LEARNING TO INVEST AS A BEGINNER USING STASH — Saving Joyfully (2024)

Using Stash to begin Investing has been a positive experience for me. Stash is one of multiple Apps that can be used by beginning investors to get started investing on a smaller scale. The following post is my review and experience with the investing App Stash. This post does contain an affiliate link which if you click on the link and sign up through my link I will earn a small portion for your sign up. This in no way affected my review. The review shared is my honest opinion of the App Stash.

What held me back from investing in the past?

When I was younger I never understood investing. To be honest I still don't completely understand how it works but I am learning. As a beginning investor I was always hesitant to take any risk and was always afraid to lose everything I invested. Although I was hesitant I always wished I could afford to take a bit of risk with my own finances. So in 2019 I decided to start small with an App I had heard of frequently among the financial community called Stash.

Why I chose to Invest with Stash?

In 2019 I had reached a place in my life where I finally felt comfortable taking a few small risks financially. After paying off some debt this year and finally having a bit of a cushion in savings I made a decision to start, but to start out small. I already have a 401k which I had started investing in my twenties towards retirement but I wanted to begin investing on my own. This has always been a goal of mine to start learning to invest on my own. After researching a bit and reading multiple reviews of the company I decided to go with Stash.

What is Stash?

Stash is an investing App for people like me who do not want to invest a lot but want to try their hand at investing.

Does Stash have fees?

Stash does have fees that are involved like any investments us usually do. Because of the small amounts you are investing the fees do seem pretty high. In fact many would argue that they are a bit higher than they should be. I believe that this App is still good for a new Investor who does not have a lot of money to invest and wants to get started. It's a great place to try your hand at investing and to learn for the first time how it works.

How does stash work?

  • Download the App for Stash

  • I was provided a referral link which you can use to sign up. As I mentioned I have honestly been happy so far and would not recommend a product otherwise. My referral link is included here Stash Referral

  • Next begin by connecting your bank info. I know this part was a bit scary for me also but this is it the first thing that I have had to do this with before. I am always cautious of things like this to begin with but I know that stash has a good reputation and will need to protect my information provided all along the way.

  • There is a lot of reading material provided so I want to encourage you to read as much as you can to help you understand investing with Stash more. Such as How to invest with Stash and once you are signed up there is a library of additional information under Stash learn to help guide you.

  • Next step would be selecting your investments. I have always read think diversity when selecting investments and have fun choosing among the many choices available. For me I tend to look at the Performance graph available on the Stash app before selecting my investments. I think it's good to analyze the trends over time and have an idea of the way the company and stock are doing overall. The way I choose is I find myself selecting companies I like and believe in their products. I try to think of companies that I value and that I believe are on an upward trend. This is absolutely no guarantee you will pick the best investments, but at least you are selecting products you also believe in and would want to succeed. Besides I already know of one key customer who purchases their products and that is me.

Do I need to know anything about investing?

Understanding investing completely is not necessary to start investing. The more you know about investing the better off you will be as you continue. In my opinion investing always involves risk so the biggest hurdle for a beginning investor is having the money and finally just starting. You aren't going to be perfect right away and you will make mistakes and have both gains and losses when you invest. Understanding a few key things does really help when you are starting out though.

How to start investing with Stash?

Download the App. Set up your account. Connect to your bank account ( I recommend not setting Investments automatically every week I recommend keep control of that yourself. What I do is I determine somewhere between $5 & $20 every paycheck that I can Invest and I sit down and chose my Investments every other week myself. Take a little time each time you do to analyze the investments just as I mentioned earlier by checking the performance graph. I think keeping control over the money going in and out is better so that you are more conscious about what is going on with your investments.The screenshot below is my current Investment as of 7/7/2020 not too bad for about a year of buying various stocks with no real experience. I definitely recommend reading up on stocks and doing some research along the way. This has been really helpful for me in determining what investments to make.

My review of Stash investing App?

So far my investing journey has been an interesting one. I feel that I have learned a lot already. Some of the things I have learned will be helpful moving forward. One thing I have learned is consistency is as important in Investing just as it is in Saving Money. Starting out even if it is on a small scale is also important. You can't be successful in anything if you are always afraid to start. I have also learned that in Investing, just like anything else in life you can't truly succeed without some failure. Don't be afraid to fail because that always comes before success in almost every part of life. That being said always remember this ...

Always remember these key things when investing

Diversity in your investing is better
Both loss and gain are a part of investing 
Only invest when you can afford some loss
Know your investing limit and stick to that
Start slowly and Invest smaller when you are getting started

Disclosure

I am not a financial Advisor and I will never advise on what or how to Invest. I myself am a beginning investor. At this time I am just taking in any advice and knowledge I can find on Investing and learning through my own experiences. Keep in mind that what I have shared today is just my personal experience and this is my review of my last 8 months using Stash. I am hopeful that moving forward I will have more positive insight to share on my experience with Stash.
LEARNING TO INVEST AS A BEGINNER USING STASH — Saving Joyfully (2024)

FAQs

How do beginners invest in Stash? ›

Buy new investment on the app
  1. Login to the Stash app.
  2. Tap on the portfolio you want to make your purchase in.
  3. Tap Explore all investments.
  4. Search or browse for the investment you want to purchase, then tap on it.
  5. Tap the blue Invest button, then tap Invest once or Invest on a schedule.

Is Stash a good app for beginners? ›

The bottom line: Stash aims to make investing approachable for beginners. The service has a $0 account minimum (though managed Smart Portfolios require $5 to get started) and charges $3 or $9 a month, depending on what services and account types you are looking for.

What is the best way to invest for beginners? ›

Best ways for beginners to invest money
  1. Stock market investments.
  2. Real estate investments.
  3. Mutual funds and ETFs.
  4. Bonds and fixed-income investments.
  5. High-yield savings accounts.
  6. Peer-to-peer lending.
  7. Start a business or invest in existing ones.
  8. Investing in precious metals.

Is Stash a good way to save money? ›

Stash provides bank services that can help you to more effectively manage your money in one place. One of the unique features of Stash's bank account is a Stock-Back card that gives you a percentage of your spending back in the form of stock instead of the more standard cash-back option.

How does Stash give you money? ›

With every purchase you make with the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard1 you can earn Stock-Back® Rewards. 2 When you use your Stock-Back® Card at a merchant that is on our platform, we'll reward you with stock in that company.

How does your money grow in Stash? ›

You can choose to invest your money into either an SA Top 40 Shares portfolio, or a Cash+ portfolio, or into both, depending on your needs and investment goals. As these portfolios grow in value, so does your stash. Stash gives you full control over when and how much you invest.

Why can't I withdraw my money from Stash? ›

There are four factors that may impact your ability to transfer out of your Stash Personal Brokerage portfolio: Invested funds: If you want to transfer money you've invested, you'll need to sell those investments first. Unsettled sales: Funds from an investment sale will take two business days to settle.

How do I invest in Stash and make money? ›

All you need to do is download the app, create an account, and choose the Stash plan that's right for you. You'll also need to answer a few simple questions about your investment portfolio and risk tolerance — and you'll need to be willing to pay Stash's fees, which start at $3 per month for the Growth plan 3.

Which is better Stash or Robinhood? ›

Robinhood and Stash both offer traditional and Roth IRAs. Stash won't let you trade on margin, though, while Robinhood does. Stash's banking offerings are also much more robust than Robinhood's and its Stock-Back debit card really sets it apart. This unique feature allows you to earn stock with purchases.

How much money do I need to invest to make $1000 a month? ›

A stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income, Mircea Iosif wrote on Medium. “For example, at a 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000.

Is $100 enough to start investing? ›

Investing can change your life for the better. But many people mistakenly think that unless they have thousands of dollars lying around, there's no good place to put their money. The good news is that's simply not the case. You can start investing with $100 or even less.

What is the safest investment with the highest return? ›

Here are the best low-risk investments in April 2024:
  • High-yield savings accounts.
  • Money market funds.
  • Short-term certificates of deposit.
  • Series I savings bonds.
  • Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
  • Corporate bonds.
  • Dividend-paying stocks.
  • Preferred stocks.
Apr 1, 2024

Does Stash actually give you $30? ›

Stash will pay the referring party for referral services provided by the referring party up to $30 for each Prospective Client who opens, links a bank to, and/or deposits funds into a Qualifying Account.

Why does Stash charge a monthly fee? ›

Why does Stash charge a monthly fee? We're all about transparency. Unlike other investment apps, we don't have banking overdraft charges 2 or add-on transaction fees†—just a flat monthly subscription ($3 or $9 per month) for access to all your money needs.

Does Stash automatically invest for you? ›

Auto-investing.

Automatically add funds to your Smart Portfolio on a schedule that works for you.

What do you need for Stash investing? ›

What do I need to start using Stash? You only need a few things to get started with Stash: Four dollars ($4) – $3 for your monthly subscription fee and at least $1 to put in your Personal investment account. A bank account with a U.S. bank A Social Security number U.S.…

Is there a minimum investment for Stash? ›

Invest your way.

Choose to invest in fractional shares with $5 or less—you can pick from thousands of stocks and ETFs. You can also shop and earn stock with the Stock-Back® Card. Stash is built for long-term investing, not day-trading, so all of our market transactions execute during four trading windows each weekday.

How do I deposit money into my Stash account? ›

Making a Deposit into Your Stash Banking Account
  1. Make a transfer to your Stash banking account from within your Stash account.
  2. Deposit cash at a participating retailer.
  3. Use your cash balance in a payment app (like Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal).
  4. Set up a transfer to your Stash banking account from an external bank account.

How much does Stash cost per month? ›

What are Stash's plan fees? We've got two separate plans, each with their own fee, and you can choose to pay monthly or yearly. Stash Growth: $3/month or $32/year Stash+ is $9/month or $97/year You can check out what's included in each plan here We collect this subscription fee once a month,…

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Arline Emard IV

Last Updated:

Views: 6102

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Arline Emard IV

Birthday: 1996-07-10

Address: 8912 Hintz Shore, West Louie, AZ 69363-0747

Phone: +13454700762376

Job: Administration Technician

Hobby: Paintball, Horseback riding, Cycling, Running, Macrame, Playing musical instruments, Soapmaking

Introduction: My name is Arline Emard IV, I am a cheerful, gorgeous, colorful, joyous, excited, super, inquisitive person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.