WINNER: Ellevest
For putting a woman’s
perspective on investing
and money management
WHAT IT IS: An investing plat-
form created by and for women.
It offers a goal-focused invest-
ing approach, portfolio mixes
that take into account wom-
en’s lower lifetime-earnings
curves and longer life spans,
and starting last year, an easy
way to direct funds toward
companies that advance
women, are environmentally
friendly, and have a positive
social impact.
INVESTING
RUNNER-UP:Stash
For making retirement
saving a microdecision
More than 86 percent of the
3.5 million-plus people who
use this microinvesting and
banking app identify as begin-
ner investors. What makes
Stash so appealing to new-
bies? Straightforward fees
(one plan is $1 a month, with
a $5 investment minimum),
loads of educational material,
the ability to buy fractional
shares of specific companies,
and different options for
automatic investing—such as
scheduling regular deposit
dates, rounding up every
purchase and investing the
difference, or allowing Stash’s
algorithm to study your
finances and pull out cash
you won’t notice is missing.
WHY WE LOVE IT: A woman
earning $50,000 a year might
step into retirement with
$268,639 less in her portfolio
than a male peer. A woman
earning just over six figures
could have $1.05 million less
than a male peer. Closing the
investment gap, of course,
can’t happen without getting
in the game. Ellevest kills the
intimidation factor without
losing an ounce of financial
sophistication. “The holistic
approach can really help
women wrap their arms
around their finances,” says
Kristen Euretig, a certified
financial planner and the
founder of Brooklyn Plans.
88 REAL SIMPLE SEPTEMBER 2019
BALANCE
