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Can you really make money with the Acorns app and more specifically – with the Found Money program? That’s a logical and popular question so many people ask before signing up.
If Acorns has been on your radar for some time, the following review will come in handy.
The Acorns Found Money program produces rewards after you make purchase with one of the Acorns partners.
There are two types of Found Money promotions and exploring each will give you a better idea about the amount of money you can actually earn through Acorns usage.
Table of Contents
What’s the Acorns Found Money Program?
Before moving on to determining how much money you can earn and what’s the best Acorns usage strategy, let’s take a deeper look at the Found Money program.
Found Money isn’t a cash back opportunity. Instead, the Acorns Found Money partners will be investing automatically in your app account.
Acorns describes this opportunity as “cash forward” rather than cash back.
The good news is that the Acorns network of partners is a pretty impressive one.
It features multiple prominent names like Barnes&Noble, Airbnb, Blue Apron, Expedia, Groupon, Walmart, Nike, Sephora, Lyft, DirecTV, and many others.
In essence, Acorns simplifies the process of investing and through Found Money, you will get a percentage back on your purchases that will be automatically added to your wallet.
The app sets aside spare change by rounding purchases up and making a recurring investment on your behalf.
All that you have to do is link a credit or a debit card to your Acorns account and start shopping.
The opportunity is great for the newbies in the investment world.
Investing is a scary prospect for people who lack financial knowledge.
Opportunities like Acorns take the guesswork out of the equation and automate many of the key investment processes.
Is Acorns Found Money a Scam?
That’s the big question, isn’t it?
The short answer is no, Acorns isn’t a scam.
A simple online search will show you the big number of people who have already given it a try and who have benefited from the simplified investment opportunity.
Acorns has a detailed presentation focused on the investment opportunities.
The pricing and fee structures are also presented transparently and you know upfront how much participation in the program is going to cost you.
Found Money is also provided with sufficient information to help you make a fact-based decision about joining this opportunity.
Acorns Found Money is completely legitimate. It may not be your cup of tea but this doesn’t mean the app isn’t a great choice.
Because of the transparency and the efficiency, we consider Acorns to be one of the best investment apps of 2021.
The market features a wide range of easy to use, effective and practical investment options.
If you’re not willing to spend money in order to make money via Acorns Found Money, there are alternatives out there for you to choose among.
Long Game Savings is one such alternative.
It can be a great addition to your Found Money Participation.
Long Game helps you earn interest on the money you deposit in an account. You get bonuses and additional opportunities based on the amount available in your account.
The Types of Found Money Promotions
Currently, Acorns has two types of Found Money promotions – Simply Spend and Tap and Get.
Simply Spend
Simply Spend promotions require you to make a purchase using your Acorns-linked account.
There will usually be specific eligibility requirements for this type of promotion.
When opting for an offer, do follow the steps outlined as a way to ensure access to the respective award.
Tap and Get
Tap and Get is the second kind of Found Money promotion.
To benefit from this opportunity, you have to make a purchase after accessing the link in the Found Money section of the app.
Once again, additional eligibility requirements may apply.
Always go through the offer terms and conditions to acquaint yourself with the details.
How to Get Started with Acorns Found Money
Found Money is an extension of the Acorns app. You can get it for free.
Acorns has also launched a Chrome extension that you can use with your online browser if you don’t feel like downloading or using the mobile app.
The standard Acorns fees apply to the participation in the Found Money program.
Once you’re set up, you can take a look at the Acorns Found Money list of partners.
Each offer will produce a specific amount you’ll get back in your wallet for Acorns investment.
If you do a hotel booking with Expedia, for example, you will get four percent back.
Some of the offers come with a fixed amount like 0.5 dollars for every Uber ride.
It may be possible to discover transactions that do not require a purchase for participation in the program.
Enrolling in the Billshark program, for example, will generate an investment of 10 dollars towards your Acorns wallet.
Receiving a customized life insurance quote from John Hanco*ck Vitality will materialize a sum of five dollars in your wallet.
Most offers will arrive in your wallet 30 to 120 days (based on the specific terms and conditions).
The good news, as you’ve probably noticed already, is that the purchasing options and the offers are incredibly diversified.
You will most certainly find items, products and enlistment options you can benefit from.
Thus, you’ll be free from having to spend money you’re not willing to give away on things that you don’t really need.
To sum it up, you benefit from the attractiveness of cash back opportunities and the uniqueness of the Acorns investment algorithm at the same time when you join Found Money.
How Much Can You Earn with Acorns Found Money
Let’s go back to that one very important question.
If you’re interested in saving or making money, you’ll obviously compare options on the basis of the wealth they can generate for you.
The truth of the matter is that the interest in cash back opportunities is growing all the time.
This is one of the reasons why multiple cash back apps have made it to the list of the most downloaded mobile applications in the US during 2018.
But cash back opportunities are not created equal.
Acorns Found Money is superior in several ways, one of them being the fact that the money is invested to generate a higher ROI.
The amount of money you can generate through program participation depends on your shopping habits.
Buying more from the Acorns partner and participating in a bigger number of offers will obviously contribute to a larger amount being credited to your wallet.
The trick here, however, is to opt for the essentials.
Shopping for random items just because they offer a good return is far from the best strategy in terms of personal finance management.
Strategies for Optimizing Your Found Money Earnings
You can use Acorns Found Money in various ways to increase the amount in your wallet.
If you’re a traveler, for example, you can do your bookings and trip planning via the app.
Each time you reserve a night at a hotel participating in the program or via Airbnb, you will get some money that will be invested in your behalf.
The simplest way to optimize your Found Money earnings is to choose the relevant offers that have the best conditions.
Spending on anything isn’t going to cut it. If you need a product or a service, however, and there are several Found Money options, pick the one that will result in the biggest return.
There are several other things you can do in order to optimize your earnings.
Check the Program Regularly
Don’t stick solely to the partners you already know and use.
Acorns is constantly working on expanding its Found Money network.
There will be partners taken out of the program as their deals expire and new opportunities added for you to choose among.
If you opt solely for the opportunities you already know, you’ll never discover new and potentially more profitable chances to generate investment funds.
Plan Your Spending
If you make most of your monthly purchases at Walmart, for example, you should definitely get in the habit of buying through the Found Money Walmart offer.
Walmart currently offers a reward of one percent on the value of your purchases.
Spending 400 dollars per month on Walmart purchases will result in four dollars being contributed monthly to your Acorns investment account.
That will translate to 48 dollars per year or 480 dollars over the course of the coming 10 years from Walmart alone.
Don’t forget this money is going to be invested on your behalf. Thus, the savings you generate on the items you need will actually work to earn you more money.
There are several different Acorns portfolio options and each one will produce a specific annual return.
Assuming you get a five percent annual return, the 48 dollars invested in the first month will become slightly over 78 dollars.
You can opt for an accurate investment calculator to determine how your Acorns Found Money returns will grow.
The trick here is to be consistent and to plan your spending in an optimal way.
If you accomplish the goal and you’re disciplined, the savings you generate on purchases can result in a bit of personal wealth over the course of the coming years.
Look for Offers That Don’t Require Purchases
Even if you don’t feel like spending money on products and services, you can still get Found Money contributions to your Acorns wallet.
Look through the list of partners and the currently available offers to identify opportunities you can join without spending anything.
A few of those have already been mentioned in the previous sections of the guide.
But these aren’t the only Found Money offers that don’t require spending.
If you sign up with Blue Apron, you will get 30 dollars.
If you refinance your student loan with Earnest, you will receive a 100-dollar contribution towards your Acorns account.
Found Money Final Verdict: Is It Worth a Try
Even when you take in consideration the Acorns fees, downloading the app and also participating in the Found Money program will make a lot of sense.
This is a great choice for those who purchase regularly via the Acorns Found Money partners.
It’s also an ideal solution for those who want to invest but don’t know how to get started.
You have nothing to lose because Acorns Found Money is a legitimate opportunity already tried out by a big number of people.
What matters is maintaining a bit of fiscal discipline and refraining from excessive spending just because you can get some cash back for investment purposes.
Do you have an Acorns Found Money account?
What’s your favorite offer and how much has it contributed to your Acorns wallet?
We’d love to learn a bit more about your experience – don’t hesitate to share some know-how in the comments below.
