Are you looking for an easy way to start investing? Robo investing might be the perfect option for you and I am sharing the scoop on what I learned from investing with Ellevest. Today I’m sharing what I really earned and about the process of getting an account started as we explore passive income money making opportunities for moms. Be sure to visit our entire Passive Income Ideas for Moms Series all year long as I challenge myself to find new ways to earn money for our family.
I can’t believe that we have another month behind us in our Passive Income Ideas for Moms series. I have been SO thrilled to get so many messages and comments from women who have been taking this challenge with me and are feeling empowered to start investing in themselves.
Today I get to reveal the results from my month of investing with Ellevest.
Honestly, as exciting as it was to share with you about Rakuten, I was ten times more excited to start my first portfolio with some of my earnings from MomAdvice.
If you have been intimidated by the investment process (*raises hand*) I think you will be really happy to hear how easy this was and how incredibly thankful I am that I started doing this.
(click here to get $20 to start your Ellevest portfolio today)
What I Earned From One Month Investing With Ellevest
What is Ellevest?
Ellevest is a woman-owned company that focuses on building investment portfolios. What makes it unique is that they have something called an, “Impact Portfolio,” that allow you to invest in stocks that support women in business.
This is a robo advisor tool that makes investing easy and also doesn’t cost the consumer an arm and a leg.
Robo advisors (also known as automated investing services or online advisors) use computer algorithms and advanced software to create an investment portfolio for you.
They are referred to as robo because this is mostly an automated process that requires little to no human interaction.
This translates into cost-savings for you because they are using these automated tools to build your portfolio.
The biggest difference between this company and other companies is that their focus is on wealth-building for women by investing in other women.
They call these portfolios, “Impact Portfolios,” because you are making a positive impact on women.
Pretty cool, right?
For an Impact Portfolio, they use these three key criterias in selecting your investments:
WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Funds investing in companies with more women leaders and policies that advance women.
SUSTAINABLE, ACCOUNTABLE COMPANIES
Funds investing in companies working to meet for sustainability and ethical practices.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Funds providing loans to support women-owned businesses and companies that provide community services – child education, performing arts, and housing and care for seniors and individuals in need.
They also realize that women have different life spans than men and they adjust your retirement requirements accordingly.
Want to learn even more about Ellevest? Be sure to read this introductory article to Ellevest that includes a really awesome interview with the Ellevest CEO, Sallie Krawcheck!
How Much Did I Invest This Month with Ellevest?
Just as a reminder, there is no minimum balance to open your account!
I decided to set up a one-time deposit of $2,000 into this account and then set up automatic deposits of $300 monthly into my wealth-building account.
I also wanted to create a little vacation fund for us so I have $50 going into a one-time splurge account that we will be able to earn some money on while we save.
Just as a reminder, I did work one month ahead so I could walk you through the process of setting up an account.
Technically, I invested $300 in my wealth-building account and $50 into our splurge account for the month of November.
What Types of Accounts Did I Invest in With Our Money?
Ellevest is set up in a simple goal-oriented format that, basically, allow you to set up buckets for investing.
Anyone who has been a fan of the envelope system for savings will appreciate this. Basically, it is a virtual envelope system to invest in yourself.
I selected their Impact Portfolio over their Core Portfolio because my goal is to have a great retirement…while lifting up other women.
Choosing this portfolio allowed me to do both those things.
I also created a splurge fund to put towards a future family vacation.
Was It Easy to Earn Money Through Ellevest?
YES, this is SO easy because you are putting your investing on automatic.
Once you set up those goals for your account, you tell Ellevest what day of the month you would like your automatic withdrawal to happen and that’s it.
I haven’t had to think about investing at all because it all has been done for me automatically.
If there is anything I’ve learned through this wealth-building series it is how important it is to automate these investments in myself.
What Was the Outcome of My Ellevest Portfolio?
In October, I earned $56.89, in net returns, after opening my account with $2,000.
In November, I deposited an additional $300, earning me $71.64 (for the month of November).
In total, I’ve earned $128.53 with Ellevest in two months.
I don’t know about you, but that’s a heck of a lot more than what I was earning with my money sitting in my bank account.
For my modest $50 splurge fund deposit, I earned $2.80 on my monthly investment.
What Did It Cost Me to Invest With Ellevest?
This tool is much cheaper than hiring a financial advisor because a more personalized services can charge you a whopping 1% annually.
With Ellevest, your annual management fee is .25%.
If you saved $5,000, for example, you would pay $12.50 for the entire year.
For the amount that is within these accounts, my charge was $1.80.
This amount will shift as more money is invested, of course.
Did I Really Support Women By Investing With Ellevest?
Earning money is great, but did I make any impact on women in business?
Good news… I did!
How do I know this?
If you look at my Impact Portfolio (see the image above) you will see these green circles with icons that tell me why they picked these stocks and how it impacts others.
This icon tells me that I’m supporting Women in Leadership. These funds invested make an impact on women leaders and policies that advance women.
This icon tells me that I’m supporting Sustainable, Accountable Companies.
These funds invested make an impact on companies that are working to meet higher standards for sustainability and ethical practices.
As you can see, 53% of my portfolio really goes into those impact funds. Impact funds are the ones that are distributed to women in leadership, sustainable companies, and to community development.
Why am I not 100% invested in women though?
As a fiduciary, Ellevest prioritizes the appropriate mix of investments to help you reach your goals.
This means a low-cost, globally diversified portfolio invested across many asset classes.
At this time, there are not sufficient impact investments to meet their fiduciary criteria for all of their asset classes.
They do continuously monitor the marketplace for new impact investments that they believe are suitable for your Ellevest Impact Portfolio.
In a nutshell, they research each impact investment in your Ellevest Impact Portfolio to ensure it meets their fiduciary standards.
Then they make it even greater by investing to make a positive impact in the world.
Did I Really Earn Money on Referrals Through Ellevest?
Ellevest does have a referral program (open to everyone) that you make a referral credit for each person that signs up and have created an actual account.
That means, the accounts must be fully funded for you to receive a referral credit.
Credits are then applied to your highest-priority funded goal.
If it’s a taxable account (not an IRA), the credit is applied as a one-time deposit and you’ll see it as a pending transaction in your goal.
The major complaints about Ellevest had been about the referral program.
If people haven’t went through the process of establishing the account and making a deposit though, you don’t get credit for that.
For example, I have 13 pending accounts that just might be waiting for this results post before they go through the process of setting that up with their bank.
For now, I have earned $100 on referrals that are being added to my account.
Not only that, but once you refer two friends (that have fully vested) you are considered an Elle Raiser Ambassador.
The title “ambassador” just tells the world about the leadership role you’ve taken on in the Elle Raiser community: talking the talk, walking the walk by bringing their friends, family, colleagues — fill in the blank — into the movement of supporting women through your investments.
If you didn’t know, MomAdvice is all about empowering women and I’m proud to be doing exactly what I set out to do over sixteen years ago.
Will I Continue Investing With Ellevest?
YES! This has been such an easy thing to automate in my life and I’m so proud to be investing in myself.
November ended up being our most profitable month on the site and once that money deposits, I’m moving it right on over to my retirement.
I can’t imagine not investing in myself now.
If you want to start investing in yourself too, here is $20 to get your account started!! Don’t hold me to this, but I noticed they are now giving you $50 to start an account so don’t be surprised if you get a $50 deposit instead!!
What I Have I Earned So Far With Ellevest?
I have earned $130.22 with Ellevest and an additional $100 through their referral program.
Earnings totaled: $230.32
What Have I Earned So Far With the Passive Mom Income Series (started in October 2019)?
In an effort to be completely transparent with this series, I will share with you what the outcome is each month and how much was earned from a year of dedicating my time to this project.
Rakuten- $601.47 (read more about this passive income opportunity)
Ellevest- $230.22 (read more about this passive income opportunity)
Total Earned So Far With the Passive Income series- $831.69
See you on the blog tomorrow for our December Passive Income For Moms Challenge!!
