I just set up a "savings" account with the Acorns app. I'm in my late 20's, still have ~3 years in my PhD program, make ~$30,000 per year, and have ~$10,000 in my checking account. I love the idea that I can use this "set it and forget it" Acorns app to put away 10% of my weekly income in a savings account of sorts. This savings account could even act as an emergency fund since Acorns allows you to withdraw without any fees (and I don't get charged their $12/yr fee since I have a .edu address).
However, I've been reading and now I'm thinking that it would be equally as good to start thinking about a long-term retirement account. There are two ways to do this: (1) manually invest in a Roth IRA using my earned income until I hit the annual $5500 limit, and (2) have 5-10% of my monthly income automatically be deposited into an ETF like the Vanguard S&P500 fund. Ideally, I could have another Acorns-like app to carry out these tasks. I've heard about Betterment, WealthFront and WiseBanyan, but I've also read on here that you should buy directly from the source (e.g., Vanguard site, Fidelity site, etc.). The latter seems like a pain if I have to use a bunch of different websites, and especially if down the line I want to try other types of investments. P.S. I don't have a lot of time so I'd prefer something relatively automated like Acorns.
Does anyone here pair Acorns with another long-term retirement investment app, and which one do you prefer?
Submitted August 25, 2017 at 08:27PM by quantumofgalaxy http://ift.tt/2xkt5vV
