College students may be surprised to learn that they are already investors by simply attending college.
They’re investing in their futures by way of education, social skills by living in dorm halls and disciplining themselves to achieve a degree.
While those investments will pay dividends in the future, they won't provide the one thing all college students need right now: money.
Balancing education while working a part-time job may not be feasible for all students, luckily a plethora of money-making apps exist for a college student who wants to make passive income while learning how to invest in stocks along the way.
We’re going to focus on five of those apps, and the benefits they provide.
Acorns
This is a micro-investing app dedicated to passive investing. It automatically invests spare change made from debit and credit card purchases. Acorns offers two subscription packages, Acorns Personal at $3 per month and Acorns Family at $5 per month. The company diversifies the investments across 7,000 stocks and bonds.
Public.com
The self-named social investing app focuses on commission-free fractional trading. The app tailors content and education via a community of investors, creators and analysts to what is in the user’s portfolio.
Robinhood
Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) is another commission-free app that offers stocks, options, and cryptocurrency trading. The company has a $5 per month Robinhood Gold plan which provides a suite of premium features including larger instant deposits and level 2 market data.
Stash
Stash is a personal finance app focused on long-term investing and building healthy money habits. Subscriptions begin at $1 per month which include a stock-back card and optional life insurance coverage. A user can choose to direct deposit a portion or all of their paycheck to the app, which will automatically invest a pre-determined amount.
WeBull
Similar to Robinhood, WeBull offers zero-commission trading on stocks, options, and ETFs with robust analytics geared toward active investors. For newer investors, the company offers a trading simulator and an education center within the app to help teach various trading strategies.
Original publication: March, 2022.
