Saving money where you can is a great idea; investing it is even better. But if you’re not financially savvy, being bombarded with terminology about assets and portfolios can be a big deterrent… and then there’s Stash. Launched by the Liberty Group, this locally developed app will change how you think about investing. It’s also the perfect way to introduce teenagers and students to investing.
Stash is a brilliant concept: the app rounds up your purchases to the nearest R10 and invests the spare change in SA’s biggest companies. There’s no sign-up fee or forms. When you swipe a debit, cheque or credit card, Stash collects the “digital spare change”.
When you first sign up, the app gives you R50 to start your investment portfolio. When you refer a friend, you’ll get an additional R10 to add to your Stash.
The beauty of Stash is that you can cash out whenever you want, without delay, without paying tax and without being penalised. Stash is considered a tax-free investment, which means you can put up to R33 000 a year (up to R500 000 over your lifetime) into tax-free investments. You also aren’t taxed when your Stash grows.
And now for the fun part: Sunny Money is a cute feature of the app that works with the weather. When you wake up, Stash checks the weather. If it’s sunny, you can Stash money. It’s a small amount (R5 to R20)… or you can Stash the maximum temperature of that day, in rands. You can also set a monthly limit to the amount that gets Stashed.
The reason why Stash is perfect for beginners is that it can actually work out when it’s safe to save by analysing your monthly spend. Did you spend less money than the month before? That’s another R5 to Stash.
Stash works with FNB, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank, Investec, RMB and DiscoveryCard. Stash’s only downfall? It’s available only for Android at the moment. (You can sign up here to pre-register for the app if you’re using an Apple device.)
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