Stockpile is especially popular with kids.  They can learn about investing, tracking their stocks, and place trades.  With Stockpile, you will be investing dollar amounts instead of shares. Stockpile makes stocks about as simple as it can get.  You can buy money from different companies.

The nice thing about buying in dollars instead of buying stocks, is that you don’t have to worry about the price of the share.  This enables people to invest without having to have a lot of capital.

What’s cool about this investing app is that it comes in gift cards.  So you can buy someone a $50 gift card stock of Amazon for a family member or friend.  There are no expiration dates on the gift cards and the value of the stock will not change until the stock is purchased.  Then the value of the stock will fluctuate based on the market. In general, the longer the recipient keeps the stock in without taking the money out, the more that they make.  For example, if you purchased a Facebook stock just 5 year ago, it would have tripled by now.

For children and teens to own their own stocks, an adult must be on the account with them.  The parent or guardian will be the official beneficiary until the child turns 18. Minors can set up their own login on Stockpile, but they will need the adult’s consent every time that they want to place trades.  This is a great app for children and teens to learn about the stock market.

Pros

• Easy to use.  Stockpile is known for its simplicity.  It really is one of the simplest forms of stock trading as far as investing apps are concerned.  The process is simple.  
• Great for gifts.  Because Stockpile sells gift cards, it makes it an easy way to give gifts that can grow.
• You can invest in well-known companies.  Customers can invest in large, well-known companies with Stockpile.
• Can be used as a prepaid gift card.   If you purchase a card for someone who doesn’t want to get into the stock market, they can always opt out of using it for stock and use it as a regular prepaid gift card at the company.
• You can invest dollars instead of stocks.  By investing dollars instead of stocks, Stockpile makes it easy for the beginner to understand and get started with trading stocks.

Cons

• Limited purchase amount. Because this is a beginner’s app, there are some limited purchase amounts.  The limit is put in place to avoid money laundering and other types of fraud. If you are wanting to purchase a large amount of stock, then Stockpile is not the way to go.
• Fees.  As with most things in life, there are fees.  While these are not high fees, they can be difficult to keep track of and understand.  Always makes sure to weigh in the fees that you will be incurring as you trade stocks.
• Limited variety.  Only the most popular companies are choices for buying and selling with Stockpile.
• Timing.  Trades only take place at the end of the day.

What Other People Are Saying

Many people are loving Stockpile because it is an easy way to learn about the stock market.  By investing dollars instead of stocks, beginners seem to have an easier time understanding how it all works.

People also like that they can easily gift Stockpile gift cards.  The main focus of Stockpile is to make it easy for people to give other people gifts of stocks.  This is the biggest selling point of Stockpile and also the area where they get the highest praises.

Cost and Process to Join

To sign up for Stockpile, simply visit their website.  Stockpile will have a short form that will need to be completed before opening an account.  The form takes around 3 minutes of time to complete.

Stockpile keeps their fees low and uses language that is easy for a beginning investor to understand.  Purchasers can buy e-gift stocks which are basically online gift cards that range from $1 to $1,000, plus fees.  There are some fees to consider, depending on how much stock that you choose to buy. Along with these fees, you will be charged a 3% credit/debit card fee.  Compared to other fees that a broker would charge to buy or sell a stock, these are very affordable.

In addition to purchasing Stockpile gift cards online, you can also purchase them in a limited number of physical stores.

Customer Support

If you have questions about Stockpile, you have the choice of asking a question online off of their website, or calling them directly at (877) 374-2584.  You can also email them a question at support@stockpile.com.  Stockpile does a good job of making their app easy to understand, but you can always fall back on talking to a live person if you need to.

My Conclusion 

Stockpile is great for those who are just starting out in investing.  It is an easy place for beginning investors to learn about the stock market.  It’s also nice for those who don’t have and/or don’t want to invest a lot of money in stocks until they learn more about stocks.  Stockpile can get a bit confusing with the fee system. Even though the fees are low, there are a lot of fees that you will need to keep track of when you buy or sell stocks. If you are just wanting to start to get your feet wet with stocks, then Stockpile is a great place to start. I hope my review helps you as you look to start investing your money in the future. 

For more reviews and information, check out our list of the Top 10 Investing Apps of 2018.