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Acorns Robo-Advisor Review
ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)
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Acorns Grow Inc., simply known as Acorns, was launched in 2012 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Acorns is a financial wellness and investment company that offers robo-advisor solutions to US customers, allowing them to automatically invest their spare change into different portfolios designed by Nobel Prize-winning economist, Dr. Harry Markowitz. Additionally, the company offers other products and services like IRA accounts, fee-free checking accounts, bonus investments as you shop, custodial accounts for kids, and account integration.
How Do We Rate Acorns?
Breakdown
4.0/5
Features
4.5/5
Pricing and fees
5.0/5
Reputation
Our Overall Rating: 4.5 / 5 (Excellent)
Acorns is an excellent choice for new or more passive investors. The company is online-based and offers consumers three types of accounts: Acorns Lite, Acorns Personal, and Acorns Family, each with its own benefits and low flat monthly fees ranging between $1 and $5, depending on the selected account. Clients can invest in 5 different portfolios designed by Nobel Prize-winning economist, Dr. Harry Markowitz, allowing them to choose their desired level of risk.
The company offers an IRA account through Acorns Later, and an IRA plus a fee-free checking account through Acorns Spend, which is a plus for those who want to invest in their future, as well as access their money whenever they need to. The company also operates a rewards program called Acorns Earn, which makes it easy for customers to earn bonus investments when shopping with over 12,000 partners.
Acorns doesn’t charge overdraft fees or debit card replacement fees and clients have unlimited free ATM use at over 55,000 locations nationwide, which is something that sets the company apart from other robo-advisors reviewed by us. The company’s website and mobile app are easy to use, and offer consumers great tools like articles and FAQs, to help them make smart decisions.
Consumers can open, fund, track and manage their accounts online or through the company’s app, and customer support is available via email, phone, or chat. in all, Acorns is a great option for inexperienced investors who want to expand their financial horizons without worrying about spending too much.
Acorns Account Features
Features - 4 / 5
Acorns offers three accounts: Acorns Lite, Acorns Personal, and Acorns Family, each with its own unique benefits. Acorns Lite allows consumers to invest their spare change. Once the amount reaches $5, the funds are automatically invested at a specific time set by the consumer, or on a recurring basis into a portfolio of expertly-designed ETFs, where the investments are well diversified. Acorns Personal combines the benefits of Acorns Lite with the addition of an IRA account that makes it easy for customers to save for retirement through recurring contributions or automatic payroll deductions. Personal also includes Acorns Spend, the company’s checking account that helps customers save and invest as they spend. This account offers consumers a sleek, tungsten debit card, with no overdrafts or minimum balance fees, and unlimited free or fee-reimbursed ATM use nationwide.
Additionally, all Acorns accounts come with the company's Earn program, in which customers can get cash back for investments every time they use any debit card linked to their Acorns account. Earn purchases can be made at 12,000 participating companies, including Macy’s, Lyft, Sephora, Sam’s Club, Walmart, and many others. The company also offers a Chrome extension that automatically notifies customers of bonus investments available as they shop online at participating partners.
Acorns Family offers the same investing, retirement, checking, and Earn cashback program with the addition of a custodial account for kids. This is an investment account that can be used to set aside money for anything that benefits the child, such as housing, technology, or a car. The account easily transfers to the child once he or she becomes an adult and makes it easy for friends or families to contribute to their future too.
| Robo-advisor Type | Fully Automated |
| Account Minimum | $0 |
| Goals | Save for Retirement Save Set AmountSave for a Major Purchase Education Expenses General Investing |
| Integration with Other Accounts | IRA 401(k) Checking Account Other Brokerage Accounts |
| Types of Assets | Stocks Bonds ETF Portfolios Index Funds |
| Automatic Portfolio Rebalancing | Yes |
Investment Focus
Acorns offers five investment portfolios to choose from: Conservative, Moderately Conservative, Moderate, Moderately Aggressive, and Aggressive, each with its own level of risk. Consumers can invest daily, weekly, or monthly and portfolios are automatically rebalanced to optimize investments and maximize growth. Additionally, consumers can open, fund, track and manage their accounts online or through the company’s mobile app and have access to assisted rollovers for IRA or 401k accounts, and account integration with Mint.com. All accounts are SIPC insured, and Acorns Spend accounts are also FDIC insured up to the maximum allowed by federal law.
Acorns Fees & Commission
Pricing and fees - 4.5 / 5
Acorns charges a monthly flat fee of $1, $3, and $5 for Acorns Lite, Acorns Personal, and Acorns Family accounts, respectively. The company doesn’t require a minimum opening balance or direct deposit minimum. Additionally, Acorns doesn’t charge clients overdraft, or debit card replacement fees, which is great, and Acorns Spend clients also have unlimited free or fee-reimbursed ATM use nationwide.
| Billing Frequency | Monthly |
| Commission | Flat monthly fee of $1, $3, or $5, depending on the selected account |
| Special Promotions | Acorns regularly provides referral bonuses to their customers. If you refer 4 friends this month, you can earn $1,000. However, it should be noted that the money will be credited once your friend has an approved account and makes his or her first investment. |
| Fees | Account Management |
Acorns Reputation & Customer Service
Reputation - 5 / 5
Launched in 2012, Acorns is a relatively young company and isn't rated by Moody’s, S&P, or A.M. Best. However, the Better Business Bureau gives the company an A+ rating. In addition, the Acorns app earns 4.7 out of 5 stars on the Apple store with over 600,000 5-star reviews and 4.4 out of 5 stars from Google Play. The company doesn't fare as well on Trustpilot, where it earns 2.2 out of 5 stars.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| SIPC Membership | Yes |
| BBB Rating | A+ |
| Trust Pilot Rating | 2.2 out of 10 |
| Contact Methods | Email |
| Mobile App | Yes |
| Date Collected | 2021-04-06 |
Free Customer Support
Acorns offers free customer support via email, phone, or chat.
Company Profile
| Full Name | Acorns Robo-Advisor |
| Company Website | |
| Headquarters | 5300 California Ave Bldg 1, Irvine, CA, 92614 |
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