This Is My One Major Gripe With Robinhood. Here's How I'm Handling It

Take a risk, they say. It's just a small loan, they say. The water is warm. That's what I hear in my head every time I open the Robinhood app and spot an ad for opening a margin account.

Yeah, no. Pass. Been there, done that. I lost thousands of dollars to the market because I didn't understand what I was getting myself into, and in the middle of that, the market tanked. The last thing I want is to be forced to sell my investments at a loss. Again.

My one major gripe with Robinhood

Robinhood is a modern investing app tailored to beginner investors. It's got a lot of fee-free features and the best user experience in the market. The app is smooth like butter, and the brilliant greens and reds are like Christmas come early. I love it. But it could be better.

My major gripe with the platform is that it aggressively advertises margin accounts. A margin account is a high-risk investment account that lets you borrow from a brokerage to buy stocks. If your stocks perform badly, you're forced to sell to the brokerage at a loss.

Robinhood is supposedly a beginner-friendly platform, but margin accounts are not. They're downright risky. So why the ads? And why so aggressive? No matter how many times I dismiss the ads, they reappear near the top of my screen every time I open the app.

The worst part is, they work. Each time I come across one, the temptation to purchase leverage chips away at my better judgment. If it's getting to me, an investor who lost thousands of dollars to margin investments, it's definitely getting to less-experienced investors. Not good.

How I'm handling it

I'm handling Robinhood's aggressive advertising by using the Robinhood iPhone widget. It lets me check how well my stocks are doing without opening the app. That way, I'm not forced to scroll past tempting ads.

Here's how to add the Robinhood widget to your iPhone:

1. Press your finger on the Home screen. Hold it until the apps shake.
2. Press the "+" button on the upper left corner of your screen.
3. Scroll to the Robinhood Portfolio widget.
4. Place the widget on your Home screen.

It's super easy and took me less than 60 seconds to set up. Now I can see my holdings at a glance. I open the Robinhood app less often, and I'm no longer tempted to leverage investments.

Alternatives to Robinhood

Robinhood is a top-tier investment app. But it isn't the only modern broker. According to experts at The Ascent, the best stock brokers for beginners include standouts like SoFi (Social Finance), Fidelity, and Charles Schwab. They're easy to use, cheap, and educational.

SoFi is an all-in-one banking app I've had my eye on for a while. It offers some of the best interest rates on savings accounts, and a simple platform for stock investing. After Robinhood, SoFi is my second favorite public stock broker.

Fidelity and Charles Schwab are household names. They've been around for a while and offer tons of features, including ETF trades and low-cost mutual funds. They're worth looking into, if those sorts of investments appeal to you.

Right now, Federal Reserve interest rates make high-yield deposit accounts extremely popular with savers. Rates have popped, and the best offer depositors 5% or more annual returns. You can open a high-yield savings account to start earning interest on your short-term savings.

Bottom line

My major gripe with Robinhood is aggressive margin account advertising, and I deal with it by using my Robinhood Portfolio iPhone widget to eyeball my daily stock performance. You can do the same, or you can avoid Robinhood entirely by putting your money elsewhere.