The Upshot

I hate to admit it but the fabricated term “micro investing” hits it on the head for Acorns Round Ups. And though I’m not a hip enough dad to use words like that, it’s exactly how Acorns Round Up works.

It allows you to invest in the stock market on a tiny scale. Plus it’s completely automated, robo-advisor style. No need to make trades or call someone. You set it up based on your preferences and the magic happens in the background.

Anytime you make a purchase on a linked debit or credit card, Acorns rounds up the amount and invests it. So, when you justify that $20.13 4-pack of DDH hazy goodness, the app rounds it up to an even $21.00 and invests the $0.87 difference.

Acorns has dropped the spare change jar on its head and simplified personal finance for busy dads in the process. Forget filling up coin wrappers (can you even do that anymore?) or taking a 50-pound box of pennies to the supermarket Coinstar (same question).

With the Acorns spare change investment app, it all happens in the background. Leaving more time for critical dadding activities, like emptying the dishwasher.

While the Acorns investment app has a wide variety of options, today we’re looking specifically at the Round Ups feature.

Jump to full review…

Full Acorns Round Ups Review

Wondering what the difference is between Acorns and Robinhood? Curious about the Acorns portfolio options?

Or maybe you just want to know, ”How does Acorns round up work?” Let’s dive deep into this spare change jar for the 21^st century.

Acorns Round Ups Features

Round Ups

Here’s how Acorns round ups work: You make a purchase for $3.25 on your debit or credit card that’s linked to Acorns.

Acorns rounds that up to $4.00 and sets the $0.75 “change” aside. Then, once you have enough spare change round ups to hit at least $5, Acorns invests them into your portfolio.

Automated Investing

Once you link your debit and/or credit card(s), this process is fully automated.

The rounds up take place in the background and the trading activity into your Acorns portfolio is done robo-advisor style, which means no commissions or fees.

Customizable Round Ups

Acorns does offer the ability to bump up the amount being invested via one-time additions, recurring additions or a round up multiplier.

This one-time addition is just like it sounds and with recurring, you can set a fixed amount that gets pulled from your checking account on a schedule.

The multiplier feature lets you multiply the round up value by 2, 3 or 10x. And if your transaction is already a whole number like $5.00, you can set how much of a round up is added, from zero to an extra dollar.

Found Money

Much like getting cash back on your credit card at certain retailers, Acorns Found Money will add money to your portfolio in exchange for running your transaction through their platform.

It’s worth checking out, as some of the offers are solid. As of this writing, they’re offering $35 to sign up with Blue Apron or 1% of a Walmart transaction

Financial Education

There is a solid library of material in the Acorns financial education section of the app that covers basics like earning, saving, investing and retiring.

In addition, you can find a wide variety of timely financial news articles like handling surprise medical bills and why housing prices are going through the roof during the pandemic.

Over 100 well-written articles are quick reads and packed with useful information. It’s a great place for beginners to get started and experts to brush up on their understanding of personal finance.

Acorns Portfolios

The question, “Can you actually make money with Acorns?” ties closely to how you choose to invest your round ups.

Based on how you answer questions during registration like employment status, age and investment horizon, Acorns will suggest one of their market portfolios. However, you can pick and choose as you like.

Acorns Conservative Portfolio

Consisting entirely of bonds, this is a low volatility option made up of US Government Treasury bills and corporate bonds from the likes of AT&T and Goldman Sachs.

Acorns Moderately Conservative Portfolio

Adding stocks from medium and large US companies as well as international raises the volatility while offering exposure to a potentially higher growth rate.

The stocks used in Acorns are actually exchange traded funds (ETF) giving investors’ broader exposure.  In the case of the large stocks, it’s a Vanguard ETF that mirrors the S&P 500.

Acorns Moderate Portfolio

For the moderate portfolio, large US stocks bump up to 35% of the mix with US Aggregate Bonds making up 28%.

This is the first option to tap a small cap stock ETF, which brings more volatility and potential growth, albeit only 2% of the weight.

Acorns Moderately Aggressive Portfolio

With this option, you’ll find large and international stocks making up about 70% of the portfolio and bonds dropping to 20%.

Acorns Aggressive Portfolio

Representing the far end of the spectrum, the Acorns aggressive portfolio is mostly the S&P 500 ETF at 55% and contains the largest weight of their small cap fund at 5%.

Thirty percent is in the international ETF and the remaining 10% falls into the medium sized company ETF. There is no bond exposure in the Acorns Aggressive portfolio.

Things We Like About Acorns Round Ups

It Only Costs $1 Per Month!

When it comes to Acorns app fees, $1/month is pretty reasonable. This gets you the Lite plan, which includes the Acorns Invest option.

That’s the umbrella category, which includes Round Ups and access to the Found Money cash back feature.

Now, if you’re accumulating $20/month in spare change round ups, $1 represents a 5% fee which is steep compared to competitive investment platforms.

However, Acorns is the only spare change investment app that rounds up and invests in the stock market.

If you look at it as a tool in your personal finance kit instead of the end-all-be-all solution, it makes more sense. You’ll make more money investing $20/month in the S&P 500 than you will storing it in a glass jar over the long haul.

So Easy To Use, Even Dad Can Do It

As a lame, 40 year old dad, I can confirm that using Acorns is pretty damn easy.

In fact, Acorns fits right into the For All Dads motto of “Throwing away the instructions since 1989”. You can just jump in and get to work.

Clean design and an intuitive interface make navigating the platform a breeze. I’m going to be honest, it’s kind of fun to open up the app and see my spare change piling up.

That may seem odd since it’s never going to build serious wealth but don’t knock it till you try it.

Choose Your Own Acorns Portfolio Adventure

While the app does an admirable job of building your Investor Profile and guiding you into an appropriate Acorns portfolio, you have full autonomy on which of the five approaches works best for you.

As outlined above, they range from Conservative to Aggressive and offer blends of stock ETFs and bonds.

Found Money Is Good Money

Considering the amount of time spent shopping online, running your purchase through the Acorns Found Money portal is an easy way to snag additional cash.

If you’re using a cash back credit card to make the purchase, you’re effectively doubling your bonus funds.

While cash back is great, the extra dollars offered via Found Money goes back into your portfolio to be invested for the future.

There are loads of brand name offers with solid bonuses like 5% invested from a New Balance purchase or $10 into your Invest account when you shop for the first time with Chewy.

Things We Would Change About Acorns Round Ups

Have A Question? Tough.

Though the Acorns app has a robust knowledge base, there is currently no way to get in touch with a live human for assistance. In the Help section there is a Chat with Support button, however it is grayed out.

You can select from a wide variety of topics and receive links to possible solutions but ultimately, if you can’t find you answer, you’ll have to send an email via an Acorns support form.

That seems reasonable if you have a general question about your account. However, if you’re using the Acorns Later feature and investing serious money for retirement, it would be nice to know you can get live help on the phone if need be.

Capital One and Acorns Don’t Like Each Other

There is no Acorns-Capital One compatibility. So if you run all your purchases through a Capital One credit card, don’t bother opening an Acorns Round Ups account.

Capital One is not on board with how Acorns interfaces with them so have chosen not to partner up.

More ETF Detail Would Be Nice

The specifics of the Acorns portfolio assets are not easy to find on the app. When you click on the Small Company Stocks, for example, a screen pops up with a list of six Featured Holdings and a symbol for the fund – IJR in this case.

You need to do a Google search on this ETF symbol to learn it’s a BlackRock fund and look through the details. It would be nice if you could reach this info directly from the portfolio section within the app.

Other Acorns Features

The Acorns app offers three subscription flavors – Lite, Personal and Family. This article is all about the Acorns Round Ups feature which is available with all three levels of subscription. I use Lite, which is the cheapest option, but here is a quick overview of all three options for reference.

What’s Included With Each Acorns Subscription Tier

• Invest: Round Ups, Found Money
• Later: IRA account
• Spend: Checking account
• Early: UTMA accounts for minors

Who is Acorns?

Founded in 2014 by Walter and Jeff Cruttenden and currently run by CEO Noah Kerner, Acorns was created with the intention to make investing accessible to everyone.

Using micro investing, their mission is to level the playing field on financial markets and give anyone the ability to tap these markets.

The idea being that folks easily grasp the need to save money but the act of investing can be a hurdle. Acorns aims to change that with a simple, low-cost approach. Notable investors include Dwayne Johnson, Jennifer Lopez and Ashton Kutcher.

Acorns Alternatives

Looking at the difference between Acorns and Robinhood, or Betterment yields a host of similarities but one key difference. Only Acorns will round up AND invest your spare change.

• Chime offers a rounding feature but puts the money in a high-yield savings account.
  
• Qapital is in this vein but puts the money in a pot to build toward a user-specified goal.
  
• Qoins also rounds up your expenses but the money is put toward personal debt payments.
  
• Robinhood is mainly an online stock trading platform.
  
• Betterment and Wealthfront are both in the same “robo advisor meets micro investing” circle as Acorns but neither of them have a spare change round up feature that invests in the market.

As far as spare change investment apps go, Acorns is the only one that offers both the round up feature coupled with investing.

Final Notes on Acorns Round Ups

On the whole, I would recommend Acorns Round Ups as an additional tool in any dads’ personal finance kit. If, for example, you’re contributing to a workplace 401K type plan and building cash savings, round ups is a nice way to put your pocket change to work.

While Acorns does offer more robust investment options, I like the simple, low cost spare change investment component and would certainly recommend it.

How to Open an Acorns Account

You can open an Acorns account on their site or by downloading their app from your phone’s app store.