Stash Review & Rating 2024

Stash was founded in February 2015 by Brandon Krieg and Ed Robinson. Krieg and Robinson had previously worked together at Macquarie Group, an investment banking firm.

Stash is a micro-investment platform that teaches new investors how to start investing. Like other micro-investment apps, you can invest your spare change, but what makes Stash different is that you can choose micro shares from ETFs and shares in line with your interests and values

This is an attractive way for new investors to get started, and 86% of Stashers are new investors. In total, Stash's 4 million users invested and saved more than $1.8 billion.

And since the Stash app was released, it has grown to become an investment and personal finance app. With Stash, you can now invest your money, save in a bank account with no hidden fees, automate the process, and learn from rich educational content.

Learning to invest with Stash

One of the areas where Stash shines is that it teaches new investors to invest. In addition to the perceived high cost of the investment, lack of knowledge deters many new investors. Stash's investment platform is actively working to break this barrier.

This educational component is extremely important if you are choosing your own investments. Stash will make recommendations, but Stash gives you much more control over where your money goes than other micro investment apps.

Easy access to important information about your investments

For each investment, you can look at the dividend yield, performance and expense rate of the ETFs. You can also click a button on any investment and be taken to that investment's website, where you can do even more research.

The Stash Coach

This tool is like a personal trainer for your investments. It's a bespoke financial training tool that will challenge you to test your knowledge of the fundamentals of investing, such as diversifying your account, all about bonds, and setting long-term investment goals.

Stash Portfolio Builder

For investors who don't want to choose investments on their own, Portfolio Builder creates an instantly diversified home portfolio for you. There are three levels: conservative, moderate and aggressive.

You can even choose individual investments if you are using the Portfolio Maker.

Learning Center

Stash Learn is Stash's collection of articles and how-to guides covering topics such as investing basics, news on national and global money, personal finance issues, and more. Some of the more recent articles include a guide to the 2020 tax season, getting started with legal marijuana investing, and what you need to know about free credit scoring apps.

Stash review – Pros and cons

Stash shines for many different reasons, but there are also some things that might not make it a good fit for you.

Pros:

• You can start investing with just $5.
• You can buy fractional shares of equities and ETFs – fractional shares are unique to Stash.
• Investors have access to value-based investments so you can choose investments that match your interests and values.
• Strong content and educational support.

Cons:

• Does not include tax loss collection and automatic rebalancing.
• The subscription fee is slightly higher than other micro-investment platforms and Robo-Advisors.
• You are potentially paying higher expense fees, especially if you choose your own investments.

Is Stash legit? Yes, Stash is legitimate, and no, it’s not a scam. Stash has more than 6 million active users and receives positive Stash opinions among mobile users on The App Store and Google Play.

The app is all about security, too. It has 256-bit encryption (that’s what a lot of banks use), and you can set up fingerprint or facial recognition access.

When you open an account, you’ll create a four-digit security code, which you’ll be required to enter each time you open the app. You can set up thumbprint access, too.

Stash is available for iOS and Android users, and it has an online web-based platform. However, most of the actions and tools are available in the app. Investors can get a snapshot of their performance at any time just by logging in with Face ID or one-touch.

You can learn everything about your investments in one screen using the Stash app. This is useful for those investors who are just starting out and need the most important information about a stock to make a decision. Stash Coach will also be there to help you with guidance and show you when a stock may help or hurt your portfolio.

Stash has over 3,500 investments to choose from, including stocks and ETFs. It has the following stock and ETF categories to choose from:

• Stocks
• Consumer staples
• Energy
• Finance
• Health care
• Industrials
• Materials
• Media
• Real Estate
• Retail
• Tech
• Utilities

ETFs

• Global exposure
• Goods and services
• Missions and causes
• Technology and innovation
• Thematic

The cost of choosing your own investments

Although stocks do not have expense ratios, the ETFs and expense ratio is the annual investment cost. Let's say you were investing in a fund with an expense rate of 0.44%, if you had invested $1,000 in that ETF, you would have paid $4.40 annually.

That doesn't seem like a lot now, but the ideal is to invest tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars – that's what makes retirement happen.

Here's why I bring this up in our Stash review: When you choose your own investments, you can end up investing in funds with very high expense rates. Stash's average expense ratio is around 0.24%, but it is slightly higher than other online brokers like Vanguard.

There is also debate about the effectiveness of thematic or value-based investment. And another potential downside is that because you're less focused on growth, you can end up leaving a lot of big investments open, ones that can pay you more.

In the end, you will have to decide if you want to be part of your investment strategy. You can assess the differences and make the choice that's right for you.

Stash offers three major investment accounts, and it takes $5 to open an account and start investing with any one of them.

1. Personal Investment account
2. Retirement account
3. Custodial account

I'll briefly explain the features you get with each account type in this Stash review.

• Beginner $1/month. This account includes a personal investment account, unlimited trading, debit card access, the Stock-Back program and financial education.
• Growth $3/month. All in the beginners account, plus a tax-advantaged retirement account.
• Stash+ $9/month . Includes everything in Growth plus custodial accounts for up to two children. You will receive a monthly market information report and a Stash debit card with 2x inventory back.

How to start investing with Stash

When you join Stash, you need to share your name and date of birth, Social Security number, employment information, annual income, and net worth.

This is the same type of information that any other investment application will ask for. You will also need to choose your risk tolerance (Conservative, Moderate or Aggressive). Stash will use all of this information to recommend investments.

To start investing, you need to link a bank account as your funding source.

How to make deposit

You will need to fund your account by linking Stash to your checking account.

You can do this by:

• Entering your bank login and password.
• Entering your account and routing numbers.

Once your bank account is successfully linked, you will be able to add and subtract money using the Stash Deposit screen.

How to make withdrawal

To make a withdrawal, log in to your StashAway account ;

Web App

Click on your name at the top right of your screen > click on "Withdraw/Transfer" > click on the intended portfolio > adjust the slider according to your desired withdrawal amount and click "Continue" to proceed.

Mobile App

Click on "Transfer" at the top right of your screen > choose "Take money out" > click on the intended portfolio > enter the withdrawal amount > key in your bank account number and click "Continue" to proceed.​​

You will then receive an email confirming your withdrawal request.

There are no transfer fees for deposits or withdrawals and moving money is very easy.

Stash believes that cryptocurrency may have unique strengths against inflation, which can eat away at your portfolio’s returns over time in the same way that it reduces the purchasing power of your cash.

As a result, Stash is giving you access to mature digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum exclusively through Smart Portfolio.

When you invest in your Smart Portfolio, you won’t be investing directly in cryptocurrency. Instead, you’ll be purchasing shares of something called a Unit Investment Trust (UIT).

Stash has added two UITs to Smart Portfolio. The first is called the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which offers Bitcoin exposure to investors through UIT shares. The second is Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which offers Ethereum exposure to investors via UIT shares.

This Stash review found that there are no commission fees for stock trades and no bank transfer fees on deposits and withdrawals. However, new investors can open an account with a $5 investment. New investors get the first month free of any fees and then are charged $1 per month for accounts under $5,000 and 0.25 percent per year for balances over $5,000.

You can always contact Stash customer service via phone and email support from Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM.

Although Stash customer service representatives are not brokers, they can offer you some guidance with the app’s features and what to invest based on themes.

Is Stash safe? As every Stash review will tell you, this app is not a scam. According to its website, "Stash Capital LLC, an SEC-registered broker and member of FINRA/SIPC, acts as a presentation broker for Stash Client Advisory Accounts." This means that investors are covered by all relevant regulatory agencies.

Stash has also partnered with Apex Clearing Corporation to maintain and protect its investments for up to $500,000.

Stash is also PCI DDS compliant, which means it is regularly audited by external third parties to ensure that all technical controls and card data are protected.