Best trading apps for beginners 2021

As the Covid pandemic swept across the world, a lot of us found themselves in an unexpected financial crisis.

Unsurprisingly, the millennial generation suffered the most.

A generation which never had it easy- long gone the days when their parents and grandparents were proud home owners by the age of 21, earning a good salary with a permanent contract in a thriving economy.

For most people born between 1977 and 1995, owning a home, having a family or even just renting their own flat seems impossible.

The millennial generation stepped into a system with skyrocketing rental costs, unrealistic commuting fares, student debts and — for most of them- a job market which changes faster than the English weather.

After paying debts and bills, it is not surprising that most people don’t have much left to put into savings.

1/3 of adults in the UK have less then 600£ in their saving account- not even enough of being able to cover one month rent.

9% of UK residents have even less- 0 savings at all.

Covid doesn’t give us a lot of positive things to look out for, but at least we have more than enough time to think about our future.

Luckily, thanks to smartphones and highspeed internet- the world is more connected than ever. Our digital age opens doors for ordinary people which were inaccessible just a view years back.

One of these opportunities is access to the financial trading market.

The time of exclusive Wallstreet bankers making the big bucks and ruling the financial world is gone — today everyone can try their luck from the comfort of their own home. For a lot of millennials, maybe even the last chance to make enough money for a deposit.

The trading market might seem confusing at first, but luckily there are plenty of apps out there which make investment easy for everyone — even those of us who have no knowledge about trading.

Freetrade

Freetrade is an easily understandable app for everyone who wants to start trading and with no prior experience. This commission-free investing app has the mission is to get everyone investing by making trading as simple as possible. Brokerchoser.com recently awarded Freetrade as ‘’Best broker for beginners for 2021'’.

Freetrade is currently used by over 400.000 customers and an app you can trust — every account is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) and, unlike some other platforms, Freetrade is regulated through the Financial Conduct Authority and is part of the London Stock Exchange.

Opening an account couldn’t be easier and takes only a view minutes.

All you need is to download the app, enter your email address and personal details (name, date of birth, national insurance number) and choose the type of account you want.

Freetrade currently provides 4 different account types:

The General Investment Account is a basic account suitable for most people who want to start trading. This account allows you to start trading instantly without having to pay commission. Investments start as low as 2 £ and you have access to thousands of the most profitable UK and US stocks.

You can choose to trade stocks, ETFs or fractional shares.

Fractional shares allow you to buy pieces of US shares which are otherwise, for most of us, far beyond our price range.

The GIA account is free of charge.

The Investment Savings Account (ISA) is most suitable for people who want to start saving without paying too much tax.

You are allowed to put up to 20.000 £ into your ISA account per year, without having to pay UK capital gains or income tax on ISA investments.

ISA are not an option if you want to become rich overnight, but it provides an efficient solution for everyone who wants to invest longterm, see their savings grow without paying tax.

The ISA account charges a 3 £ flat fee per month.

The Freetrade Plus Account is new on the platform and provides more benefits for the user.

The FPA account includes all the options of the standard ISA account — but on top of that, you have a larger portfolio available to choose your stocks from.

Besides, the plus account pays you 3% annual percentage rate (AER) on your cash - which is paid out every month.

Interest rate is calculated on the total cash amount in your account. This also includes your unsettled and reserved cash balances.

The FPA account costs 9.99£ per month — which you can easily cover with your 3% interest payments.

The SIPP pension saving account is the best solution for people who don’t want to worry about their retirement.

The SIPP account allows you to contribute up to 100% of your salary.

It also makes you eligible to receive tax relief on payments up to £40,000/ year.

If you want to have multiple pension accounts, you can also link those to your Freetrade account.

One huge benefit is that Freetrade will claim 25% tax relief from HMRC on your behalf and deposit it automatically in your SIPP account.

Available US & UK stocks and ETFs

Stocks

Freetrade has currently over 4,000 stocks to choose from and is constantly expanding their portfolio.

Freetrade makes it easy to get an overview of the available stock and ETFs by categorising them in different sectors:

Fashion: includes 49 brands such as Boohoo, Dr. Martens or Foot Locker

Travel: includes 55 brands like Airbnb, Hilton, or Ryanair

Telco: covers 60 of the biggest names starting from Nokia, Orange or T-mobile

Utility: is an interesting sector which covers 70 energy and water suppliers in the UK and US

Logistic: includes the 77 biggest operators such as Royalmail or FedEx

Construction: lists 80 different brands ranging from Balfour Beatty to Builders FirstSource and Caterpillar

Cars: this sector allows you to choose from 81 brands everyone has heard of- General Motors, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson and Tesla- to name only a view.

Entertainment: entertainment lists 104 of the biggest entertainment brands like Disney, Cineworld, Eventbrite, ITV and Netflix.

Food & Drinks: 108 options to invest in your favourites — Domino’s Pizza, Just Eat, McDonald's and Starbucks.

Professional Services: this sector lists 126 different companies- from Alliance Data to Bright Solar and CACI International.

Mining: with 140 companies one of the most important sectors. Mining includes everything from gold minors such as Alamos Gold to coal production companies like Alliance Resource.

Property: lists over 215 companies in the real estate sector such as American Homes

Consumer good: lists everything from Apple to BA tobacco and Brown-Forman wines

Energy: includes 251 companies from different areas ranging from oil ( Baker Hughes) to BP and ITM power

Industrials: with 373 companies one of the biggest sectors, covering everything from human resources such as 51job, Adecoagro in agriculture to speciality chemicals like Albemarle.

Health: lists over 487 health-related companies including big players like Pfizer

Tech: covers a wide range of over 551 companies like Amazon

Finance: with over 600 listings the biggest sector and lists most banks and broker from the US and UK.

ETF’s

ETF’s make it easy for you to access more niche markets or specific sectors.

By buying an ETF you don’t have the hassle to buy different stocks individually. Instead, you invest in the whole bucket which mirrors how an index performs.

8 Types of ETFs

Bond ETFs

Bond ETFs allow you to spread your portfolio into more sectors while having a low investment risk. Bond ETFs usually gain a steady return.

Equity ETFs

Known as Index tracking ETFs is the most popular type and access a wider market — such as the S&P 500.

Dividend ETFs

These ETFs can potentially provide you with a constant income.

Known as exchange-traded funds, they focus on the dividend-paying stocks.

Commodity ETFs

Commodity ETFs are exchange-traded commodities in short — ETCs.

They cover and track sectors like gold or oil.

Sector ETFs

Sector ETFs are industry-focused ETFs. Platforms like Freetrade give you a good overview of the different sectors and industries you are interested in. Sector ETFs can cover everything from the biggest industries to niche categories like pharmaceuticals.

International ETFs

International ETFs hold a lot of opportunities for the future. It is especially important to keep an eye on emerging countries.

Market-cap index ETFs

These are passive funds that select stocks based on a company’s market cap or value of its shares.

Sustainable ETFs

Sustainable ETFs or ESG investing is a rather new emerging type of investing which gained a lot of popularity over the last view years.

Sustainable ETFs help you to invest based on your ethical beliefs.

Summary:

Freetrade is perfect for everyone who wants to learn the basics of trading. The platform is constantly working on improving its portfolio and currently expands to new markets like the Netherlands and Ireland.

The aim is soon to be available everywhere within the EEA.

One of the biggest plus points about Freetrade is its outstanding community.

The initial company funding came from crowdfunding. The company never lost touch with its users and encourages a strong community feeling.

You can freely interact with the company or fellow Freetraders via their own community forum or their social media channels.

Freetrade provides you with the basic know-how about trading and the latest investment news in their ‘’ Invest Hub’’. A much-needed category for everyone who doesn’t want to spend hours a day screening worldwide news.

Tickr

90 % of Tickr users are first-time investors.

The app strongly encourages people without any previous experience to start investing and saving the planet at the same time. Tickr allows you to invest in causes you believe in.

The platform exclusively offers investments in companies that generate social or environmental solutions.

Let’s be honest — no one wants to make the mistake to protest to safe the planet and against the big oil companies while earning money from their shares.

After a long process, Tickr finally became B Corp™ —

which means, it is officially recognised as a business that meets the highest standards of social and environmental practices.

B Corp™ is a community of businesses which are working together to reduce inequality and poverty levels around the world, to build healthier environments, support communities and helo to create jobs with a purpose.

Whenever one of their users refers to a friend, the platform plants one tree on their behalf. Until now, Tickr planted over 12.000 trees in Indonesia.

Starting investing with Tickr is pretty straight forward:

All you have to do is downloading the app. Similar to Freetrade, you have to provide your personal details. The platform requires a minimum deposit of £5. After your initial investment, you are ready to go.

The app charges a flat fee of £1/month but offers customers a 30-day free trial.

3 Account types:

You can choose to make a one-off investment payment or if you want to set up a monthly payment. In general, Tickr allows you to invest in different ETFs and offers 3 types of accounts.

General Investment Accounts

A GIA account lets you invest in shares, funds, and bonds.

There are no limits on how much you can deposit into your account, but the profits you make are taxable.

Stocks & Shares ISA

This account allows you to invest in shares, funds and bonds.

In the UK ISA profits, up to £20,000/year are tax-free.

Tickr JISA

Tickr JISA is the newest account on the platform

JISA is a great way to invest in your child future. This account allows you to invest as much as 9000 pounds per year without having to pay tax.

Children can access their accounts as soon as they turn 18.

If you want to open a JISA account you need to have your own ISA or GIA account first.

Tickr is working at the moment on expanding the option and plans to launch

LISAs and SIPPs soon.

LISAs

Better known as Lifetime ISA (LISA) help the younger generations to save for their first home or retirement.

To open an account, you have to be over 18, but under 40.

You deposit up to £4,000 a year into your LISA and you will receive a government bonus of 25% on top. The bonus is limited to £1,000 a year.

You are allowed to save up until the age of 50 — at this point, you can’t deposit any more money into your account.

If you managed to save up to £4,000 a year, starting at the age of 18 until the 50 — the government will top up your account with a bonus of £32,000.

SIPPs

SIPP is a pension saving account for people who don’t want to worry about their retirement.

The SIPP account allows you to contribute up to 100% of your salary.

It also makes you eligible to receive tax relief on payments up to £40,000/ year.

Tickr Themes

Tickr themes are similar to ‘’sectors’’ in other investment apps, and offer a portfolio for your impact investing.

There four main themes covering social and environmental investment options:

Climate change

Which includes clean energy and global water

Disruptive technology

Which includes automation & robotics, cybersecurity and digitalisation

Equality

Which covers ageing population, diversity & inclusion, gender equality and healthcare innovation

Each theme is investing in countries across the globe, even though most of the ETFs seem to be in favour of the American market.

Bonds

Green Bonds

A green bond is used for climate and environmental projects.

Global Government Bonds

This type is issued by a national government with the aim to support government spendings.

Government bonds are usually tied to a promise to pay coupon payments. Coupon payments are specific periodic interest payments.

Tickr risk profiles

Before you start investing in any shares, the app will let you choose between different ‘’risk profiles’’.

The options are cautious, balanced or adventurous.

Besides, every share you want to invest in has their own risk and reward profile which gives you a better overview of the potential outcome.

Other features

Financial education

Most users are newbies in financial trading. Tickr is free from any kind of professional trading language and makes the investing process easily understandable for everyone.

The founders recognised the need for education and created fantastic videos which explain in a user-friendly language what investing is all about.

Tree project

As mentioned before, for every referral Tickr commits to planting a tree in Indonesia. At this point, the platform planted over 12.000 trees and customers even get the exact coordinates for the forest on a map.

Carbon Coaching

The ‘carbon coaching’ feature is a wonderful benefit of using Tickr.

You can calculate your carbon footprint based on your everyday spending. You will be offered tips on how to reduce it and advice on options to reduce emissions. British people produce on average of 10.51 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. The carbon offsetting membership lets you outweigh your carbon footprint by supporting environmental-friendly projects.

Projects include the technology sector by supporting renewable energy like wind and solar. Nature projects by protecting areas of rainforest and the social sector which gives people in rural communities the tools to live independent and environmentally friendly.

At this time Tickr archived remarkable 2.160,821 KGs of CO2 offset — which is the same as getting 464 cars off the street.

Round up spending

This feature allows you to round up the spare change of your payments to the nearest £1.

Paying your favourite coffee at Starbucks for 2.50£?- Tickr will automatically add the round up 0.50 £ to your investment account.

Trust

Tickr is part of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) which means your it protects investments up to £85,000.

Tickr also protects your financial info by using a 256-bit TLS bank-level encryption — you can be sure, your data is more than safe.

Summary

Tickr is a wonderful app for people who want to start investing and have no idea where to start.

The app is user-friendly, written in an everyday language. Users have plenty of options to use the companies forum and education videos to get more information.

The concept removes the cold, dry number based association with investing and draws on our emotions.

Tickr is the perfect app for everyone who wants to improve their financial situation and doing something good for our planet.