Hey Josh,

Thanks for the question. I have not written about investment apps. Are we discussing something like Robinhood or something more akin to Mint/Personal Capital? For something like Robinhood, I’m admittedly a bit unfamiliar with them. However, I maintain that if you want a simple investment strategy with a dollar-cost-average approach, what value is provided by the app that can’t be achieved with just a standard taxable brokerage account through Vanguard?

The danger I see in any of these platforms (including the fan-favorite Mint and PC — which by the way are blogger favorites at least partially because of their generous affiliate programs) is that it’s all too easy. It’s too easy to see your net worth, and it’s too easy to get an itchy trigger finger. All of these platforms are fine and dandy when the market is going well. However, when it all hits the fan, I’m very leery of a system that encourages (a) easily watching my net worth crumble, and (b) making it very easy to trade in and out of my holdings.

Set-it-and-forget-it is a tried-and-true strategy that works.

Hopefully this ramble is at least partially relevant to your question!

Thanks!