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
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
