Aspiration Reviews - What Is It?

DO NOT USE Aspiration!!! You Must Read This Review!
Fully Researched: Price, User Feedback and More!

Aspiration is an investment company that provides financial services and allows you to invest your money into two mutual funds and a checking account. The company lets you pay what you think is fair for their services making investing an affordable activity. Aspiration launched its pay-what-you-want model in California in 2014 and received all sorts of media coverage. They offered an online investing platform that can be used by anyone for investing. It also lets the clients pay whatever they like. Unlike traditional investment companies, which charge a percentage of the assets invested, the Aspiration company allows to pay whatever you think is fair. This is really a fair payment model, which undoubtedly attracts a lot of investors throughout the country.

The company's founder was Andrei Cherney, a lawyer with an impressive background. He was also a speechwriter for Al Gore and John Kerry, as well as an assistant district attorney. The company's funds are managed by UBS Banks. This is an international bank that belongs to top-10 private banks by Advisory HQ. Aspiration has a cool website that gives you all the important information on investing into this company that is becoming more and more popular. Let's see what financial services and products they offer, whether there are any hidden costs etc. We are going to take a look at the opinions of consumers who have used the services of this company.

Customer Reviews - Does Aspiration Really Work?

According to official website of Aspiration, they offer three different products to their clients. The first one is Redwood Fund. It focuses on socially responsible investment, also known as SRI. Funds are managed by UBS Bank. The next product is Summit Account, a no-fee checking account with a 1.00% annual yield. It is provided by an online financial institution called Radius Bank. Finally, the third is Flagship Fund. It focuses on long-term growth. The funds are managed by UBS Bank. These three options offer three levels of risk. The Redwood Fund is more risky because it is necessary to pay attention to forecasts before investing your money. The Flagship Fund poses less risk and is made to weather the financial storms. Summit Account is the least risky but it provides the least amount of return too. In the first two funds you need to deposit $500 and investment $10,000. The minimum deposit for the Summit Account is $10.

According to their official website, Aspiration donates 10% of their revenue to different charities across the USA. The name of this program is "Dimes Worth of Difference". It is interesting to know that even though the company is quite new, it has gained great popularity among its users throughout the country. You can find a number of users' reviews on different websites. Most of them seem to carry a positive character. The customers are happy with the service provided by Aspiration, as well as by the income they get due to their investments. The customers can contact the company via email, phone, Twitter, chat, or a robust help center. Its official website is extremely easy to use and provides a comprehensive overview of interest rates, fees, and other important information.

The users of Aspiration are happy that the company offers an iOS mobile app and an Android version. Both versions allow you to deposit checks with your own smartphone. However, you cannot open a joint checking account or multiple accounts. Some people have minor insignificant complaints, though. It is high time to take a look at the testimonials left by real clients of the company. Here are some of them.

"It is not mentioned on the official website of aspiration that they never invest in the companies that are not environmentally friendly. It means that you have no chances to invest in BP Oil, a company that often has oil spills. This can be very ruinous to the environment, thus, Aspiration will not invest your money into that company. Another advantage of the company is that you can deposit cash using specific ATM's and checks using your smart phone. There is no fee for ATM use. I do recommend this company!"

"Aspiration completely suits my needs. I like just about everything about it, for example, that it gives me an opportunity to set aside funds for a large purchase, vacation, or anything I want. This helps me a lot. I also found their customer service very good. Their representatives are always polite when answering my questions. They found that someone had used my card, called me immediately and sent a new one within just a few days."

"Aspiration Bank is in the formative stage that is why my checking account has limited offerings; however, I am quite satisfied with it. I am going to add more services with time. I started an account with them mainly due to their commitment to ethical investments. I mean that they do not harm environment and wildlife; they defense contractors, fossil fuel, and factory farms. This company is better than other institutions of the kind. I hope to get good profit from this company."

My Final Summary

Aspiration is a great investment company with a no-fee structure. It means that you pay what you want. It is up to you to decide what payment is fair. In this way, the company offers really good consumer financial products. Their goal is to make you a professional consumer and cut through all the marketing. So, if you hear about Aspirations "pay-what-you-think-you-should" structure, don't be skeptical. It is truly so. However, it doesn't mean that investors could pay nothing for the company's fund. They will be charged their pro rate share of the expenses, estimated at 1.22% a year. In addition, the fund has some other operating expenses (for administrative and legal services), which are capped at half a percentage point. Most investment firms or financial advisors will either charge you a commission or a flat fee for their services.

One of the advantages offered by Aspiration is that balances of less than $2,500 earn an APY of 0.25%. Higher balances earn 1%. There's no minimum balance requirement or monthly maintenance fee. In fact, the initial deposit requirement is only $10. However, there is one drawback. There is a waiting period to join the company; you might have to wait up to two weeks to open an account. Their Redwood Fund gives investors an opportunity to put their money toward environmental, sustainable, and employee practices. The Flagship Fund is not associated with any risk at all. It is created for long-term wealth. The Summit Account is the most stable investment account even though it provides a yearly return of 1%. After comparing Aspiration to other similar institutions and robo-advisors, I can conclude that, it could a good option to those who want their money to grow. That is why I can recommend them.

Aspiration Pricing and Rates

You can find official website of the company, aspiration.com, on the internet and visit it in order to learn basics on their investment policy. If you have any questions you can contact their customer service by calling at their telephone number provided on the official website. Compared to robo-advisors, Aspiration's fees are much lower. So, a socially-conscious investor might consider Aspiration as an investment company.