What do you know about Acorns?

[deek]

I just set up an Acorns account and am considering using this for more than just spare change. I see their 80/20 investment option has Vanguard products. Would there be any benefit to me to use Vanguard's VOO fund directly over Acorns? Or vice versa?

[TheHardenedInvestor]

What does Acorns charge to invest in that fund? Nevertheless, I see no point to using acorns when you can just get a Vanguard account for free and have all the power of Vanguard at your finger tips for free.

[deek]

What does Acorns charge to invest in that fund? Nevertheless, I see no point to using acorns when you can just get a Vanguard account for free and have all the power of Vanguard at your finger tips for free.

$1 per month for all accounts with a balance under $5,000 and .25% of the balance per year on accounts over $5,000

[MustacheAndaHalf]

Acorns doesn't seem like a bad option at $1/month.  I don't specifically like "automatically managed", because that hides the actual investments.  If you never see the price/share you paid... did you buy at a good price?  Will you incur tax if you sell?

For about the past 6 months, Vanguard has made all ETFs cost $0/trade.  At Vanguard you can buy Schwab ETFs, iShares ETFs, or any others - about 1800 of them, at $0/trade.  So that's a point in Vanguard's favor, and so far others (like Fidelity, Schwab) haven't matched it.

One further point about Acorns... if you don't see the investments, how do you know the internal expense ratios?  When I buy VOO, I know that ETF consumes 0.04% per year.  But I don't see how you'd know that at Acorns.

[TheHardenedInvestor]

What does Acorns charge to invest in that fund? Nevertheless, I see no point to using acorns when you can just get a Vanguard account for free and have all the power of Vanguard at your finger tips for free.

$1 per month for all accounts with a balance under $5,000 and .25% of the balance per year on accounts over $5,000

Vanguard charges only 0.04% on the balance. Everything else is free. The 0.25% at Acorns is 6.25 times more expensive to invest in the same thing. This makes no sense to me. Open a Vanguard account. Run away from Acorns.

[deek]

What does Acorns charge to invest in that fund? Nevertheless, I see no point to using acorns when you can just get a Vanguard account for free and have all the power of Vanguard at your finger tips for free.

$1 per month for all accounts with a balance under $5,000 and .25% of the balance per year on accounts over $5,000

Consider it done. I'm going to keep Acorns temporarily to see if I can take advantage of their "found money" offers to get some extra savings for making a regular purchase through one of their partners. But will move funds over to Vanguard at some point.

Vanguard charges only 0.04% on the balance. Everything else is free. The 0.25% at Acorns is 6.25 times more expensive to invest in the same thing. This makes no sense to me. Open a Vanguard account. Run away from Acorns.

[SwitchActiveDWG]

As others have said... open a real account with a reputable brokerage. Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab are all reasonable choices.

[deek]

As others have said... open a real account with a reputable brokerage. Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab are all reasonable choices.

I do have active Vanguard Roth and tIRA accounts.

[MrThatsDifferent]

As others have said... open a real account with a reputable brokerage. Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab are all reasonable choices.

I do have active Vanguard Roth and tIRA accounts.

I started with Acorns and was so proud of myself to finally own shares. Then I educated myself and realized I was better off just sending everything to my Vangaurd account. Why? As mentioned, the fees. Also, I want simplicity and want as few vehicles as possible. It’s fancy and shiny, don’t be tempted.

[deek]

As others have said... open a real account with a reputable brokerage. Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab are all reasonable choices.

I do have active Vanguard Roth and tIRA accounts.

I started with Acorns and was so proud of myself to finally own shares. Then I educated myself and realized I was better off just sending everything to my Vangaurd account. Why? As mentioned, the fees. Also, I want simplicity and want as few vehicles as possible. It’s fancy and shiny, don’t be tempted.

Totally agree.

[FIREball567]

In my opinion, it's not worth it. The fees are more expensive than the big 3. Acorns only makes sense for college students sincr it's free for them. Stick with Vanguard.


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[Loretta]

I signed up for Acorns a couple months ago.  I see the biggest advantage using their shopping links instead of using my Ebates account.  I don’t miss the round ups.  I also have a stand-alone Vguard account.  My referral link for Acorns is in my signature if anyone wants to try it out.