‍While the following content is intended to be educational, it does contain promotional material for Kaldi.

Investing apps promise to make everything simple, then hit you with ISAs, ETFs and risk ratings before you've even signed up. Those things are necessary, of course, but there’s a way to say it and show it. Fortunately, some apps are clearer than others. Whether you want to round up your coffee money or get the low down on what you're putting your cash into, here’s what to look for in an investment app that doesn’t make you feel lost before you’ve even started.

Why investing apps became a thing

For decades, investing meant either paying someone in a suit to do it for you or spending hours researching individual stocks like it was a second job. Both options kept most people out of the game entirely.

Apps changed that by removing the middleman and guesswork involved. Instead of needing thousands upfront or a PHD in how the stock market works, you can start with whatever's in your account and let the app handle the complicated bits. Some will build you a portfolio based on a few questions. Others just sweep your spare change into investments without you thinking about it.

Technology made it cheaper to manage investments and regulators made it easier for new companies to offer these services. What used to cost hundreds in fees now costs a few quid a month, if anything. And you don't need to know what a dividend is before you start (though you'll probably pick it up along the way).

What to look out for when choosing an investing app

Getting your head around fees and minimums is a good place to start and will help narrow down which apps work for you. None of this is obvious when you first start looking, though, which is why so many people download an app and stare at it blankly before closing it and never opening it again. 

Starting with fees

The fees are the obvious place to start, but they're presented in ways that make comparison annoying. Some apps charge a monthly subscription. Others take a percentage of what you invest. A few do both. Some do none. There are also fund fees on top, which the app doesn't control but you still pay.

A quid a month sounds cheap until you suddenly realise you're only investing a tenner. Suddenly that's a 10% fee, which is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Percentage fees work better when you're starting small, but they become more expensive as your pot grows. Do the maths based on what you'll invest. Not what sounds cheapest in principle.

Minimum deposits and contributions

Some apps let you start with literally anything. Others want £100 or £500 upfront, which defeats the point if you're testing the waters. Same goes for minimum monthly contributions. If an app needs £25 a month and you can only spare a tenner, it's not for you right now.

What you can invest in

Getting your head around fees and minimums helps narrow down which apps will work for you, since none of this is obvious when you first start looking. Then there's what you can invest in. Most beginners are funnelled into ready-made portfolios or index funds, which is fine because they're designed to spread risk without you needing to pick individual companies. Just check whether you can open an ISA (so your gains aren't taxed) or if it's just a standard account.

ISAs have an annual tax-free limit of £20,000, which sounds like loads until you realise you might want to use that allowance across different savings.

Whether the app makes sense to you

The app itself needs to make sense when you open it. If you're confronted with charts and terminology that might as well be another language, you'll stop using it. Good apps explain what's happening in normal words and let you see how your money's doing without needing a finance degree to interpret it.

Why automatic investing works when you're starting out

The fear of making the wrong decision is often a larger barrier to investing than the money itself. Pick the wrong stocks and you lose everything, even if it’s only a small amount. Choose the wrong fund and you're missing out on better returns. Wait too long to start and you've wasted years of potential growth. Automatic investing removes many of these issues by taking the decisions out of your hands.

You connect the app to your bank account and it invests small amounts for you based on rules you set once. Some apps round up your purchases to the nearest pound and invest the difference, meaning a £2.30 coffee becomes £3, with 70p going into investments. Others let you set a weekly or monthly amount that’s invested automatically. You're not logging in to decide when or how much to invest. It just happens.

The psychology matters because when you're investing £2 here and £5 there from your spare change, it doesn't feel like you're risking real money. That helps, as you're less likely to panic when the value falls or obsessively check your balance. Apps like Kaldi also funnel cashback from shopping directly into investments, so you're building a pot without it ever feeling like you're spending your own money.

Getting started without overthinking it

The temptation is to research every app and compare all the fees and reviews, waiting until you're entirely sure you've found the perfect option. The truth is there may never be a perfect solution, and that’s coming from the makers of a finance app. By the time you've done all the research, months have passed and you still haven't started.

Instead, pick an app that doesn't require much money upfront and just try it. Most let you open an account in minutes. If it turns out the interface is confusing or the fees don't make sense for how much you're investing, you can move your money somewhere else. Nothing's permanent, and sitting on the sidelines costs you more than switching apps later.

Start small enough that losing it wouldn't really matter. If £10 a month feels like too much, do £5. The point isn't to get rich immediately. You want to stop being the person who's always thinking about investing but never doing it. Once you've got some money in an app and you can see how it works, the whole thing feels less intimidating.

People worry about investing right before a market crash or missing out on gains by waiting too long, but don’t get hung up on timing. When you're putting in small amounts on a regular basis, timing is less important because you're spreading your money across different market conditions. Some months you'll buy when prices are high, some when they're low. It averages out.

See how Yaseen makes every penny count with Kaldi

Why Kaldi works for people who find investing intimidating

Most investment apps still feel like they're built for people who already understand investing. Kaldi takes the opposite approach. Instead of asking you to set up monthly transfers or pick between funds you've never heard of, we make turning your everyday spending into investments automatic.

How Kaldi removes the barriers

Every time you buy something, Kaldi rounds up the spare change and invests it. Shop at more than 160 partner retailers and you get cashback that goes straight into your investment pot instead of your current account. You can even link accounts with family or friends so their spending helps boost your investments too. None of it requires you to think about whether now's a good time to invest or how much you should put in.

What you get access to

The app offers ISAs and standard investment accounts, with funds you can choose based on how much risk you're comfortable with. You can start with £1, which removes the pressure of needing hundreds upfront just to see if investing's for you.

Top features include:

• No minimum monthly contribution
• Low fees with no subscription requirements
• Money market funds and index funds to choose from
• Clear explanations without financial jargon

Why Kaldi is less overwhelming

What makes Kaldi less intimidating is that we don’t assume you know what you're doing. The app explains everything in normal language and builds investing into something you're already doing rather than making it a separate financial task you need to remember. You're not suddenly expected to understand Index Funds (also known as ETFs) or rebalancing. Just shop. The app handles the rest.

But I still have to choose risk and funds, right?

You sure do, but Kaldi keeps it simple. You've got 10 funds to pick from, split between money market funds (low-risk and work a bit like savings accounts) and index funds (higher risk that track the stock market). Each one has a risk rating from one to five, so you know what you're getting into.

If you're nervous, stick with risk one rating options like Fidelity Cash Fund. If you're comfortable with volatility for better long-term potential, there are Vanguard LifeStrategy funds. You can change your mind later. The point is just picking something that matches your comfort level and getting started.

The time to start is now, and the app to invest is Kaldi 

Okay, we would say that. But we also know that investing feels complicated until you're doing it. Pick an app that doesn't need much upfront, put in an amount that won't stress you out and see what happens. You'll learn more in a month of having money invested than you will from another six months of researching which app is perfect.

Capital is at risk when investing. The value of your investments can go up or down, and you may get back less than you put in. Kaldi doesn’t offer personal financial advice, so if you’re unsure whether investing is right for you, it’s worth speaking to a qualified financial adviser.

Download Kaldi and turn your everyday spending into investments. No jargon, no minimums, just straightforward investing that fits into your life.