Stash Investments Online Stock Broker Review

Serving Beginners and Savvy Investors

The Stash app offers plenty of flexibility to serve the needs of novices, veteran investors, and everyone in between. If you're not sure where to begin investing—perhaps you don't have a firm grasp on how the stock, bond, and ETF markets work—you can help yourself to educational resources and stock recommendations online or by using the Stash mobile app. Stash curates industry-specific portfolios in such areas as energy, consumer staples, tech, real estate, and more. You can also explore investments that are trending or new to the stock market. If you are interested in investing in specific sectors, you can use the app's search tool to find companies that match your preferences. We searched the site for healthcare-, cannabis-, and cryptocurrency stocks, and, each time, the search feature returned a half-dozen or more investments to choose from. Click on any option and Stash will provide an overview of the stock, bond or ETF, including its current trading price, the last dividend it paid, its expense ratio, and more. In the case of mutual funds, Stash provides a summary of a fund's key holdings, too. That helps investors make informed buying decisions.

Start Small with Stash

You can start investing through Stash for just $5. T To start investing, you'll need to fill out a brief form that requests ID information and helps assess your level of risk tolerance. You will also need to link an outside bank account to the app, from which you will pay your monthly subscription and fund your ongoing investments. Users set the amount they want to invest automatically. Or you can choose to fund your Stash account manually whenever you decide you want to add to your portfolio.

Stash offers an opening bonus, which varies periodically. There's a social opportunity with Stash, too. Invite friends to open an account and you can earn up to $1000 in stock. 

Plan Options

Stash offers three different plans: Stash Beginner, Stash Growth, and Stash+.

The Stash Beginner Plan offers the following benefits:

• Advice for beginner investing
• Access to a Personal Portfolio
• A stock-back debit card that earns you stock when you use it to make purchases
• Early access to direct deposits from your employer
• $1,000 in life insurance

The Stash Growth Plan offers all of the benefits of the Stash Beginner Plan, plus:

• The option to set up a retirement portfolio
• Advice for managing your personal finances
• Upgrade to the Stash Smart Portfolio

The Stash+ Plan offers all of the benefits of the Stash Growth Plan, plus:

• Advice on managing family finances
• Access to Stash Market Insights
• Two free kids' portfolios
• $10,000 in life insurance
• 2 times stock-back rewards when you use your Stash debit card

Reputation and Customer Experience

The Stash app is easy to use even for beginners. Tip: take advantage of facial recognition log-in for secure, easy access to your account. The app earns 5 stars from the Apple App Store and 4 stars from Google Play. 

However, the company itself doesn't fare as well with consumer review organizations as its mobile app. Stash is not accredited by the Better Business and is poorly rated by the organization. The company earns just 2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. Users point to account security and difficulty canceling their accounts as some of the problems they've experienced. That may give some investors pause. But we note that many other investment apps earn 2-star ratings from Trustpilot, too.