estate. ...
  7. Fund a health savings account (HSA) ...
  8. Park your cash in an interest-bearing savings account.
Mar 20, 2024

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