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- I wanted to withdraw money from my savings, so I looked into several investment platforms.
- I stopped using Robinhood because I want to invest in mutual funds.
- I considered Charles Schwab because I have a retirement plan, but I decided on Ally because I use it for banking.
At the beginning of 2024, I took inventory of my finances and realized I was sitting on way too much cash. After several years of working diligently to stick to a budget and reduce spending, over 60% of my financial portfolio consisted of cash held in CDs and high-yield savings accounts.
I decided I wanted to invest at least 15% of that cash in another mutual fund or index fund.
As a new investor who only started putting money into the market a few years ago, I decided to try out some of the most popular investment apps and choose the one that is easy to use and offers a variety of opportunities.
1. Robin Hood
I decided to ask some friends what investment platforms they use. Most of them said they had been using Robinhood for several years. I decided to test the platform first.
I like that there are no account minimums or hidden fees
I like that the minimum amount for a brokerage account is $0. This means you don't need to move large amounts of cash to the platform before you can get started in earnest. I also liked that there were no hidden fees when trading stocks and options. It's completely free. This is a perk for novice investors like me who frequently buy and sell stocks, funds, and ETFs that we want to hold for the long term while learning about them.
investment opportunities are limited
While browsing the platform, I noticed that you cannot invest in mutual funds or bonds on the platform. This was a big drawback for me. My investment goal this year is to further diversify my portfolio, and I wanted to include two things. Robinhood allows you to invest only in stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptocurrencies.
I liked that the platform didn't charge any hidden fees, but my goal was to find one platform I could use to invest. They also felt limited by the lack of mutual fund and bond offerings.
2. Ally Investment
I've been banking with Ally for a few years now, but I didn't know they also had an investment platform. Since my cash is already stored in savings accounts and CDs through my bank, I decided to check out Ally Invest, a self-directed investing platform.
I was able to invest in mutual funds and bonds through the platform.
Also appealing was the fact that there was no minimum account required to invest and no hidden trading fees. However, options trading comes with fees, which I wasn't really thinking about. Unlike Robinhood, you can invest in stocks, ETFs, and options, as well as mutual funds and bonds.
You can only invest in the US market
When I took the time to dive into the platform, I found that it was limited to trading only the US market, whereas other platforms may offer non-US investments. This wasn't a deciding issue for me at the moment, but it could be if I decide to invest in international markets or funds in the future.
3. Charles Schwab
Earlier this year, I decided to move my retirement funds to Charles Schwab and explore their general investment platform and opportunities.
This platform has strong investment opportunities, but no cryptocurrencies
Of all the platforms I tested, Charles Schwab had the largest selection of investment products including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETs, options, and futures. At the time, it didn't offer the ability to trade cryptocurrencies, but I didn't want to invest any more this year. Like other platforms, there were no account minimums or stock trading fees.
A $50 transfer fee will be charged
The downside to this platform is that it charges fees when transferring money from your account. Pay $50 to transfer the full amount to another account. These fees were in line with what Ally Invest charges, but Robinhood had no transfer fees.
I decided on Ally Invest.
After spending time testing each platform, we decided that Ally Invest was the best fit for our current needs.
This makes it easy to transfer money between other bank accounts to your investment account. Additionally, I was able to diversify my portfolio by investing in a variety of securities, from mutual funds to ETFs. Every investment platform has its pros and cons, so it's important to understand what's important to you and try a few out before choosing which platform to use for your investment needs.
