I love StashInvest but it isn't a replacement for really getting a brokerage account of some type.
I use StashInvest for microinvestments that add up over time. If I am out and about thinking about going to Starbucks but I make the decision to put off a $4 cup of coffee, I'll send $4 to StashInvest. Works great and this year so far I'm up to over $520 in money socked away just skipping little things. Maybe I'll skip the fries with my burger and send $1.99 to StashInvest.
The upside is that you can buy tiny amounts of ETFs. The downside is they charge $1/month for a management fee, which is hefty if you're only putting away $20 a month. But you can offset the $1/month fee by sharing your link with friends -- they get $5 free, you get $5 free. I've gotten about $200+ this year just from getting friends to sign up and follow my process.
I have 2 friends on Facebook who are in their 30s and have $0 in long term investments. Thanks to StashInvest, they now each have a few thousand dollars just from this year, sending $20 here or $30 there. Eventually they'll have enough to send it into a brokerage account and hopefully invest more.
It's a great app for saving money here and there, but it isn't really all that competitive for larger investment accounts. Because I've made about $200 from sharing my link, I look at it as 200 "free" months of using the app based on the $1/month fee. I expect to put away about $800/year ($2-$3 per day, every day) in skipping something I'd normally buy without thinking. And $70/month at 7% return over 10 years = $12,100 I can expect to have by only skipping a cup of coffee here, a side of fries there.
