8 best apps for newbie stock traders

When it comes to making your money grow, few options provide greater reward — or risk — than the stock market. Stock trading has been consistently shown to have the most potential for providing long-term growth and helping individuals reduce their financial risk.

Of course, many people find entering the stock market to be intimidating and overwhelming. How can you have confidence that you’ll actually grow your money when you aren’t sure how to buy, sell, and trade?

Fortunately, today’s fintech innovators are making it easier than ever for newbie traders to get off on the right track with a wide variety of helpful apps.

Here are some of the best ones for starting your stock trading journey:

1) Acorns

Many mistakenly believe that they need to contribute large sums of money to grow their investment portfolio. Acorns proves this isn’t the case.

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Linking your credit or debit card to this app allows you to automatically invest the change from your everyday purchases into one of the company’s index funds.

If you spend $3.72 on a morning cup of coffee, the app would round up and contribute the remaining 28 cents to your portfolio. You’ll be surprised at how quickly small, frequent contributions can result in real investment growth.

• Available for: Any user with the App Store or Google Play.
• Pricing: Plans range from $1 to $3 per month for investors with less than $1 million in investments.

2) Stash

Stash is another stock trading app that allows you to start small — in this case, with an investment of $5. Stash allows you to customize your investments based on personal goals or the type of companies you’d like to invest in.

However, what really sets Stash apart is its educational focus.

The Stash app provides a plethora of useful articles to help you learn how to become a smarter investor. By using these resources to improve your knowledge, you can further customize your investment strategy to better suit your interests.

• Available for: Desktop browsers, iOS, and Android devices.
• Pricing: $1 per month, or 0.25% annually on balances over $5,000.
  

3) Benzinga

Making smart investment decisions often requires having the latest information available right at your fingertips. The Benzinga App allows you to track stocks that matter to you in real-time, with live updates showing current pricing and trends.

Watchlists make it easy to track the performance of your investments.

Benzinga also helps its users stay up to date with the latest headlines thanks to its curated news feed and a menu that provides access to stock market discussions on Twitter.

This way, you’ll never be out of the loop.

• Available for: Currently only available in the App Store, but Android and Windows versions will be released in the near future.
• Pricing: Available as a free download.

4) Learn

The aptly-named Learn doesn’t provide any investment opportunities — rather, it offers concise, jargon-free lessons that allow users to gain a better understanding of the stock market.

This goes well beyond merely defining key terms. Learn uses real-life examples to help users understand situations in which they should (or shouldn’t) make an investment.

Learn’s lessons are also available in audio format, making it easy for you to soak up knowledge during your morning commute. With 40 lessons to choose from, you’ll soon have greater knowledge and confidence as you start investing.

• Available for: Any user with the App Store or Google Play.
• Pricing: Available as a free download.

5) eToro

Wouldn’t it be great to let successful traders work for you?

With eToro, you gain access to a social platform that allows you to copy the actions taken by leading traders. This social trading network allows you to fully automate your portfolio, taking much of the stress and work out of your investments.

Better yet, the social nature of the platform allows you to discuss strategies with other investors so you can increase your own knowledge base. Once you’ve gained enough confidence to start trading on your own, you can even start earning passive income as other users copy your portfolio.

• Available for: Desktop browsers, iOS, and Android devices.
• Pricing: Joining is free and there are no management fees. There is a withdrawal fee of $25 (USD) for withdrawals greater than $50. Withdrawals made in non-USD are also subject to conversion fees. Minimal fees are also made on stock transactions.

  

6) Stockpile

Many newbie stock traders would like to invest in major global companies like Amazon or Apple, but when individual shares can cost well over $1000 each, getting started can feel impossible. Enter Stockpile, which allows users to buy “fractional shares” of top brands.

A fractional share allows you to invest a customizable dollar amount instead of purchasing a full share. Rather than spending nearly $1000 to buy a single share of Alphabet Inc., you could instead invest $100 and own 0.1 shares.

Gifting options also make it easy for others to help you with your investing journey.

• Available for: Desktop browsers, iOS, and Android devices.
  Pricing: 99 cents (USD) per transaction.

7) Robinhood

For many individuals, the transaction and management fees associated with stock trading can be enough to keep them out of investing altogether. Robinhood seeks to turn this traditional element of stock trading on its head by offering a zero-commission trading platform.

Though Robinhood doesn’t provide a full range of investment options to its users (mutual funds are noticeably lacking), it offers a great, inexpensive way for mobile users to get started with stock trading, without worrying about extra overhead.

• Available for: iOS and Android devices, as well as desktop users.
• Pricing: Trading is free, though sell orders are still subject to SEC and FINRA fees.

8) ETFmatic

ETFmatic is certain proof that “robo-investors” are ready to revolutionize the stock trading world. This UK-based company offers portfolios for 32 European countries, utilizing the latest tech to offer customized advice so users can diversify their investments and minimize long-term risk.

The use of a robo-advisor allows ETFmatic to provide accurate, automated advice that is available 24/7. No matter when you need assistance managing your portfolio, this system ensures that you’ll have access to reliable support.

• Available for: Desktop browsers, iOS and Android devices.
• Pricing: ETFmatic’s management rates range from 0.29% to 0.48% per year.

Entering the stock market can feel intimidating — but it doesn’t have to be that way. As you take advantage of these apps to increase your knowledge and make better trading decisions, you’ll get the financial results you desire.