“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”, Mark Twain

This statement couldn’t be more true when it comes to investing. That’s why I am so very excited to announce that we are making it even easier for Canadians to start investing by launching our Springboard initiative.

Under this intiative, ModernAdvisor will invest $1,000 on behalf of our first time users for up to three months. With access to all of the features, you can keep track of your trial account and make changes to your investment goals like you would with an actual account. Should you open and fund an actual account at any time during or at the end of the trial period, you will be entitled to any gains earned during the trial period.

Since the initial investment is made with ModernAdvisor’s funds, you will not be on the hook if there are any losses at the end of the trial period (yes short-term losses do happen when investing, and that’s something everyone should come to terms with).

We believe that the very first step is the most important one in becoming a successful investor. To help you take that first step we wanted to help you get started as easily as possible. That’s why we kept asking ourselves: how can we offer a risk- and hassle-free way for people to start investing?

Our initial thought was to waive our fees during a ‘trial’ period. But then we quickly realized that it wasn’t enough. You’d still need to share lots of personal info with us and put up your own money to invest – something that would require a bit of at leap of faith, especially for first time investors.

We also toyed with the idea of offering a paper money account as many online brokerages do (i.e. creating virtual accounts with $1,000 of virtual money). Again that idea didn’t quite hit the mark with us. In theory, a paper money account would have been a good way to get people comfortable with how our service works, but in practice paper money accounts rarely engage their users. The reason is simple: you just don’t treat fake money the same way as real money. The emotions around real money are completely different. Most people are likely to take an ‘I don’t care anymore’ approach after a couple of days of dealing with a fake money account.

So it became apparent that for us to launch a successful trial program – and mimic the real experience of investing with ModernAdvisor – we needed to invest real money. Since we wanted to keep it risk-free and simple, we decided to invest our own money, passing on the gains if there are any. Not a bad deal, right?

Keep in mind that since our resources are limited, we can only offer 250 trial spots at a time. But don’t worry if you don’t get in on the first wave. New spots will become available as soon as existing trial accounts expire, or when a trial user converts to a regular client.

So if you want to heed to Mark Twain’s advice and get ahead as an investor, we would love to have you start your investment journey with us today at www.modernadvisor.ca/springboard. Once you do, we’ll guide you along the way and help you reach your financial goals.