Many thanks to u/kvramji and u/inertia_2017 whose original Acorns (and subsequently Raiz) guide this is built on top of (with a few FAQs from Raiz themselves).
This post was last updated on October 23, 2020, and I'll endeavour to update it periodically.
What is Raiz?
Raiz is a financial service, helping you to save and invest your money. They enable Australians to start early, invest often, and reach their financial goals.
How does Raiz work?
Raiz helps you proactively invest. One key feature is round-ups; we round up each of your transactions to the nearest dollar, and invest the change into a diversified portfolio. Simply connect a debit card, or other funding source, then provide us with some basic information. We give you the option of choosing a portfolio that is in line with your investment goals and the amount of risk you’re comfortable taking.
Note that Raiz offers other great ways of investing besides round-ups, for more info please see this article.
What are the fees?
Once an account is opened, there are no fees on $0 balances and after that there is a monthly fee as follows:
| Portfolio | Balance (<$10,000) | Balance ($10,000 and up) |
|---|---|---|
| All portfolios (exc. Sapphire) | $2.50 p/month (charged monthly) | 0.275% p.a. (charged monthly, computed daily) |
| Sapphire | $2.50 p/month + 0.275% p.a. (charged monthly, computed daily) | $2.50 p/month + 0.275% p.a. (charged monthly, computed daily) |
An rough idea of monthly fees on a range of balances can be seen below:
| Average Monthly Balance | All portfolios (exc. Sapphire) | Sapphire |
|---|---|---|
| $500 | $2.50 | $2.61 |
| $1,000 | $2.50 | $2.73 |
| $2,500 | $2.50 | $3.07 |
| $5,000 | $2.50 | $3.65 |
| $10,000 | $2.29 | $4.79 |
| $20,000 | $4.58 | $7.08 |
| $50,000 | $11.46 | $13.96 |
Any other fees, including any future changes can be found here.
Raiz Beginners Guide
What’s Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)? Dollar Cost Averaging is basically spreading your investments in such a way that you can take advantage of the ever fluctuating daily price of stocks. The best example of this concept is given in a simple example here.
What do you mean by Portfolio?
Raiz uses the money which is put into the app by making you pick a type of profile which is differentiated from one another by the risk involved, as well as a few other characteristics (socially responsible, or an exposure to Bitcoin). The risk factor varies, depending on the portfolio. A breakdown based on portfolio can be found in the table below, including the minimum suggested investment timeframe (MSIT):
| Risk Level (Raiz Defined) | Portfolio | MSIT |
|---|---|---|
| Low | Conservative | 3 months |
| Low to Moderate | Moderately Conservative | 1 year |
| Moderate | Moderate | 2 years |
| Moderate to High | Moderately Aggressive | 3 to 5 years |
| High | Aggressive | 5 to 7 years |
| Moderate to High | Emerald | 3 to 5 years |
| Very High | Sapphire | 5+ years |
NOTE: Once you decide which portfolio to go by, try to not change between portfolios if you see a loss in the value of the account initially. Stick by it and don’t keep changing portfolio, because you might lose more while changing portfolio because it involves selling and buying stocks at different rates.
What portfolio should I pick?
Common question. It all depends on the amount of risk you are willing to take. There are also portfolios available if you'd prefer a socially responsible portfolio, or an exposure to Bitcoin. The longer you intend to hold your money in your account, the higher risk you might be willing to take.
NOTE: Do NOT panic when you see a down day with a loss against your portfolio. The BEST thing you can think of is DCA. If you have set up recurring investments, you are going to see gains as soon as the stocks go up in price.
Which portfolio performs the best?
Common question. Raiz releases an annual report that provides a summary of portfolio performance, typically in August.
Portfolio performance for the past two years, for all portfolios (excluding Sapphire) can be found here.
Something to note: past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Just because a portfolio has done well over the years, it is no guarantee that will continue to be the case, and things such as pandemics, market crashes and the like do happen. Pick a portfolio that suits your needs.
What is Raiz Rewards?
This is a feature in Raiz which gives you some percentage of the money spent for purchasing with vendors they have tie ups with. The method that you use varies slightly for online and in store purchases.
Online Vendors
To ensure you can get the rewards, go to your PC to the online retail store and add items to the cart. Make sure you go via the Raiz website (or App) to the vendor either on the PC or mobile. Finalize the payments via the link that Raiz takes you by and finish the purchase.
In Store Vendors
To ensure you can get the rewards, go to your App, click Rewards -> In-Store.
Click the vendor option, and select 'Activate Now'. Then, go shopping in store with that reward partner. Make sure you use a card that is linked to your Raiz account.
Payment of Rewards
This percentage that is listed in Raiz Rewards can take up to 90 days (typically 30 days for online, 90 days for in store purchases/Raiz Energy) to show up under the Raiz Rewards column in the "History" window in the mobile app. The percentage varies with each vendor.
What about dividends?
Dividends get paid periodically on the ETF holdings that you have, proportional to the amount of each ETF you own on as of the ex-dividend date. These dividends are invested into your Raiz account, approximately one business day after payment date.
Raiz run an annual blog post outlining the dates that dividends are expected to be paid (they vary slightly). That can be found here.
What about taxes?
Raiz will provide you with tax information at the end of financial year which tells you how to report any earnings from your Raiz account. It comes in the form of a Tax Statement, and is typically available in the third week of July.
This can be found in app by going to My Settings -> Support -> View Statements
How long do transactions stay in pending?
Raiz typically takes up to five business days for taking the money from your account and buying shares and for it to show up as processed. So don’t panic if it takes a few days. It’s a common thing.
Well I've read through this and I've got another issue - where can I go for help?
The Raiz Support crew are available to help you out with your Raiz issues. I've had personal experiences in the past where I've needed a hand, and they've been really great.
You can find more info on how to contact them on the Raiz Support webpage. Or hit them up on Twitter, Facebook, etc.
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