Best Investing Apps for College Students

Best Investing Apps for College Students to Start Investing in 2023

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College can be a tough time for students, but investing your money shouldn’t add to the stress. College is usually the time when people start investing money, and finding an investment platform that grows with your changing financial needs is key. The best investing apps for college students offer this flexibility, making them powerful enough for long-term use yet easy to understand at a glance.

These platforms will also make the transition from college life easier by providing all the personal finance tools in one place. Investing doesn’t have to be complicated or scary – these are some of the best investment apps out there!

What are the Best Investing Apps for College Students?

When looking for the best investing apps for beginners, you’ll want to consider apps that offer a wide variety of investment options and allow you to track your stocks, research and read stock news as you wish, and tailor them to your needs.

Best Investment apps for beginners should also be easy-to-use, mobile-friendly, and provide useful features like automatic rebalancing or the ability to set up recurring investments with just one strike.

Below is a list of the best investing apps for college students investing for the first time.

1. Robinhood

Robinhood is a popular investing app that allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies commission-free. It is known for its user-friendly interface and simplicity, making it a great option for beginner investors. Robinhood also offers educational resources and tools to help users learn more about investing.

2. Acorns

Acorns is an investing app that aims to help users save and invest their spare change. It rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference into a diversified portfolio. This is a great option for college students who may not have a lot of money to invest but still want to start building their wealth.

3. Stash

Stash is an app that allows users to invest in individual stocks and ETFs. It also offers educational resources and personalized investment recommendations based on users’ goals and risk tolerance. Stash has a low minimum investment of $5, making it a great option for college students on a tight budget.

4. Betterment

Betterment is an investing app that offers automated portfolio management. It creates a diversified portfolio for users based on their goals and risk tolerance and automatically rebalances it over time. Betterment also offers tax-loss harvesting, which can help users reduce their tax bills. This is the best option for college students that want a hands-on approach to investing.

5. Stockpile

Stockpile is an app that allows users to buy fractional shares of individual stocks and ETFs. This means that users can invest in expensive stocks, such as Amazon or Google, with just a few dollars. Stockpile also offers gift cards, which can be a great option for parents or grandparents who want to give the gift of investing to their college student.

6. TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade is a traditional brokerage firm that also offers a mobile app for investing. It allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds commission-free. TD Ameritrade also offers educational resources and tools to help users learn more about investing.

7. E*TRADE

ETRADE is another traditional brokerage firm that offers a mobile app for investing. It allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds commission-free. ETRADE also offers educational resources and tools to help users learn more about investing.

8. Wealthfront

Wealthfront is an investing app that provides automated portfolio management. It creates a diversified portfolio for users based on their goals and risk tolerance and automatically rebalances it over time. Wealthfront also offers tax-loss harvesting, which can help users reduce their tax bills. This is a great option for college students that want a hands-off approach to investing.

9. M1 Finance

M1 Finance is an investing app that allows users to create custom portfolios of individual stocks and ETFs. It also offers automated portfolio management and tax-efficient investing. M1 Finance has a low minimum investment of $100, making it a great option for college students who want to invest in specific companies or industries.

10. Charles Schwab

Charles Schwab is a traditional brokerage firm that also offers a mobile app for investing. It allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds commission-free. Charles Schwab also offers educational resources and tools to help users learn more about investing, as well as access to professional financial advisors for more personalized advice.

11. Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is another traditional brokerage firm that offers a mobile app for investing. It allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds commission-free. Fidelity also offers educational resources and tools to help users learn more about investing, as well as access to professional financial advisors for more personalized advice.

12. Vanguard

Vanguard is a popular investment management company that also offers a mobile app for investing. It allows users to invest in Vanguard’s own mutual funds and ETFs commission-free. Vanguard is known for its low fees and passive investing approach, making it a great option for college students who want to keep costs low.

13. Webull

Webull is a commission-free investing app that allows users to trade stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies. It also offers real-time market data and analysis tools, making it a great option for college students who want to stay on top of market trends.

14. SoFi Invest

SoFi Invest is an investing app that allows users to invest in individual stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies. It also offers automated portfolio management and personalized investment recommendations based on users’ goals and risk tolerance. SoFi Invest has a low minimum investment of $1, making it a great option for college students on a tight budget.

15. Stockpile Kids

Stockpile Kids is a version of the Stockpile app specifically designed for kids and teens. It allows parents to set up custodial accounts for their children and invest in fractional shares of individual stocks and ETFs. This is a great option for parents who want to teach their children about investing at a young age.

How to Start Investing in College?

While starting your college career, you tend to focus more on your course load, making friends, and adjusting to a new environment than investing.’

However, it’s important not to neglect your financial future and start investing in college (including college loans) to make you stronger for the rest of your life.

Investing doesn’t have to be complicated and scary. Here’re some tips to help you get started as a student.

  • Start with a small amount: When you are starting out, it is a good idea to grow your investments with a small amount. You can then scale it up over time and turn investing into an automatic habit
  • Choose a simple investment platform: There are plenty of different platforms to choose from, but the important thing is that the one you choose should be simple enough for you – and have all the features needed to make investing an easy process.
  • Let the platform grow with you: You can set up automatic investing, pick how much risk you’re comfortable taking (and what percentage of your budget to commit to), and even see how your entire where the money is invested – so that managing everything as a student becomes easier over time

Best Investing Apps for College Students Beginning to Invest

All of these apps help college students invest and grow their money.

The investing platforms grow with the user and make their money work for them, teaching students how to invest in stocks, ETFs, bonds– even how to start a Roth IRA account!

These apps have been designed from the ground up to be simple to understand yet powerful enough to meet the long-term investment needs of college students. Hopefully, college students opt to invest in assets that appreciate over the long term.

FAQs

  1. What is the best investing app for beginners?

  • Robinhood is a great option for beginner investors because of its user-friendly interface and simplicity.

  1. Can college students invest with a small budget?

  • Yes, many investing apps have a low minimum investment, such as Stash with a minimum investment of $5, or SoFi Invest with a minimum investment of $1.

  1. What is the difference between a traditional brokerage firm and an investing app?

  • A traditional brokerage firm usually has higher fees but offers access to professional financial advisors, while investing apps are typically commission-free and offer a more hands-on approach.

  1. What is tax-loss harvesting?

  • Tax-loss harvesting is the process of selling investments at a loss to offset gains in other investments, which can help users reduce their tax bill.

  1. Can parents invest for their children using these apps?

  • Yes, many apps offer custodial accounts that allow parents to invest for their children, such as Stockpile Kids.

Read Also: Small Cap Investing Strategy: How to Make the Most of Your Investments

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