The Investor Junkie team has spent a lot of time with the top robo-advisors, evaluating each one to help our readers make informed choices about which service best suits their needs. So how do we judge them?
When rating robo-advisor services, we take a close look at six crucial criteria:
- Commissions & Fees: How much does the robo-advisor charge its users to use its service? Is there a good value for your money?
- Tools & Resources: Besides just investing your money, what research, calculators, planning programs, etc., does the robo-advisor offer to help you maximize your investing experience?
- Customer Service: How can you access the customer service team, and when? Does the robo-advisor have a call center open on the weekend? Can you access help via live chat?
- Investment Options: What kinds of accounts can you invest in with the robo-advisor? Does it offer both taxable accounts and IRAs?
- Ease of Use: Does the user interface make sense? Does it have a seamless mobile app? What kinds of accessibility options does the robo-advisor offer?
- Asset Allocation: How does the robo-advisor’s algorithm consider asset allocation? Can it invest in a diverse portfolio with commodities, real estate, etc., as well as ETFs and mutual funds? And is the asset allocation automatically rebalanced?
Taking into consideration the criteria above, we have selected a few that consistently score high marks.
