Ever wonder where teens get most of their information on the stock market? According to a recent survey, 43% of teens turned to social media to learn about investing. Yes, really. That same survey found that if given money to invest, 43% would invest in the stock market (good), while 25% would focus on cryptocurrency (not so good).
These results underscore the importance of getting teens started investing early with the right guidance. To that end, picking the right investment app t0 help educate your child when it comes to investing can be a helpful first step.
Pick the wrong app, and the experience may feel more like gambling than investing (cough, Robinhood, cough). Pick a solid app, and your child may well be on their way to a lifetime of sound wealth building. Here are five of the better apps to help your teen start investing.
5 Investing Apps for Teens
Greenlight
This banking and investing app boasts features that your kids will like. These features include a personalized debit card and direct debit for allowance. It also has features mom and dad will appreciate, like pre-approved stores where your kid can spend and real-time notifications any time the card is used.
But it’s the investing arm where this app really shines. Offering parental control on every trade, Greenlight has no trading fees, allows little investors to buy fractional shares from their favorite companies, and has an educational aspect that teaches kids about more in-depth concepts like compound growth. Worth noting, the investment platform is only available through the card’s mid and top-tier options, Greenlight+ Invest and Greenlight Max.
Fidelity Youth Account
Meant for teens ages 13-17, the Fidelity Youth Account helps kids learn how to spend, save and invest responsibly. Though parents are required to have a Fidelity account for their kids to use this tool, it’s important to note that it’s a teen owned brokerage account. It’s not a custodial account, meaning that the teen makes the investment decisions. This may not be enough oversight for some parents. But if you’re willing to give your kid some leeway, this tool could be an excellent stepping stone for would-be investors.
This brokerage account allows teens to spend, save and invest all in one place. They can get started investing with fractional shares and as little as a $1. Fidelity Youth accounts are fee-free, require no minimum balances and don’t charge domestic ATM fees.
Stockpile
Voted the best investment app for parents by Forbes, Stockpile offers supervised accounts. These accounts allow kids to choose which stocks they buy and sell, but with parental approval. Teens have a separate log-in from their parents where they can peruse thousands of popular stocks and ETFs and build their portfolio however they like. Once the trades are requested, mom and dad can log-in from their account for approval.
This app is fee-free, meaning you won’t pay trading fees or commissions for your teen. It also has a rather unique feature—this app offers gift cards for stock.
Ally Invest
If your kid is a bit too young or not interested in investing just yet, you might choose a more parent-involved option, like Ally Invest’s custodial account. These accounts offer many of the same features of other investing apps for teens. These features include helping teens build their investment portfolio, earn dividends, and work toward long term financial goals, like saving for college.
The setup process isn’t quite as seamless though. It requires parents to open their own Ally Invest account in their name, choose either the self-directed or robo-investing option, then select options such as risk tolerance and goals, and finally select a custodial account. So while this account might be a good option for some, it might not work for those teens who crave a bit more hands-on approach to investing.
Acorns
Acorns is perhaps best known as a round-up app. It will round-up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest it automatically. For parents who are short on time but still big on investment goals for their teens, the app offers a Family account. For $5 a month, parents can add multiple children at no additional cost. Parents can 0pen an account and get their kid started investing in under three minutes.
Acorns Early, as the account is called, is a UTMA/UGMA account. As such, these funds are not limited to education like a 529 savings plan. Acorns Early is transferable once your teen is an adult. Though Acorns is user-friendly for parents, it’s not quite as user-friendly for teens and doesn’t boast a separate log-in interface for teens like Stockpile.
Final Thoughts
Teaching teens about investing isn’t easy. But with these five investing apps for teens, you can educate your teen on everything from the stock market to the importance of saving. While some apps require a bit more parental involvement than others, all teach important lessons about the value of a dollar—and how to make that dollar work for you.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
