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
  • 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
  • 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
    Don L
  • On May 28, 2019, 06:46

View Comments (605)

  • looks like they are making changes. Hopefully a nice referral bonus coming soon? Or maybe confirming that they have already increased it to $50?

    It says the following now on the referral page....

    "We’re working on some new rewards.
    We’re revamping our friend referral program and working on some even better rewards coming soon. Stay tuned for updates!"

  • Is anyone else seeing $50 referral option?

    Not sure if it is just me or across the board....

    • No just seeing $20 for me.

      When I click on your January 3rd link, I'm seeing $20 too.

      • You are correct that the verbiage says $20, i see that now, but I definitely got $50 for my one referral.

        Not sure if it was a glitch or not? I can see the $50 on my referral page and in my account as pending.

        According to the comment under my link, she signed up on 1/3/20, and i don't believe there was anything stating $50 at the time either. It doesn't look like a lot of people have posted on here recently re: using a link, so not really anyone else to ask :(

        • Hmmm, maybe if we get a few more data points at $50, might be worth pinging Will/Chuck to see if they want to repost, as a jump from $20 to $50 would probably make it worth it for more people.

          But not sure as the terms haven't changed from $20, so probably wouldn't want to draw undue attention if a glitch is still active.

          • @don-l I have had several come through as $50, well after the $50 promo ended this summer. But, my most recent came in as $20, and stayed $20. Previously, they would come in as $20 on my referral list, and showed $20 on the "Your Friend Got Ellevested" e-mail, but a few weeks later it changed to $50 in my queue.

            My referrals have been taking months longer to payout than most people are seeing, and then once they finally paid out to the brokerage acct, the withdrawal took a full month, LOL. I did contact one of my referrals that got his bonus in Nov, and he only got $20. But it's still in my queue that they owe me $50 for his signup. I assume they won't do a clawback on past payouts, as they sent me a 1099-Misc for 2019, but who knows. FYI @guest_864688

          • @guest_763002 , I am pretty sure my one referral originally showed as $20 like you said. It was only the other day that I checked and saw it shows $50.

            It does seem like there is some glitch where it says $20, shows as $20, and then later changes to $50.

            That's my hypothesis on this at least.

      • Did you have actual investments made? I referred a few people but see no 1099 online and got no email about one being available... Site says "You will only receive a 1099 if you sold securities or your dividends or interest was greater than $10." That rules out if you got only referrals, it seems?

        • I made 13$ in investments. I guess that’s why I got the forms. I think all My referrals are paid as investments. So if when I withdrawal it’s sold. I think I chose the wrong account when I opened it.

    • I have yet to receive mine.They're considered a brokerage so they have until 2/15. The website says by the end of the month though.

      • Thanks Celia. I emailed them But only got reply that it will be available by 2/28. No mention of its 1099 misc or int.

        • I received a 1099-MISC from Ellevest about a week back. It was for referrals over $600, I'm not sure if they send a form when under that threshold.

          • Email from Tax1099.com.

            "Your 1099-MISC was submitted by Ellevest Inc for 2019"

            Doesn't appear to be available within the Ellevest online interface.

          • @don-l Which box is your 1099-misc income reported under? Is it under 3 Other income? I see a small section of 1099-misc in the 1099 document from folio but only has field 2,3,4,8 in there.

      • I'm not sure if anyone here used my referral, but I received $50 using someone's link back in July (opened in May).

        • @guest_903660 do you recall if your page states(stated) that it was a $20 referral, or $50 referral?

          • Right now and when I posted my link in February: $20. $50 when I opened the account.

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