SoFi Invest Review 2024 - Is It The Best Investing Platform?

Summary

In 2024, Sofi Invest stands out as a favored investment platform offering generous referral bonuses and fee-free active and automated investing. It differentiates itself by not charging management fees, unlike competitors like Wealthfront and Betterment. Key features include the ability to purchase fractional shares and set up recurring investments. Sofi also provides free access to financial advisors and has introduced new features like IPO and options investing, though it has discontinued crypto investing.

Takeaways

• 💰 Sofi offers a generous referral bonus of $50 for depositing $10 or more.
• 📉 The expected value of Sofi's main promotion is only $8, making referral bonuses more attractive.
• 💼 Sofi stands out for having no management fees for its Robo-advisor, unlike Wealthfront and Betterment which charge 0.25% per year.
• 🔄 Sofi allows active and automated investing, providing flexibility for different investment strategies.
• 💡 The platform supports fractional shares, enabling investment in high-priced stocks and ETFs with as little as $5.
• 🔄 Sofi facilitates recurring investments, which is ideal for those who prefer regular, automated investing.
• 📊 The platform provides detailed analytics for ETFs, including current price, average cost per share, unrealized gain, and dividends received.
• 📈 Investors can set up recurring investments in specific ETFs, like SCD, with ease.
• 🆓 Sofi provides free access to a financial advisor, a service that many other firms charge for.
• 🚫 Sofi has discontinued crypto investing as of December 20th, 2023.
• 📈 New features include the ability to invest in IPOs and options, catering to more advanced investors.

Q & A

What is the referral bonus offered by Sofi Invest in 2024?

Sofi Invest offers a referral bonus of $50 to invest when you deposit $10 or more into your account using a referral link.

What is the maximum referral bonus one can earn with Sofi Invest without using a referral link?

Without using a referral link, the maximum referral bonus one can earn is up to $11,000, but the expected value is just $8 based on the odds provided.

What are the two fee-free ways to invest with Sofi Invest?

The two fee-free ways to invest with Sofi Invest are active investing and automated investing.

How does Sofi Invest's Robo advisor compare to competitors like Wealthfront and Betterment in terms of fees?

Sofi Invest's Robo advisor does not charge any management fee, whereas Wealthfront and Betterment both charge a fee of 0.25% per year.

What account types can be opened with Sofi Invest?

With Sofi Invest, you can open a taxable brokerage account, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or a SEP IRA account.

Why is the ability to purchase fractional shares important for the user?

The ability to purchase fractional shares is important because it allows the user to invest as little as $5 per stock or ETF, even if they don't have enough to buy an entire share.

What recurring investment example does the user provide in the script?

The user provides an example of investing $5 per week in the ETF SCD, which invests in stocks that pay high dividends.

What additional information is provided when analyzing an ETF on Sofi Invest?

When analyzing an ETF, additional information includes the 52-week high and low, market cap, dividend yield, volume, P/E ratio, 30-day SEC yield, and expense ratio.

What is the one feature the user would like to see added to the ETF analysis section on Sofi Invest?

The user would like to see the total return, including the dividends received, as it is currently missing from the unrealized gain calculation.

What new feature has Sofi Invest added that allows users to participate in IPOs?

Sofi Invest has added the ability for users to invest in IPOs, allowing them to buy initial shares when a private company goes public on a stock exchange.

What is the significance of the margin requirements feature on Sofi Invest?

The margin requirements feature on Sofi Invest allows users to invest on margin, meaning Sofi will loan them money on top of their own to invest, but this is riskier as they must pay back the loan even if the stock price goes down.

Outlines

00:00

💼 Sofi Invest Review 2024: Features and Benefits

The video script discusses Sofi Invest's investment platform, emphasizing its advantages over other brokerage accounts in 2024. The narrator has been a customer since 2019 and highlights Sofi's referral bonus, which offers $50 for depositing $10 or more using a referral link. The platform provides two investment methods: active investing, allowing direct investment in stocks, ETFs, and options, and automated investing, where Sofi creates a portfolio based on risk tolerance and other factors. A key benefit is the lack of management fees, unlike competitors like Wealthfront and Betterment. The narrator also appreciates the ability to purchase fractional shares and set up recurring investments, exemplified by a weekly $5 investment in the SCD ETF. The script also covers account types available, such as taxable brokerage, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, and SEP IRA accounts. The video concludes with a note that the content is not financial advice.

05:02

📈 Sofi Invest: Additional Features and Services

This paragraph covers additional features of Sofi Invest, such as the ability to speak to a financial advisor for free, a service that many firms charge for. The script mentions that Sofi no longer offers crypto investing as of December 2023. It introduces new features like the ability to invest in IPOs and margin trading, which involves borrowing money from Sofi to invest. The narrator also mentions the option to invest in options, a complex feature recommended for experienced investors. The video ends with a prompt for viewers to check out other videos for comparisons with other brokerages and to learn about Sofi's other products.

Keywords

💡Sofi Invest

Sofi Invest is a financial platform that offers investment services. In the video, it is described as one of the favorite investment platforms of the speaker, who has been using it since 2019. Sofi Invest allows users to invest in stocks, ETFs, and options, and it stands out for its lack of management fees, which differentiates it from competitors like Wealthfront and Betterment.

💡Referral Bonus

A referral bonus is an incentive offered to new customers who sign up for a service using a referral link. In the video, the speaker mentions that by using their referral link, new users can receive $50 to invest after depositing $10 or more into their account. This is a marketing strategy used by Sofi to attract new customers and reward existing ones.

💡Active Investing

Active investing refers to the strategy of directly buying and selling financial instruments like stocks, ETFs, and options in an attempt to outperform the market. The video highlights that Sofi Invest allows users to engage in active investing, giving them control over their investments.

💡Automated Investing

Automated investing, also known as robo-advisory, is a hands-off approach to investing where algorithms manage a portfolio based on the investor's risk tolerance and preferences. The video explains that Sofi Invest offers automated investing without charging management fees, which is a significant advantage over competitors.

💡Fractional Shares

Fractional shares allow investors to buy a portion of a full share, enabling them to invest in high-priced stocks or ETFs with smaller amounts of capital. The video emphasizes that Sofi Invest allows purchasing fractional shares, which is a key feature for the speaker and beneficial for those who cannot afford full shares.

💡Recurring Investments

Recurring investments are regular, periodic investments made at set intervals, such as weekly or monthly. The video mentions that Sofi Invest enables setting up recurring investments, which is useful for those who prefer a consistent, long-term investment strategy rather than trying to time the market.

💡IRA Accounts

IRA (Individual Retirement Account) accounts, including traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs, are tax-advantaged retirement savings vehicles. The video notes that Sofi Invest allows users to open these types of accounts, providing a platform for retirement planning.

💡ETF

An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a type of investment fund and exchange-traded product. The video uses the example of the SCD ETF, which invests in high-dividend stocks, to illustrate how to set up recurring investments and analyze an ETF's performance.

💡Financial Advisor

A financial advisor is a professional who provides financial planning and advice. The video mentions that Sofi Invest offers free access to financial advisors, which is a valuable benefit as many firms charge a fee for this service.

💡IPO

An IPO (Initial Public Offering) is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. The video highlights a new feature of Sofi Invest that allows users to invest in IPOs, providing an opportunity to buy shares when a company first goes public.

💡Margin Investing

Margin investing involves borrowing money from a broker to invest, which放大投资收益的同时增加了风险. The video cautions that margin investing is riskier and not recommended for beginners, as if the stock price falls, investors must repay the loan with potentially less money.

💡Options

Options are financial instruments that give the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specified price before a certain date. The video notes that Sofi Invest now allows investing in options, which is a complex strategy suitable for more experienced investors.

Highlights

Sofi continues to be one of the favorite investment platforms in 2024.

Generous referral bonus offered for depositing $10 or more, receiving $50 to invest.

Referral link in the description offers a better deal than the main Sofi invest page.

Expected value of the main offer is just $8, suggesting referral offers are more beneficial.

Sofi offers two fee-free investment methods: active and automated investing.

Sofi's Robo advisor doesn't charge management fees, unlike Wealthfront and Betterment.

Ability to purchase fractional shares allows investing as little as $5 per stock or ETF.

Sofi enables setting up recurring investments for consistent market participation.

Detailed example of setting up a recurring investment program with Sofi.

Analysis of an ETF's performance, including total value, shares owned, and dividends received.

Additional details on an ETF include 52-week high/low, market cap, and dividend yield.

Sofi provides access to a financial advisor for free, a service others charge for.

Sofi no longer offers crypto investing as of December 20th, 2023.

New feature: ability to invest in IPOs through the Sofi platform.

Sofi allows margin investing, but it's riskier and not recommended for beginners.

Sofi recently added the ability to invest in options, suitable for more experienced investors.

Sofi offers a wide range of account types including IRAs and brokerage accounts.

Users can track stocks and ETFs with a watch list feature on Sofi.

Transcripts

how does Sofi invest compared to other

brokerage accounts in 2024 find out in

my 2024 review video Sofi continues to

be one of my favorite investment

Platforms in 2024 I've been a Sofi

customer since 2019 and I've been using

their investment platform for several

years now let's talk about why this

might be the best investment platform

for you A Generous referral bonus

deposit $10 or more into your account

and receive $50 to invest you can get

this offer by using my referral Link in

the description below if you don't use

it referral link to sign up I don't like

their offer if you just go to the main

Sofi invest page you'll see you can earn

up to $11,000 but if you look at the

fine print I always do you'll see this

chart what does this mean 85% of people

only get $5 and you have a

0.28% chance of getting $11,000 that

means one in every

3571 people get $11,000 by summing up

all these odds the expected value that

you'll get from this offer is just $8

you'll be much better off going with a

referral offer after earning your

referral bonus why do I like this

platform there are two fee-free ways to

invest with Sofi active investing and

automated investing with active

investing you can directly invest in

stocks ETFs and options with automated

investing you choose your risk tolerance

and answer several other questions and

Sofi will create a portfolio of assets

for you one of the big benefits of

sofi's Robo advisor versus competitors

like wealthfront and betterment is the

fact that they don't charge any

management fee weal front and betterment

both charge a fee of .25% per year if

you seen my video on compound interest

you'll know that this fee may not sound

like a lot but it really adds up over

time the rest of this video will be

focused on the features of the active

investing platform but if you want me to

create a full review video sofi's Robo

advisor write automatic Down Below in

the comment section account types you

can open a taxable brokerage account

traditional IRA Roth IRA or a SEP IRA

account account and with each of those

you could have either an active

investing account or an automated

investing account there are two

important features for me that are deal

breakers if I don't find these I won't

be using the investment platform the

first is the ability to purchase

fractional shares this is important for

me because a bunch of stocks and ETFs

cost hundreds or even thousands of

dollars per share instead of saving

until you have enough to buy an entire

share you can invest as little as $5 per

stock or ETF with soofi here are just a

handful of stocks and ETFs valued at

over $100 per share another reason why

fractional Shares are so important to me

is because I want to be able to set up

recurring Investments I'm not someone

who follows the market on a daily or

even weekly basis and is trying to beat

the market I want to consistently invest

the same amount of money on a weekly or

monthly basis in several ETFs given the

fact that Sofi has fractional share

investing and recurring Investments I

can easily set up a recurring investment

program keep in mind I'm not a financial

adviser and nothing has video is

financial advice I want to walk you

through an example of how you could set

up this type of recurring investment

with Sofi I will invest $5 per week in

the ETF SCD a popular ETF that invests

in stocks that pay high dividends you

first find the stock or ETF you want to

invest in click on trade then on

recurring choose which account you'd

like to make the investment out of I'll

choose my brokerage account I'll select

weekly every Tuesday then choose the

amount you'd like to invest I'll choose

$5 the minimum then confirm the

recurring investment as it says boom now

you're regularly investing if you're

curious the information given to you

when analyzing an ETF here's what it

looks like for SCD if you own the ETF

you'll see the section my investment

showing you the total value of your

Holdings the shares owned average cost

per share unrealized gain return and

dividends received the one thing I would

like to see here is the total return

including the dividends received the the

unrealized gain is just the difference

between the current price and the

average cost per share multiplied by the

number of shares you own and doesn't

include the

$727 of the dividends I've received

below this section you'll see additional

details with the 52 we high and low

market cap dividend yield volume PE

ratio 30-day SEC yield and expense ratio

then you have a link to the ETS

perspectus then the last thing on this

side is the margin requirements then on

the left hand side below the chart

you'll see the etf's top 10 Holdings

along with the percent of the etf's

total assets in the case of this ETF the

top 10 stocks make up approximately 40%

of the assets below the top 10 Holdings

you'll see the latest news about the ETF

then here's a view when looking at the

same thing for a stock this is Tesla

you'll have basically the same sections

my investment details such as the highs

lows dividend yield Etc and below that

the margin requirements on the left

you'll have a description of the company

investment summary and news here you'll

see a summary of the types of accounts

you have with Sofi here's a list of the

assets you own then down below you have

a watch list of the stocks and ETFs

you'd like to track another perk of

investing with Sofi is that you can

actually speak to a financial advisor

for free many firms charge a percent fee

based on the assets you have with them

and others could charge you hundreds of

dollars for a session like this as nice

is included for free with Sofi things

you could discuss with your financial

advisor strategies to reach your

financial goals creating a budget how to

smartly borrow money how to save for

your future create an investment

strategy based on your financial goals

how to protect yourself from unexpected

circumstances with insurance and more

one thing that's changed since my last

review is that sofa is no longer

offering crypto investing you can see

here that as of December 20th 2023

they've ended this service one feature

that's fairly new as Sofi is the ability

to invest in IPOs so as a private

company is looking to go public on a

stock exchange they'll have an initial

public offering IPO you can participate

in the IPO and buy initial shares

through the Sofi platform you can also

make investments on margin this means

that Sofi will loan you money on top of

the money you have to invest this is a

bit riskier if the stock price goes down

you're going to have to pay back the

loan with less money this isn't

something I recommend if you're new to

investing another new feature that

rolled out recently with Sofi invest is

the ability to invest in options this is

again something that's a bit more

complex and not something I recommend

for beginner investors but if you want

to learn more about options write

options in the comments below that's

everything about Sofi invest if you now

want to see how they compare to other

top online brokerages check out the

video up above or if you want to learn

about sofi's other Market leading

products check out the video below and I

hope to see you in another video bye-bye