Chase You Invest Review [2023]: Who It’s Best For

Chase is a popular bank because of its attractive lineup of rewards credit cards as well as its checking and savings accounts. To deepen relationships with its customers, Chase developed an online investment platform. Formerly known as Chase You Invest, there are two different types of accounts in this platform: J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing and J.P. Morgan Automated Investing.⁴

The platform offers unlimited commission-free trades and low annual fees. Customers can open an account with as little as $0. But is it the right product to help you reach your investment goals?

In this review, we’ll look at the pros and cons of a Chase J.P. Morgan investment account to see whether it's right for you.

What is online investing with J.P. Morgan?

J.P. Morgan is the parent company of Chase bank. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was originally founded in 1799. Today, it is one of the largest and best-known financial services firms in the world with more than $2.6 trillion in client assets under management. This banking and investment giant is the result of more than 1,200 institutions merging together over 200 years to form JPMorgan Chase.

The J.P. Morgan/Chase online investing platform launched in the summer of 2018. Although this product has been around only for a short time, the 200-plus year history of J.P. Morgan Chase should give customers confidence.

Because customers are most familiar with the brand name Chase, the product was originally known as as Chase You Invest. However, Chase is technically the U.S. consumer and commercial banking arm of the company, whereas J.P. Morgan is focused on investments. The Chase You invest name was phased out, although some people may still refer to it by this name.

How does online investing with J.P. Morgan work?

The J.P. Morgan online platform can offer a great way for new investors to learn how to invest money because it gives you two account options based on how involved you want to be with picking your investments:

• J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing gives customers the ability to buy and sell stocks, options, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, and bonds.
• J.P. Morgan Automated Investing matches you to a portfolio of ETFs that's right for you based on your risk tolerance, time horizon, and goals.

Here are some more details so you can compare the differences between these two financial products:

	J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing*	J.P. Morgan Automated Investing
Minimum balance	$0	$500
Account types available	Taxable Traditional IRA Roth IRA	Taxable Traditional IRA Roth IRA
Asset classes available	Stocks ETFs Options Fixed Income Mutual Funds	Portfolios of ETFs
Asset allocation	Customer chooses investments	Investments chosen by J.P. Morgan based on your risk tolerance and goals
Rebalancing	Manually	Automatic
Fees	$0 trade of U.S. stocks and ETFs $0 transaction for mutual funds $0 trade + 65 cents per option contract $0 fixed income trades	Advisory fee: 0.35% of account balance

*For online trading. Higher fees apply for representative-assisted trades.

More about J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing

With J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing, you have a brokerage account that you manage on your own. You pick your investments and you get unlimited commission-free online trades. This account is best suited for investors who have a specific investment in the stock market in mind or who have the time to research individual investments before performing trades.

With this account, you may invest in U.S. listed stocks, U.S.-listed ETFs, options, mutual funds, bonds, and Treasuries. Because you are making your own investment decisions, automatic rebalancing is not an option.

Although there are no commissions for online investing, there are fees for options trades and secondary market bond trades. Additionally, trades made over the phone with a J.P. Morgan representative may incur a fee. These fees eat into your investment profits, so you may choose to complete trades yourself online to minimize your costs if you’re feeling confident about your choices.

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing can be a low-cost option for many investors because there are no annual fees, no commissions on trades, and no minimum balance to open your account. You can make trades for as little as $1 in no-load mutual funds with no transaction fees.

J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing accounts can be single-owner brokerage accounts or retirement accounts in the form of traditional or Roth IRAs. Opening a joint account or a business account is not an option at this time.

More about J.P. Morgan Automated Investing

For investors who want to use professional expertise to pick their investments for them, the J.P. Morgan Automated Investing account is the ideal choice. The artificial intelligence of this robo-advisor was designed by J.P. Morgan and is managed by its investment advisors.

When you open your account, you'll answer a few questions to determine your risk tolerance, time frame for your investments, and your personal finance goals. Based on your answers, the portfolio builder tool will match you with an existing portfolio that fits your profile. You don't have to worry about selecting individual investments because these are managed portfolios and the J.P. Morgan team handles all that for you. Periodically, they will also rebalance your portfolio to ensure your mix of investments is appropriate for your goals.

You can open a J.P. Morgan Automated Investing account with as little as $500. The account format can be an individual taxable account, traditional IRA, or a Roth IRA. Joint accounts and business accounts are not available.

There are no trading fees associated with J.P. Morgan Automated Investing accounts. However, there is a 0.35% annual advisory fee. There are no other hidden management fees.

Who can start an account with J.P. Morgan?

To open a J.P. Morgan online investing account, you must be 18 years or older with a valid Social Security number and a U.S. home address. J.P. Morgan does not currently offer joint accounts. Additionally, this product currently targets individual consumers, so business accounts are not an option.

Accounts can be opened without a deposit when choosing the J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing option. If you want a J.P. Morgan Automated Investing account, the minimum opening balance is $500.

The J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing account is best for someone who wants to make trades without a commission. The ideal person for this account likes having full control over their account and wants to decide whether to buy or sell an investment on their own. This is the right option for someone who has experience with stock trading and needs very little hand-holding.

The J.P. Morgan Automated Investing account is designed for the set-it-and-forget-it investor. During the account opening process, you are matched to a portfolio based on your tolerance for risk, goals, and time horizon for when you want to regain access to your money. The portfolios are managed by J.P. Morgan's team so you don't have to worry about making investment decisions.

How much can you earn?

As with any investment in stocks and bonds, there are no guarantees. Past performance does not guarantee future results, and it is possible to lose money when investing with You Invest or any other investing app.

The potential returns on your investments will depend on which types of assets you invest in, your risk tolerance, and how long you keep your money invested. If you invested all your money in U.S. Treasuries, which are considered one of the safest investments in the world, your returns would likely not be that high. As of Aug. 5, 2021, U.S. Treasuries are yielding less than 2% interest.

Stock-based investing through individual stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs offers a potentially higher return. In the short term, stock and bond investments can be fairly volatile and values may go up or down quickly. However, investment returns tend to smooth out and become less volatile when looking at longer periods of time. For example, the average annual return of the S&P 500 (the 500 largest stocks in the U.S.) since 1965 has been 10%.

Given all this, there is no set answer to how much you can earn by using J.P. Morgan's online investing accounts. It will depend on the individual investment choices you make and your personal tolerance for potential risk versus returns.

How to withdraw money 

Putting your money into an investment with J.P. Morgan is just the beginning. Whether you have short-term goals or long-term goals, at some point in the future, you'll want to take some out. You may be saving for a down payment on a home, for your child's college, or for retirement.

When it comes time to withdraw from your You Invest account, you’ll need to sell some of your investments:

• For J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing investors, you'll have to pick which investments to sell and which to keep. After you've made that decision, you’ll place a sell order and have available cash once the trade is complete.
• For J.P. Morgan Automated Investing investors, you don't have to choose which investments to sell or keep. Simply request a withdrawal from your portfolio and J.P. Morgan will handle the rest. It will sell a proportional slice of each investment within your portfolio to ensure your investment allocations do not change.

Once your investments have been converted into cash, the money can be transferred to your bank account.

If there is a gain or loss on your investment in a taxable account, you'll receive a 1099 tax form at the end of the year so you can pay capital gains taxes on the returns or deduct the losses from your taxable income. With a traditional IRA or Roth IRA, you'll receive a retirement distribution form to report on your taxes.

How to stay safe when investing

Investing is inherently risky and there is no guarantee. But history does show us that diversifying your investments can reduce your risk.

By owning a mix of investments, it is possible to reduce your risk without sacrificing your returns. When assembling an investment portfolio, you should consider adding a variety of big and small companies from the U.S. and other countries. Adding bonds, real estate, and other asset classes, such as precious metals, can also reduce risk.

Keeping your money in the bank or investing in U.S. Treasuries is the only way to truly "stay safe." However, the returns on these assets are so low that you still risk losing out, as inflation could outpace your earnings and eat away at the spending power of your money.

FAQs

How to sign up

To sign up for a new account with J.P. Morgan, first gather the following information before visiting the Chase online investing home page and clicking "Open an account."

When you start the account opening process, you'll be given the choice of:

• Taxable brokerage account
• Traditional IRA
• Roth IRA

For a J.P. Morgan Automated Investing account, you'll also need to answer basic questions that impact a chart showing how your account can grow over time. These questions include your age, initial investment, monthly investment, portfolio type, account type, and timeframe.

The next screen will ask questions to determine your risk profile and confirm some of the choices from the previous screen. You'll be asked multiple-choice questions about:

• The purpose of your investment
• The type of account (brokerage, traditional IRA, or Roth IRA)
• The age you want to retire
• Your risk tolerance

You are matched with an existing investment portfolio based on the answers you provide. Based on the answers I provided for an aggressive strategy, this is the portfolio I was matched with. You can expand the details to find out which ETFs make up each asset class.

If you feel that the portfolio suggested is right for you, you will click "open an account" to proceed. If not, you can click "back" and change your answers until you find a portfolio you are comfortable with.

To open your account, you'll be asked whether you're an existing Chase customer. If so, much of your personal information will pre-populate.

If you do not already have some sort of Chase account, you’ll need be prepared to provide the following information:

• Name
• Country of citizenship
• Date of birth
• Social Security number
• Identification
• Home address
• Email address
• Phone number

Then, you'll authorize Chase to use consumer reports to review your application and verify your identity.

Your account can be funded from an existing bank account or through the transfer of assets from another investment account.

Other investment apps to consider

If investing with J.P. Morgan doesn’t sound like a good fit, there are other investment products on the list of the best brokerage accounts to consider. Two popular investing apps with no account minimums and commission-free trading are Stash and Public.

Stash is a good choice if you want to make small investments because you can start investing in stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for as little as $1.^{2 ,1} You can set up automatic investments, or even use a roundup feature to invest your pocket change. With Stash, you can build a portfolio using suggestions from Stash or by creating your own portfolio from a selection of individual stocks and ETFs.³  

Read our full Stash review.

If you prefer to pick your own investments but want access to important features such as fractional share investing and automatic dividend reinvestment, you might prefer a stock trading app like Robinhood. Robinhood offers both of these features, no deposit minimums, and educational resources for new investors. It also offers no commissions, which makes it a good option for day trades. 

Read our Robinhood review.