Micro Investing

BettyBoof · 9 February 2017 at 6:34PM

Hi, apologies if this has been asked before but a search didn't throw any threads up.

Do any of you use M0ney B0x or similar to micro invest? You link the app to your debit card and then every time you spend money it gets rounded up and invested. E.g. a £1.80 coffee will get rounded up to £2 and the 20p will be set aside to be invested.

I'm only just looking into it and I think it's fairly new so wondered if anyone had any experience of investing this way? It sounds like a fun and easy way to save without needing huge sums to get started but I'm wondering if the small amounts will make it worth it?

enthusiasticsaver · 9 February 2017 at 7:03PM

I would have thought the costs of investing small amounts would outweigh any gains unless you reach maybe a few hundred pound before investing anything.

jimjames · 9 February 2017 at 8:17PM

Far cheaper and easier to setup a DD for £25 per month or whatever. But if you're looking at investing small amounts because that's all you have then surely you want to sort an emergency fund first.
I said before that £25 was worth starting with but 20p really isn't worth the bother in my view.

Radiantsoul · 9 February 2017 at 9:10PM

They have a monthly fee of £1 per month and a platform fee of 0.45%. To be fair it seems pretty reasonable, but if you are only investing a few quid a month it is going to be a bit of a killer.

AnotherJoe · 9 February 2017 at 10:45PM

These schemes are utterly pointless. Lets say on average you make 20 transactions a month. So on average that would be £10 of "change" saved. Minus the £1 fee of course.

So, why not just save £10 a month instead and cut out the pointless middleman and the £1 fee? You'd be up more than 10% to start with.

Biggles · 10 February 2017 at 9:54AM

It certainly isn't new, as several banks have offered this, free of charge, for some years. And the fee quoted above sounds extortionate compared to the small sums that you would be saving.

Consider the other options and do it yourself.

Malthusian · 10 February 2017 at 11:32AM

Radiantsoul wrote: »

They have a monthly fee of £1 per month and a platform fee of 0.45%.

Blimey. If an IFA charged an initial fee of 10% all hell would break loose on these boards.

But they aren't providing advice so it's all OK.

The thing about investing is that if you put pennies in you get pennies out.

BettyBoof · 12 February 2017 at 6:55PM

Thanks for the replies. To clarify a couple of points; I do have an emergency fund so that's not an issue. And I meant that the M0ney B0x app was new, not the concept.

The general consensus seems to be that it's just not worth it, given the fees and small sums - which is the question I wondered about so thanks all for confirming!

enthusiasticsaver · 12 February 2017 at 7:07PM

You would do better to do as jimjames suggests and invest £25 per month if you only have a small amount of disposable income but if your finances are that tight I would hold off altogether as you may need it unless your emergency fund is reasonable. You need to be looking at this as long term, unlikely to be touched money. Do you have a pension?

BettyBoof · 13 February 2017 at 3:45PM

My finances are not 'that tight' and I do have a pension. I was asking about M0ney B0x as I had just come across it and it seemed like a fun way for a complete beginner to start investing without needing a £10k lump sum, not because I am in dire financial straits!

I think I'll drop out of this discussion now, thanks for the replies.

lessavyfav · 13 February 2017 at 9:24PM

I have Moneybox! I just got the app a few weeks ago. I think it's a fun/easy way to put money aside without thinking about it or doing much, and you can top up extra when you like so that £1 fee doesn't feel like such a big percentage (also I'm pretty sure the first three months are free).

I've been saying for at least a couple of years I'll open a stocks and shares ISA and not done anything - my spare change slips through my fingers at the end of the month, so it works for me!

Micro Investing

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