Top 5 free investing apps

@Money August 24, 2012: 5:41 PM ET
Whether you are an active trader of a hands-off investor, you can check your progress on the go with these 5 best investing apps - like this one from Fidelity.

Whether you are an active trader of a hands-off investor, you can check your progress on the go with these 5 best investing apps - like this one from Fidelity.

(MONEY Magazine) -- What kind of investor are you? What kind of updates do you want?

Whether you are an active trader of a hands-off investor, you can check your progress on the go with these 5 best investing apps.

Essential app: Fidelity

Great for: Easy-to-read financial news, whether or not you have a Fidelity account

Price: Free

Available for: Android, iPhone, iPad

Financial news isn't hard to find on your phone, but this app gives you lots of it in an easy-to-read format: coverage from our partner CNNMoney, as well as MarketWatch, Reuters, and TheStreet.com. You can also get market updates and create watch lists. (The iPad version boasts videos and podcasts too.) Fidelity account holders can pay bills, trade, set up alerts, and more.

TDAmeritrade Mobile

Great for: Borderline obsessive investors

Price: Free

Available for: Android, iPhone, iPad

Like most brokerage apps, TDAmeritrade's lets you feverishly follow markets and buy and sell fast. The watch list options are notably extensive. "It's got great tools and you can make a trade really quickly," says Blain Reinkensmeyer of StockTradingToGo.com. With the Snapstock function (phone only), you can take a picture of a bar code and look up the public company behind the product.

WikInvest Portfolio Manager

Great for: Active, but not day, traders

Price: Free

Available for: Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7

This secure app lets you pull together your account info from just about anywhere (60 brokerages are available, including Schwab, Fidelity, and E*Trade). See your portfolio's performance over time, and read up on what fellow investors think.

iTrade Stock Market Simulator

Great for: Imaginary traders and investors

Price: Free

Available for: iPhone

Want to dabble in the markets without losing your shirt? Make it a game. Literally. With iTrade, you deploy your $100,000 in seed money to buy and sell using real-time quotes, with realistic delays for trade executions. Your reward is not a rich retirement -- it's a high score against your fellow virtual traders.

TIAA-CREF

Great for: Long-term and hands-off investors

Price: Free

Available for: iPhone

Pull up TIAA-CREF's retirement projector in its Savings Simplifier app (tap the "Financial IQ" tab), enter your age and pay, how much you've saved, and how much you sock away monthly, and you'll get a savings target tailored to the lifestyle you want, plus an assessment of your chances. Not on track? See how adjustments like saving more or working longer can help.

Best money apps:

6 best banking & budget apps

5 best car apps

6 best home apps

Bonus app: Money magazine

Available for: iPad, Nook, Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab

Download this issue and past editions of the magazine to your device. Print subscribers get Money's tablet edition for free. Go to money.com/allaccess to sign up.

Additional reporting by Zain Asher-Ejiofor, Lisa Gibbs, Anne C. Lee, Susie Poppick, Donna Rosato and Tali Yahalom.

Do you know a Money Hero? MONEY magazine is celebrating people, both famous and unsung, who have done extraordinary work to improve others' financial well-being. Nominate your Money Hero. To top of page

Help! We need a makeover
Young dad, $15,000 in credit card debt
Readers' Choice

Carlos Rodriguez is trying to rid himself of $15,000 in credit card debt, while paying his mortgage and saving for his son's college education.

$400,000 portfolio, too many holdings
Readers' Choice

Susan Carson and Laura DeLallo make $225,000 and have half a million in retirement savings, but their sprawling portfolios is proving hard to manage.

Overnight Avg Rate Latest Change Last Week
30 yr fixed3.80%3.88%
15 yr fixed3.20%3.23%
5/1 ARM3.84%3.88%
30 yr refi3.82%3.93%
15 yr refi3.20%3.23%
Rate data provided
by Bankrate.com
View rates in your area
 
Find personalized rates:
  • -->

    Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.