• Q. What is an ETF?

  ETF stands for Exchange-Traded fund. Exchange-Traded means you can buy and sell ETFs on public stock exchanges like the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. In this context, a fund is a bundle of assets (usually stocks, bonds and/or cash).…

• Q. What is a dividend?

  A dividend is a payment to a shareholder when a company shares its profits. When a business makes a profit, they can choose to pay dividends to shareholders. If you own shares, you get a certain amount of the profit. These payments to shareholders that come out of the profits are dividends.…

• Q. What Are Stash’s Trading Windows?

  Stash uses four trading windows because our platform is not intended to be used for day trading, but rather for long-term investing. By investing small amounts in a diversified portfolio over a long period of time, you can minimize your risk and save for your future.…

• Q. What is investing?

  Investing is an action people take to try earning returns by buying financial instruments like stocks and bonds on an exchange like the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. Stash is a platform you can use to make these types of purchases.…

• Q. What is dollar-cost averaging?

  Markets are volatile. What’s an investor to do if they like the overall performance of a company, but don’t want to risk putting a lump sum in its stock the very minute prices temporarily go through the roof? Enter dollar-cost averaging—it’s a way of reducing risk by regularly buying a specific dollar amount of an investment over a period of time and removing the need to time the market.…

• Q. What is an expense ratio?

  An expense ratio is an annualized fee (written as a percentage of total assets) that funds charge shareholders. The fee is charged daily by deducting a small amount of a fund’s asset from a shareholder. It covers management fees, administrative expenses and other costs incurred to operate the fund.…

• Q. What is a ‘capital gain’?

  It’s pretty much what it sounds like: an increase in the value of your investment. If you sell an investment that has gained in value, that’s a capital gain. You’ve made a profit and are subject to federal capital gains taxes within your taxable brokerage account.…

• Q. What’s the difference between risk level and risk tolerance?

  Risk tolerance is how much risk you feel you can take. People who are prepared to risk bigger losses for the potential of bigger rewards can tolerate a high level of risk. People who want to play it safe and are willing to have potentially smaller returns to guard against loss can tolerate less risk.…

• Q. What’s a portfolio?

  A portfolio is just the term for the set of investments you own. Think of it like a wallet. It contains all of your investments, including individual stocks, ETFs, and bonds. Your portfolio is also a reflection of your investment interests,…

• Q. What is a stock?

  A stock is just partial ownership of a company. Publicly traded companies sell shares of stock in order to raise money and expand.…

• Q. What is a holding?

  Holdings are just a general term for investments that you own. When you look at your portfolio, the complete list of all your investments is your holdings. Funds, like ETFs, also have holdings. When you’re investing in an ETF, you’re investing in that fund’s holdings,…

• Q. What does fiduciary mean?

  Not only is it fun to say, but it’s also a powerful concept. It refers to a relationship built on trust and duty. Stash is a fiduciary which means we have a fundamental obligation to provide suitable investment advice to our clients and always act in the client’s best interest.…

• Q. What is dividend yield?

  A dividend is a payment made to a company’s shareholders. It’s typically paid out as a way to share a company’s earnings.   The dividend yield is that amount being paid to the shareholder written as a percentage of the stock price.…

• Q. What is a bond?

  A bond is what’s called a ‘debt instrument’. When you purchase a bond, you’re essentially lending money to the person or institution issuing that debt. Bond issuers borrow funds for a defined period of time at a fixed interest rate. When you purchase a bond,…

• Q. What is a Roth IRA?

  Roth is a type of individual retirement account (IRA). It allows you to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, ETFs, index funds, etc. using the money you’ve already paid income taxes on. With a Roth IRA, your earnings and dividends grow tax-free.…

• Q. What is a fractional share?

  Fractional shares are pieces of a whole share. Stash lets you purchase fractional shares of ETFs and single stocks to help create a diversified portfolio. Fractional shares offer investors the chance to own a piece of a stock or investment in a specific industry with a smaller amount of money than they’d need to buy a full share.…

• Q. What does performance mean?

  The performance of an investment is a measurement of its change in value (up or down). Historical performance means how an investment has performed previously. Past performance is never a guarantee of future returns, but looking at the performance of an investment over time can help you determine if an investment might be a good fit for your portfolio.…

• Q. What is a risk profile?

  We build a personalized risk profile to help you decide which investments are most appropriate for you. This is done by factoring in your age, income level, and when you think you’ll need to use the money you’re investing. Your risk profile helps you pick out stocks,…

• Q. What is diversification?

  Diversification means making multiple investments in different asset classes, industries, companies or regions. This can help a portfolio avoid being influenced by the same kind of risks. Diversification is the investing equivalent of the old adage, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”…

• Q. What is a Traditional IRA?

  A Traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) allows a client to invest in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, ETFs index funds etc. using pre-tax dollars. That means the client does not pay income taxes on the money they are using to invest until they withdraw the money from the account.…

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