The App Dilemma - Best Free Investing Apps 2021

Markets seem to be going straight up as usual this week. Not to mention Bitcoin has found a new ceiling around $50,000.

I’m having the typical “I should’ve bought more” feeling right now but I guess that’s a good problem.

Anyways, a popular question I often get is what are my favorite investing apps. So I decided to make an email covering just that.

The app world can be overwhelming and for that reason I’ve tried to keep the number I use to a minimum. Let’s take a look.

Note: If this email is appearing in your spam you can fix that by dragging it to your regular inbox.

“No highs, no lows, only Doge.” - Elon Musk

In this list I only included apps directly related to investing. Sometime in the future I will write another email covering those for savings accounts, budgeting, and crypto. I don’t like to rate things if I’ve never used before, so all of the apps mentioned here are ones I have experience with.

Brokerages

1. Fidelity - This has been my main brokerage for over a year now. My favorite way to describe Fidelity is that they are good at everything, but not the best at anything. They have fractional shares, options, customer service, a decent app, and okay portfolio tracking.

2. TD Ameritrade - Though I said Fidelity is my main brokerage I have had my TD Ameritrade account for over three years now. Originally I opened it back when I started trading options…not my proudest moment lol. Anyways, TD is a solid brokerage but they do lack in a few areas. Currently they do not offer fractional shares, and could be better in the interface and portfolio tracking departments.

3. M1 Finance - M1 has always been one I have had my eye on, and with so many leaving Robinhood they are gaining popularity. I’ll classify M1 as the most “modern” of the three brokerages I mentioned. Their user interface is extremely easy to understand which lands them as my favorite for new investors. Though they offer fractional shares and great portfolio tracking, they do not have options. In my opinion it’s best for most to stay away from options anyways!

Research

1. Think or Swim - This is an app provided by TD Ameritrade. I use the Think or Swim for all of my watchlists and technical analysis needs. They have numerous chart options, indicators, and time frames that can be customized to your liking. If you would like you can also download the platform on your computer.

2. Yahoo Finance - For fundamentals my favorite is yahoo finance. The app is very easy to use and contains a wide variety of information. I use yahoo to quickly look at balance sheets and cashflow statements from my phone or ipad. There are other apps that do this, but yahoo is one of the best free ones I’ve found. The website is even better when used from a computer.

News

Before I get into news apps please understand you don’t need the notifications turned on for these. I simply scroll through the main articles once or twice a day. Most news is more distracting than it is informative.

1. CNBC - This is the main news app I normally look through. If you go to the market section within the app they have different filters you can select. I often peak at U.S market movers, unusual volume, sectors, and most active.

2. MarketWatch - Honestly I don’t use MarketWatch near as much as CNBC. Typically the articles you find on one will be similar to the other. Normally if I find a story I am interested in, I will research it on my own.

Those are my favorite investing apps which I use the most. If you have one you think I would find helpful please let me know about it so I can share it with everyone!

My main approach to investing is using ETFs which closely resemble index funds. Index Fund Investing 101 gives all the details one needs to construct an ETF portfolio that will last for generations.

The best part is you only need one brokerage app to make this strategy work.

That’s how easy it is.

*Nervous laugh

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc. about the email send me a DM on twitter. See you next week!