Our Score: 9
Minimum Deposit: $500
Annual Fees: 0.25%
Human Advisor Access: No
Get Started With Wealthfront
Best For: Wealthfront offers robo-advising products that work well for the needs of a wide range of investors, from beginners with no investment experience to experts looking to fine-tune a portfolio that’s kept in line by automatic systems.
The automated investing product suggests an ideal portfolio based on your profile but gives you plenty of customization options with more than 200 available exchange-traded funds (ETFs). You can choose a classic portfolio, a socially responsible portfolio, or customize your own.
Taxable accounts can save with automated tax-loss harvesting, and those with $100,000 or more can tap into direct indexing for further investing efficiency.
Potential Drawbacks: Wealthfront uses a simple, flat fee structure which means larger accounts pay higher fees. And if you want access to a human advisor, Wealthfront isn’t for you. This is a software-only robo-advisor regardless of your account balance.
Fees: Wealthfront uses a flat fee of 0.25% of assets under management, automatically deducted from your account. For taxable accounts, it claims most users save more on taxes than the annual cost of the account.
Pros:
- Wide range of available ETFs
- Simple fee structure
- Control over your portfolio composition
- Tax-loss harvesting for taxable accounts
Cons:
- No access to human advisors
- No fractional shares