Why Stash?
Invest automatically.
Fractional shares make it easy to invest what you can afford on a set schedule. Start by signing up for one of our subscription plans, which will help you stay on track.†
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Why Stash?
Invest in building wealth.
We can help you bank better with no hidden banking fees2 and access to early payday through direct deposit.3 Plus, you can earn stock as you shop with the Stock-Back® Card.1
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Why Stash?
Invest in your future.
Stay focused on long-term goals with our retirement options4 and children’s investment accounts.5
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Stash—built for everyone, customized to you.
The Wallet
Making sense of your cents with financial news, resources, and weekly tips.Frequently asked questions
Where Stash shines
DIY and automated investing: Stash marries the idea of DIY investing and an automated portfolio, giving clients the option to choose how involved they want to be. Often, robo-advisors are fully hands off, meaning you can’t pick any of your own investments.
Roundups: If you like the idea of investing without too much effort on your part, Stash can round up your purchases to the nearest dollar, and once those roundups hit $5, will send that money to your investment account.
Stock-Back® Card: Stash's Stock-Back® Card lets you earn stocks as rewards when you shop.
Where Stash falls short
No managed IRAs: Stash does not offer automated management for IRAs.
No tax-loss harvesting: Smart Portfolios don't offer tax-loss harvesting.
No human advice: Stash's offering of personalized advice refers to guides and how-to articles, as well as automated portfolio management available through Smart Portfolios.
Stash is best for:
Investors who want to buy fractional shares.
Investors who want to choose their own investments and get automated portfolios.
Stash at a glance
Account minimum | $0 ($5 for Smart Portfolios). |
Account management fee | $3 per month for automated investing. $9-a-month tier available with access to Kids Portfolios (custodial accounts) and higher Stock-Back® rewards. Full details about each option below. |
Investment expense ratios | Average is less than 0.06% for Smart Portfolios. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | $0 standard transfer fee, or 1% fee for instant transfers. Outgoing ACAT full transfer fee: $75. |
Portfolio mix | Smart Portfolio mix is well-diversified but lacks exposure to non-market correlated assets like REITs and commodities. Smart Portfolio does give access to cryptocurrency. Over 4,000 individual stocks and ETFs are available in the DIY individual brokerage account. |
Socially responsible portfolio option | No automated socially responsible portfolio. Themed ETFs, including socially responsible ETFs, are available in the DIY individual brokerage account. |
Accounts supported |
Note: Only individual brokerage accounts are available to be managed with Smart Portfolios. IRA and UTMA/UMGA accounts are available for DIY management only. |
Tax strategy | Not available. |
Automatic rebalancing | Smart Portfolios option features automatic rebalancing upon withdrawals or contributions, plus quarterly rebalancing. |
Human advisor option | Not available. |
Bank account/cash management account | Stash offers access to an online banking account with a stock-back rewards debit card, but the account doesn't pay interest. |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | Phone and email support Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Additional email support is available on weekends from 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern. |
More details about Stash's ratings
Stash is quite different from other robo-advisors we review. Instead of do-it-yourself or robo-advisor management, Stash offers clients the ability to do both.
Account minimum: 5 out of 5 stars
It takes only $5 to start investing with Stash's Smart Portfolios, which makes it easy for all investors to access. Some robo-advisors have $0 minimums, but others have minimums as high as $500 or even $5,000.
Account management fee: 5 out of 5 stars
Stash offers two levels of its subscription service. Here's what each tier offers:
Investing |
| Two Kids Portfolios you manage yourself (custodial UGMA / UTMA accounts). |
Banking | Bank account and Stock-Back® Card. | Bank account and Stock-Back® Card with 2x stock (subject to terms and conditions). |
The $3 monthly fee provides access to the robo-advisor feature, Smart Portfolios and Retirement Portfolios (which includes access to IRAs, though IRAs cannot be managed through Smart Portfolios).
Other robo-advisors charge a fee based on the amount of money they are managing for you. For example, Betterment and Wealthfront have a 0.25% management fee — if you have $1,000 under management, the annual cost will be $2.50. These services will also build your portfolio, rebalance it and apply tax-loss harvesting on taxable accounts.
Keep in mind, if you opt for Stash Growth ($3 a month) or Stash+ ($9 a month), you’ll still get to pick your own investments through an individual brokerage account. This DIY-and-automated approach isn’t available at other robo-advisors.
One other bonus feature Stash offers is life insurance access through Avibra, but the benefit amounts are hardly meaningful: At the $3-a-month tier, the benefit amount is $1,000, and it rises to $10,000 at the Stash+ $9-a-month level.
» Want to compare more providers? Check out our top picks for best robo-advisors.
Investment expense ratios: 5 out of 5 stars
The ETFs available through Stash have an average expense ratio — the annual fee charged to investors — of 0.14% to 0.18% for all Smart Portfolios. That’s fairly standard compared to Stash’s competitors.
Account fees: 4 out of 5 stars
Stash charges no standard transfer fee, but there is a 1% fee for instant transfers. A $75 ACAT fee is charged if an investor chooses to move assets to another brokerage firm. Stash customers can withdraw from their Smart Portfolio at no cost, and there are no fees for selling investments.
Portfolio mix: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Stash’s automated portfolios are made up of ETFs that include exposure to U.S. stocks, international stocks (in both developed and emerging markets) and U.S. and international bonds. Stash utilizes fractional shares so that all of your money is invested.
Stash also has a tool to educate users about the power of investing. Users can quickly adjust a slider to indicate their monthly deposit and growth potential, or anticipated investment return, and the app will show how much the user could have after one year, five years and 10 years.
Stash also offers access to cryptocurrency through their Smart Portfolio (the automated robo-advisor offering). Stash allows investors to invest in a Delaware statutory trust, or DST. This way investors can get crypto exposure without having to trade, store or safeguard actual coins.
Socially responsible portfolio options: 2 out of 5 stars
Stash does not offer an automated socially responsible portfolio, but within the DIY portfolio (available at any price tier) Stash offers access to thematic ETFs, including clean energy and women’s empowerment.
Accounts supported: 1 out of 5 stars
For a managed Smart Portfolio, clients only have access to an individual brokerage account. Pretty much every other robo-advisor we review gives users the ability to have a managed portfolio with an IRA.
This is one of the clear instances where Stash Smart Portfolios fall behind its competitors. If you’d like to invest in an IRA or custodial account, you can, but you’ll need to pick the investments for it yourself.
Tax strategy: 1 out of 5 stars
Stash does not offer any form of tax strategy. Many other robo-advisors offer tax-loss harvesting, which is an investment strategy that can reduce the amount of tax you may have to pay when you sell your investments, or another form of tax mitigation, for free.
Automatic rebalancing: 5 out of 5 stars
Stash Smart Portfolios offer quarterly automatic rebalancing if your portfolio drifts 5% away from your target allocation. For example, if your portfolio has an 80% stock allocation, and it jumps to 85% stocks, Stash will rebalance it for you.
Human advisor option: 1 out of 5 stars
Stash’s website states that all clients, at any level, receive “advice” that pertains to their level of membership ($3 gets information about growing your personal finances and $9 gets market insights and information about family finances). The fine print clarifies that it refers to “Financial Counseling Advice, which is investment advice in the form of guides and educational materials.” The “personalization” comes from the information users input when their accounts are being set up, similar to quizzes other robo-advisors employ to gauge an appropriate asset allocation. It does not mean that you receive tailored advice from a financial professional.
One example Stash gives of “personalized investment advice” is access to its Diversification Analysis tool, which helps customers maintain balanced portfolios (based on their risk profile for their personal portfolio). So if you have specific questions you’d like to ask a financial professional, you may want to look elsewhere.
Banking account/cash management options: 4 out of 5 stars
Stash offers access to a banking account with no overdraft fees or minimum balance through Green Dot Bank. It lets you save automatically using roundups and auto-invest, and it also lets you set goals by separating your cash into spaces for specific purposes. This tool can help with budgeting, and your goals can be customized for what you’re saving for. One caveat to this is that instant money transfers are subject to limitations, and that money moved into a goal must be moved back to the bank account available balance to be used. Also, Stash’s banking account does not pay interest.
Stash's Stock-Back® Card rewards users with a percentage of their purchases back in stock. So when you shop at Walmart or Amazon, you’ll earn stock in those companies. When you spend at a local business, you’ll earn a stock or ETF from a preselected list. Stash Growth ($3 per month) customers earn 0.125% stock on all everyday purchases, and up to 5% at certain merchants with bonuses. Stash+ ($9 per month) customers earn 2x stock (subject to terms and conditions).
Customer support options: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Stash offers phone and email support Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern and weekend email support Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
Is Stash right for you?
If you’re looking for access to both a managed portfolio and an individual brokerage account where you can dabble in picking your own investments, Stash may be a good fit. Stash also provides access to fractional shares, allowing you to diversify with very little money.
But if you’re just looking for automated investment management, you can get similar services for less elsewhere. Other robo-advisors will also allow you to have an IRA managed.
How do we review robo-advisors?
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks the largest U.S. robo-advisors. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across 16 factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars). Ratings are rounded to the nearest half-star.
For more details about the categories considered when rating robo-advisors and our process, read our full methodology.