Investing, saving, and earning money on investments is a daunting task for most of us. Especially if you have never done it before. It’s scary when you have no idea where to start and are dealing with your money. If you fall into this category, just know that feeling is normal. Luckily Acorns can take the fear out of the process and teach you how easy it is to invest, earn interest and watch your savings grow. With over 10 million all-time customers and over $15 billion invested, they are the professionals to help you get started on the right track.

The true beauty of Acorns lies in its accessibility. You don’t have to have large lump sums of money to invest. You only need $5 to get started!

If you want to make the most of your spare change and get the occasional retailer kickback, there’s really no better place to do that than Acorns. The automatic roundups at Acorns make saving and investing easy, and most investors will be surprised by how quickly those pennies accumulate. Alana Benson

#1 Invest Spare Change: Acorns’ biggest draw is their Round-Ups feature, where your change becomes an investment into your future self every time you purchase. So any time you buy a cup of coffee for $2.70 with your linked debit card, Acorns will round up your purchase and take that $0.30. Once you’ve accumulated $5, it will automatically invest it for you. This is just one of the many ways that Acorns takes your small contributions and turns them into more money. 

It is so easy to forget your saving money as it is all the change you might not even think about. In just 2 years, I saved 2,000 in my Acorns account from “chump-change”. They round up to the dollar your purchases and before you know it, your on your journey to financial security. Wendy Shoshana Mizell
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#2 Expert-Built Portfolios: If you fear hearing the word “portfolio,” you can rest easy. Acorns has diversified portfolios that are built by financial experts and managed by top investment firms, including Vanguard and BlackRock, so you know you are investing with a reputable company. You can choose the portfolio that’s right for you and the type of investment:

  • Early – Invest in your kids! With an Acorns custodial account, the money you put in can be used in a variety of ways that benefit your child – extra-curricular activities, college, or their first car! Plus you can easily transfer the funds to your kid when they’re grown.
  • Later – Invest for retirement with an IRA plan and enjoy the tax benefits of a retirement account.
  • Sustainability – Invest in businesses that reflect your values. Choose portfolios made of companies that have high ratings for how they approach environmental, social, and governmental issues. 
  • Bits of Bitcoin – This is the newest investment option from Acorns! You can put up to 5% of your investments towards a Bitcoin ETF and so further diversify your portfolio.

I love the products offered by Acorn because their fees are low and they diversify your portfolio in different companies which reduces your risk. I also love the ira and kids saving part of the program. Will recommend to anyone. Konah Hall
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I love Acorns. I also love the way that the user has as much or as little control over their investment portfolio as they choose. If you feel intimidated about creating a diversified investment portfolio, they give you easy options to choose from depending on how risk prone you are with your investments. I love this tool! Thank you, Acorns! Camilla Cushing
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#3 The Power of Compound Interest: Using their compound interest calculator, you can see how much your initial deposit and daily, weekly, monthly, or annual contributions can make. Just type in the initial deposit, your contributions, and the years you’d like to leave it in, and see how it will grow! Think of compound interest as free, easy money you just made.

#4 Acorns Visa Debit Card Round-Ups: When you use your Acorns Visa debit card you get even more investment perks. Remember the round-ups feature? Well, if you use your Acorns Visa debit card the $.75 from that $15.25 tank of gas gets instantly invested. All Acorns subscriptions include the Acorns Visa debit card, making investments with every purchase easy and automatic.

#5 No Banking Fees: 

Nothing is worse than feeling like you have to bounce from app to app to accomplish simple tasks. Acorns understands that, so it ensures everything you need is in one easy-to-use app. You can bank, earn, and invest all in one place.

When you bank with Acorns there are no hidden fees, you get direct deposits two days earlier on payday, over 55,000 fee-free ATMs, and no overdraft fees! They also offer online banking with mobile deposits, digital checks, and other benefits.  

#6 Earn While You Shop: Acorns works with over 15,000 brands that offer cashback when you shop with your Acorns Visa debit card. Top brands include Walmart, Apple, Kohles, UberEats, and more. It’s an amazing perk to earn bonus investments just for shopping! The cashback is automatically deposited and invested into your account making it easier than ever to grow your investments.

#7 Recurring Investments: Beginning at just $3 per month, you can start recurring investments that will, within one month, be well over the subscription price. Recurring investments mean more money with every dollar you invest. Simply set how much you want to deposit each week, month, or year. 

All things investing, for the price of a latte Acorns

A favorite recurring investment is to deposit part of your paycheck directly into an investment account. Acorns Smart Deposit makes it easy to do just that. The money will never hit your bank account so you’ll never be tempted to spend it. Instead, you can watch it grow with Acorns. As the saying goes, “Out of sight, out of mind.”

#8 Education

As your confidence grows with a professionally managed portfolio and automatic investing and saving, you can continue to learn through videos, articles, and expert tips for investors. They are always something more to know, whether a brand-new or experienced investor. Acorns knows that and works to help increase your knowledge so you can earn more money.

I love Acorns for it’s Passive investment and financial education strategy. The average person knows not a thing about investing for the long term, let alone how to get into the stock market. This platform takes all of the hassle away from you and allows you to live life as you normally do while at the same time, investing passively in a “set it and forget it” sort of manner. Alrick Collins, Jr.
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If you need help with investing and earning or have had some not-so-great experiences in the past, take a few minutes to check out everything Acorns has to offer. It’s the perfect time to get started!

Love acorn, it help me learn on how to start investing my hard earned money and it teaches me about what’s happening on Wall Street. I feel that the company its self it’s always improving. joel fernandez
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I have had nothing but a great experience with Acorns. It’s been helping me save change to invest for my future as well as for my children. If I needed to make a withdrawal I was able to do no problem sell a few stocks. I have the debit card, I use that with no problems. You can always go in and change or pause recurring deduction if you need to. I haven’t had any problems with it being linked to my bank accounts. And I get my extra bonus when I shop with merchants Acorns give you extra money for. I love it. I’ve been using the app for 4 years now. Sheree
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I really enjoy using the Acorn app. It’s so easy to manage. I have 3 accounts for saving in different ways. My favorite is the spending account!😃 It comes with a debit card. I use it to save for upcoming trips or splurging on my grandchildren! Trina Everett
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Where Acorns shines

Roundups: In addition to adding lump sums to your investments, Acorns lets you round up your purchases on linked credit or debit cards, then sweep the change into a computer-managed investment portfolio.

Cash back: Acorns offers cash back at over 450 retailers.

Where Acorns falls short

No tax strategy: Unlike many of its competitors, Acorns does not offer a tax strategy.

High fees on small balances: Because of its pricing structure, Acorns can have high fees on small account balances.

About the author

Rachel Alulis

Rachel Alulis has been the lead editor for Moneyfor’s credit cards team since 2015 and for the financial rewards team since 2023. Before joining Moneyfor, Rachel worked at USA Today and the Des Moines Register. She then established a successful freelance writing and editing business specializing in personal finance. Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an MBA.