From Little Acorns, Mighty Oaks Grow

Spare change investing apps like Acorns, Stash, and Chime have changed the way young investors enter the market. They round up your purchases, so if you spend $2.40 on a cup of coffee, it will round up and invest the $0.60.

The result? You accumulate an investment portfolio without even realizing it. The interfaces are easy to use and everything happens automatically.

While "spare-change investing" or "micro-investing" sounds like a new concept, the reality is that investors have been using different tools to automatically and consistently invest small amounts of money into the market for a long time.

Dollar-cost averaging—investing at regular intervals regardless of market conditions—has been a favorite of seasoned investors for a long time. 

But is this strategy enough? Will it help you build wealth?

The hard truth? Probably not.

While these apps are a great way to get started, they're not a substitute for a solid investing strategy. Investing spare change won't get you very far. To truly build wealth, you need to contribute larger amounts regularly and take advantage of tax-advantaged accounts like Roth IRAs or 401(k)s.