Today I'm taking a look at Robinhood, the investment app that most people refer to as a starting point for beginners. First, a quick rundown on exactly what Robinhood from Wikipedia:

Robinhood Markets, Inc. is an American financial services company headquartered in California, It operates an electronic trading platform that facilitates commission-free trades of stocks, ETFs and crypto as well as IRAs. via a mobile app introduced in March 2015.

I am not going to dig too deep in reviewing Robinhood, as it is a pretty well-known company and you can find plenty of reviews online that give pros and cons. (Ignore sites like Motley Fool that have turned into a basic marketing firm that will dog one company to link to you a sponsor, check out Reddit and see what actual people are saying if you want more information.)

Now, a little bit about how I use it. For me, I do not want more than ten percent of my overall net-worth in Robinhood, or any site like it. The main reason is that it is a little too close to gambling. One of the upsides on Robinhood is just how easy it is to use, but, that is also its biggest issue. I will put this as gently as I can, you and I have no ability to time the market. Sorry, to say it, but, if our research turns up something we think will make us some easy money, I can guarantee you we are too late. Even knowing this, if I get a hunch that something is under-priced or about to bounce, I want to be able to take a shot on it quickly, with money I am not too worried about taking a hit on. (For example, when Target took a drop after some unpopular marketing, I knew my wife was still heading there every week and so I jumped on it, and back to my point, I didn't know enough to sell when I should have.) This is the thing, though, Robinhood should be outside of your serious long term investing.

I tried some other sites, such as Webull, but, Robinhood is the most user friendly and streamlined. It takes no financial knowledge and you can be going in minutes. Most big firms now offer free trading, though, but like I said before, I don't want to be day trading and taking long shots with my actual savings and long-term investments.

A few pros/cons:

If you want to easily buy crypto with out actually getting into crypto, Robinhood is a great place.

The cash account offers a decent return if you upgrade to their Gold plan, but, there are other place you can put your cash with out spending 5 bucks a month and not be tempted to unload on a stock tip you just heard. Otherwise, the Gold plan did not offer much, the additional trading info can be found online with some quick searches.

There is basic research, but, you are not going to find your next big thing by what they offer on the app.

One last thing, which you should keep in mind. Nothing is free. While the trades don't cost you anything, everything you do on the app is being sold to the people that know a lot more about making money in the market than we do. This isn't a secret, you are the product on Robinhood, same as Google and YouTube.

My suggestion, try it out with a little money to start. It is fun to buy and sell like the big guys. Just treat it about the same as Draftkings or any other gambling site.

(There is one other way to use Robinhood if you want put in the work. If there is a mutual fund out there you like, you could in affect buy the 20- to 30 stocks in that mutual fund in similar percentages and in essence run your own fund with no fees. If this makes sense, good, if not I will explain more in the comments if you are interested.)

If you are interested, get up to 200 dollars in additional free stock from their normal sign up bonus with the the link below.