Examined Oct 3, 2026 $5 to $50, amount set by Stash $12 a month subscription Stash will not tell you what this pays until its offer message arrives, and your terms cap it at $50.
The statement Stash addresses to invited customers puts a cash bonus at $5 to $50 and caps a stock reward at $20. No odds and no distribution are published, so there is nothing to tell you whether $5 or $50 is the normal outcome. Treat the floor as your planning number and anything above it as a pleasant surprise.
What your statement says
| Cash bonus | $5 to $50 |
|---|---|
| Stock reward | Up to $20 |
| Stock reward not claimed within seven days | $20 cash instead |
| Qualifying deposit | One cent or more |
| The subscription, whatever the reward | $12 a month |
| Published odds across the range | None |
Stash will deposit between $5 and $50 into your Qualifying New Personal Portfolio
This statement opens “You have received a designated referral invitation”, so it is the one written for the person signing up. It also sets the deposit at “at least one cent ($0.01)”.
The subscription the bonus has to outrun
Stash now sells a single plan at $12 a month, or $108 if you pay for the year. On top of that it charges an advisory fee of 0.25% a year on Smart Portfolios holding $1,000 or more and on managed retirement accounts. That kind of fee is usually called an AUM fee, short for assets under management, meaning an annual charge calculated as a percentage of the money they manage for you rather than a flat price. A $5 reward is under half of one month's subscription, and even $50 at the very top of the cash range covers just over four months of it.
- The reward floor in your statement$5
- The top of the cash range$50
- One month of the Stash subscription$12
Stash publishes no odds across the range, so the floor is the only figure you can plan with. The subscription is charged whatever the reward turns out to be.
Do this, in this order
- Wait for your own offer message and read the number. This is the only figure that binds. It tells you whether you are getting cash or stock, exactly how much, and what deposit is required. Do not act on a screenshot from a stranger, and do not assume you were offered the same as your friend.
- Check which account you are opening. The reward attaches to a Personal Portfolio, which is Stash's ordinary taxable brokerage account, meaning a normal investment account with no special tax treatment, unlike a retirement account. Stash Retire, Stash Custodial, and Smart Portfolio accounts are all excluded from the program. Qualifying through a Stash Banking account also works.
- Link a funding source and make a deposit. Your statement asks for at least one cent, counted once the transfer has fully settled. There is no trade requirement, so funding is the whole job.
- If you are given stock, claim it within seven days. Stock rewards must be claimed through the in-app instructions within seven calendar days. Miss the window and that stock reward is forfeited; Stash deposits a $20 cash bonus instead.
- Leave it alone for 90 days, and know that selling does not free it. The bonus must sit in your Personal Portfolio for 90 days from the day it was first deposited. If you sell a stock reward, the sale proceeds have to stay in the account for the rest of that 90 days. Selling changes what you hold, not when you can leave.
- Do not let the invitation go stale. Your invitation expires 90 calendar days after you create your Stash login. Set up and fund the account in one sitting rather than leaving it half done.
The fine print that can still cost you the reward
Either account closing kills your reward. If either account is closed or is not in good standing for any reason at any time, the terms say the cash bonuses or stock rewards awarded are forfeited.
Stash can change or end the offer. Your statement reserves the right to terminate or amend the offer or the program at any time, and to refuse or recover a reward it finds was obtained wrongly, fraudulently or in error.
Payment is not instant. Stash pays once your new account qualifies. A stock reward may take up to four business days to appear in your Personal Portfolio, and the 90-day clock runs from the day it is first deposited.
It does not stack, and it has no end date. Your statement says the program is “not valid with any other offers”. It publishes no expiry, and Stash can cancel, terminate, modify or suspend it.
Is it worth your time?
This is not an offer you can plan around. You cannot see the amount before you commit, there are no published odds across a range that runs ten-fold from bottom to top, the money is stuck for 90 days whether or not you sell, and the product underneath charges $12 every month plus a quarter of a percent a year on some accounts. If Stash is the app you want and a friend has a link, take the reward as a small bonus on a decision you had already made, and read your offer message carefully. As a reason to open an account, it does not clear the bar.
If you refer someone yourself
Sending invitations runs under a separate document, Stash's statement for customers who send them, effective June 25, 2025. Its wider range, $5 to $100 cash or $20 to $100 in stock, is where any $100 figure for Stash comes from. It is open to US residents with an individual taxable brokerage account in good standing, pays nothing for someone who already has an account or was invited by somebody else, and caps what you can collect at $1,000 in any trailing twelve months.
