Ellevest Online Investing $20 Signup Offer via Referral + $20 Referral Bonuses

The Offer

Update 05/29/2019: Offer has dropped from $50 to $20 per signup and referral.  The $50 offer expired May 28, 2019 11:59 PM

Ellevest is offering:

• $50 $20 when you signup through a referral link and fund your goal account (and keep it funded for at least 90 days)
• $50 $20 for every referred friend who signs up and funds their account with Ellevest (maximum of 20 paid referrals)

The Fine Print

• Highest priority goal must be funded
  • Funding is a deposit towards your first Ellevest goal
• Funds must be invested for at least 90 days
• Minimum Investment (not stated)
  • Reports of $1 triggering, I invested $50
• Maximum Limit of 20 Paid Referrals
  • Some readers are reporting hitting a 6 referral cap
• No Hard Credit Pull
• Complete Referral Agreement Document
• Ellevest Referral FAQ

A Few More Things

• On Gender
  • Ellevest is primarily marketed towards women, but the platform is open to men (and all gender identities).
• On No Market Risk (FDIC Cash)
  • A no market risk (FDIC Cash) Ellevest Savings Account account exists for the Emergency Fund Goal
  • This option would offer a way to try the service without accepting stock market risk [a similar option existed in the old Motif Promo]
  • The account earns only 0.01% but is charged no management fee (details).
  • This option may provide fewer forms at tax time than ETF investments on the platform.
• On “Spirit of the Program” Language
  • The referral program contains language for invalidating bonuses if they are against the spirit of the program.  Hopefully it will not be used unfairly as providing signup incentives is a small customer acquisition cost for a very big potential upside for the company.
  • But it’s a signup bonus risk
• On the Platform
  • We don’t offer investment advice, and I’m not qualified to access the value of Ellevest’s investing tools and gender-aware investment algorithms
  • The interface is fairly clean; it uses the same backend (Folio) as Swell Investing.
• On Timing
  • My credit went pending (for a 90 day wait) when my deposit was scheduled

Share Your Links

Feel free to share your referral links in the comments.

Our Verdict

The signup bonus is only $50 $20 which is lower than the $100 DoC checking bonus threshold.  But investing bonuses are their own bonus class (no Chex/EWS inquiries, and often no credit pulls to worry about), and the referral element also offers value.

Maybe a borderline deal … but investing deals always seem to pull me in.

Interested in other investing bonuses, see the DoC Best Brokerage Bonuses List

Hat tip to Maximizing Money