SoFi Active Investing Review
SoFi Active Investing packs essential benefits such as no trading commissions, no account minimums and a high-quality mobile app experience. But if you want to buy mutual funds, you may want to look elsewhere. Learn more about this stock broker with our SoFi Active Investing review.
SoFi Active Investing Review
Complete SoFi Active Investing Review
This stock broker is perfect for: Beginner stock and ETF investors looking for a high-quality mobile experience and low commissions. Mutual fund investors and options traders may want to look elsewhere.
pros
$0 Stock and ETF Commissions
Low account minimum
High-quality mobile application
opposition
Not a mutual fund
No stock option trading
Top benefits
No trading commission
Most brokerages have eliminated trading commissions for online stock and ETF trades. SoFi is no different.
There are no account minimums
You can open a SoFi account with no minimum.
Buy fractional shares
SoFi is one of the few brokerages that allows investors to buy fractional shares of stock. In short, investors can buy a share of stock for as little as $5. This means that not only can investors open an account with a small deposit, but they can actually invest that small amount — even in stocks that have relatively high share prices.
Buy fractional shares
Cryptocurrency trading
SoFi allows investors to trade cryptocurrencies 24/7 through the same SoFi Invest platform that they use to buy and sell stocks. Current offerings include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and other popular cryptocurrencies. SoFi plans to add more digital currencies to the platform over time.
All-in-one app
SoFi has an easy-to-use app that serves as a functional home base for its investment platform and other financial products.
Retirement Accounts
Unlike some other low-frills brokerages, SoFi offers its investors both active and automatic traditional, Roth and SEP IRA accounts.
IPO investment
Most brokers reserve IPO investments for investors who either have a high net worth or are very active. SoFi allows all active investing members to participate in the IPO without a minimum account balance or investment amount.
Discounts on other SoFi products
If you use Active Invest, you become a SoFi member. This entitles you to discounts on other products offered by the company. For example, if you end up taking out a personal loan, you may get a discounted interest rate because of your relationship with the company.
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What can be improved
Mutual Funds and Options
You can buy and sell ETFs on SoFi’s platform, but not mutual funds or options. If you want to invest in mutual funds or find an options broker, you have to do it with another broker.
Account types
SoFi offers traditional brokerage accounts as well as traditional and Roth IRAs. It also offers SEP IRAs – a favorite of self-employed individuals. However, it doesn’t offer SIMPLE IRAs, solo 401(k) accounts, UGMA/UTMA accounts, trusts, and some other account types you may be interested in.
Trading platform
SoFi’s desktop and app-based trading platforms are easy to use. However, they do not have as many features as other top brokerages. Active investors and those who want features like stock research, charting tools and other advanced features may want to look elsewhere.
Alternatives to consider
If you want a high-quality mobile app with a better trading platform: Robinhood led the race to the bottom with $0 stock, ETF, and options commissions. It also offers one of the best mobile trading platforms we’ve seen.
If you want a full-featured broker: TD Ameritrade shines where SoFi Active Investing doesn’t, particularly when it comes to offering a great trading platform, mutual fund and options investing, more account types, and margin. But investors will want to look elsewhere if interested in trading cryptocurrencies.
Buying Mutual Funds
SoFi does not offer mutual funds at this time. The platform is designed to allow investors to buy and sell only stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies. This could certainly change in the future. SoFi Active Investing is a very young platform and is likely to grow rapidly in the coming years.
fee
On all stock and ETF trades, investors will pay $0 in transaction fees. It does not offer the types of investment transactions (such as buying options or using broker-assisted trades) that typically incur fees.
Note that this review is primarily about the stock and ETF side of SoFi Active Investing. Customers can also buy and sell certain types of cryptocurrencies. SoFi charges a fee for this. Specifically, SoFi will add a 1.25% “markup” to cryptocurrency purchases on its platform.
Trading platform
Investors can buy and sell stocks, ETFs and cryptocurrencies through SoFi’s desktop platform. They can also use its highly-rated app, which also serves as the home base for all of SoFi’s financial products.
Trading platform
The SoFi app is known for its ease of use. It currently has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 in the Apple App Store and 4.3 out of 5 in the Google Play Store.
Margin rates
SoFi Active Investing offers margins at a flat rate of 3% for members.
research opportunities
SoFi Active Investing is designed to be a low-frills platform. It is primarily targeted at beginning investors, and does not provide access to third-party stock research at this time. Investors who prefer to analyze stocks can opt for a full-fledged brokerage.
SoFi Active Investing is right for you if:
You are an early investor: SoFi is geared towards early investors. Not intended to be the best place for experienced investors who are analyzing stocks.
You want to keep all your finances in one place: SoFi is known for its loan products, especially personal loans. It also offers the SoFi Money account, which combines the best features of checking and savings accounts. And SoFi has one of our top-rated robo-advisors, SoFi Automated Investing. With an all-in-one app and a wide range of financial products, SoFi can be a great choice for people who want to keep their investments in place just like their other financial accounts.
You don’t care about options or mutual funds: SoFi Active Investing is the best place to buy and sell stocks or cryptocurrencies. That’s all. If you want to invest in options, mutual funds or anything else, you have to do it somewhere else.
You want less frills, but also want to invest for retirement: that’s a big difference. Most other low-frills platforms do not offer IRAs. Robinhood and Cash app do not. SoFi offers investors an easy-to-use way to invest for retirement.