Robo brokers

Portfolios under $100,000 are not customizable beyond risk settings the process of opening and funding an account is more difficult than at other robo-advisories

Best robo-advisors

The top robo-advisors for every kind of investor, ranked by our experts

We publish unbiased product reviews; our opinions are our own and are not influenced by payment we receive from our advertising partners. Learn more about how we review products and read our advertiser disclosure for how we make money.

We've spent thousands of hours analyzing the robo-advisor market in order to identify the best options for a wide range of needs and objectives. This list represents our top rated robo-advisors across a number of categories, all driven by our proprietary rating methodology. We focus on highlighting the best robo-advisors possible and do not give any preference to robo-advisors from which we may receive compensation. These are the robo-advisors we'd recommend to our family and friends, and they're the same ones we're recommending to you.

Best robo-advisors:

Wealthfront: best overall and best for goal setting

Interactive advisors: best for socially responsible investing and best for portfolio construction

Betterment: best for beginners and best for cash management

Personal capital: best for portfolio management

M1 finance: best for sophisticated investors and best for low costs

Merrill guided investing: best for education

E*TRADE core portfolios: best for mobile

Wealthfront: best overall and best for goal setting

Account minimum: $500

Fees: 0.25% for most accounts, no trading commission or fees for withdrawals, minimums, or transfers. 0.42%–0.46% for 529 plans

Best overall: wealthfront is our top choice overall for robo-advisors because it offers the full package of goal-setting, planning, banking, and investing in an elegant, user-friendly platform.

Wealthfront offers fully digital investing for a very competitive price. It has taken huge strides towards its goal of self-driving money with the launch of autopilot, which monitors bank accounts and moves funds above your monthly spending needs into an investing account or wealthfront's high-yield savings account. It’s worth taking a look at the scenarios provided by path, even if you have your primary investment account at another institution. The other pieces of wealthfront’s offering—invest, cash, save, and borrow—can help you accumulate wealth, manage your cash, and open a line of credit without any fuss. Fees for investing are on the lower end of the scale, charging 0.25% of the assets under management.

Best for goal setting: wealthfront is also our top choice for goal setting due to the high quality of its goal-setting and planning technology, which is excellent and should serve as a model for other robo-advisors to emulate.

You can develop a detailed retirement plan, or connect to third-party data to figure out how much you should set aside for a planned home purchase or for college expenses. Setting up a wealthfront account gives you access to path, the free financial planning tool that integrates your account data and uses third-party data to better project your financial situation, whether or not you open an investment account.

Terrific financial planning that helps you see the big picture

Goal-setting assistance goes in-depth for large goals, such as home purchases and college savings

Portfolio line of credit available

If you have multiple goals, path shows you the trade-offs you’ll face

No online chat for customers or prospective customers

Wealthfront carries no excess SIPC insurance

Portfolios under $100,000 are not customizable beyond risk settings

Larger accounts may contain more expensive mutual funds

Interactive advisors: best for sustainable investing and best for portfolio construction

Account minimum: $100 for 62 of the portfolios; $5,000-50,000 for 27 other portfolios (with the majority of these 27 portfolios having minimums between $5,000-20,000)

Fees: 0.08-1.5% per year, depending on advisor and portfolio chosen

Best for sustainable investing: interactive advisors is our top choice for sustainable investing due to its special emphasis on socially responsible investing products and the availability of pre-built portfolios invested according to ESG strategies.

A service offered by interactive brokers (IBKR), interactive advisors offers a wide range of portfolios from which to choose. Portfolios invested according to ESG strategies, including some of the smart beta portfolios, are marked in the list with a green leaf. If you choose a portfolio that is not invested according to ESG strategies, you can avoid entire groups of companies that do not share your values, as well as single stock exclusions that automatically apply to all your investments. Each exclusion group typically comprises 25 stocks and is reviewed annually. An interactive brokers feature currently in beta test, the impact dashboard, is available to interactive advisors customers via their brokerage account, and is designed to help clients evaluate and invest in companies that align with their values.

Best for portfolio construction: interactive advisors is also our top choice for portfolio construction because it offers a vast range of asset classes that can be used to build a portfolio.

The portfolio choices at interactive advisors are varied. Most portfolios contain fractional shares of individual stocks. Some portfolios have up to 300 stocks. There are also portfolios made up of etfs from vanguard, wisdom tree, legg mason, state street, and others. Other portfolios follow certain market sectors, including real estate, consumer discretionary spending, and utilities. This allows investors to take sector positions, which is something not many robo-advisories offer. You can also invest in a general global portfolio that includes equities and fixed income from across the globe. This level of portfolio customization is rare within the current robo-advisory industry and it is one of the main reasons that interactive advisors may be a better fit for well-informed investors who want that level of control.

Wide range of portfolios offered

Most portfolios include baskets of stocks rather than etfs

Actively managed portfolios are run by boutique wealth managers, and clients mirror their trades

The portfolioanalyst tool lets you consolidate and track all of your financial accounts

Customers can borrow against their non-managed accounts at relatively low-interest rates

Some of the actively managed portfolios have very high minimums

The process of opening and funding an account is more difficult than at other robo-advisories

Not immediately obvious what your actual costs will be

You need a large account and a high cash balance to earn interest on idle cash

What is a robo-advisor?

Robo-advisors (also spelled robo-adviser or roboadvisor) are digital platforms that provide automated, algorithm-driven financial planning services with little to no human supervision. A typical robo-advisor collects information from clients about their financial situation and future goals through an online survey and then uses the data to offer advice and automatically invest client assets. The best robo-advisors offer easy account setup, robust goal planning, account services, portfolio management, and security features, attentive customer service, comprehensive education, and low fees.

Key takeaways

Robo-advisors (roboadvisors, robo-advisers) are digital platforms that provide automated, algorithm-driven investment services with little to no human supervision.

Robo-advisors most often automate and optimize passive indexing strategies that follow mean-variance optimization.

Robo-advisors are often very inexpensive and require very low opening balances so that nearly everybody can benefit from a robo-advisor if they choose.

Rise of the robo advisors

Understanding robo-advisors

The first robo-advisor, betterment, launched in 2008 and started taking investor money in 2010, during the height of the great recession. Their initial purpose was to rebalance assets within target-date funds as a way for investors to manage passive, buy-and-hold investments through a simple online interface. The technology itself was nothing new. Human wealth managers have been using automated portfolio allocation software since the early 2000s. But until 2008, they were the only ones who could buy the technology, so clients had to employ a financial advisor to benefit from the innovation. Today, most robo-advisors put to use passive indexing strategies that are optimized using some variant of modern portfolio theory (MPT). Some robo-advisors offer optimized portfolios for socially responsible investing (SRI), hallal investing, or tactical strategies that mimic hedge funds.

The advent of modern robo-advisors has completely changed that narrative by delivering the service straight to consumers. After a decade of development, robo-advisors are now capable of handling much more sophisticated tasks, such as tax-loss harvesting, investment selection, and retirement planning. The industry has experienced explosive growth as a result; client assets managed by robo-advisors hit $60 billion at year-end 2015 and are projected to reach US$2 trillion by 2020 and $7 trillion worldwide by 2025.

Other common designations for robo-advisors include "automated investment advisor," "automated investment management," and "digital advice platforms." they are all referring to the same consumer shift towards using fintech (financial technology) applications for investment management.

Portfolio rebalancing

The majority of robo-advisors utilize modern portfolio theory (or some variant) in order to build passive, indexed portfolios for their users. Once established, robo-advisors continue to monitor those portfolios to ensure that the optimal asset class weightings are maintained even after markets move. Robo-advisors achieve this by using rebalancing bands.

Every asset class, or individual security, is given a target weight and a corresponding tolerance range. For example, an allocation strategy might include the requirement to hold 30% in emerging market equities, 30% in domestic blue chips, and 40% in government bonds with a corridor of +/-5% for each asset class. Basically, emerging market and domestic blue chip holdings can both fluctuate between 25% and 35% while 35% to 45% of the portfolio must be allocated to government bonds. When the weight of any one holding jumps outside of the allowable band, the entire portfolio is rebalanced to reflect the initial target composition.

In the past, this type of rebalancing has been frowned upon because it can be time consuming and generate transaction fees. However, with robo-advisors this is both automatic and virtually no-cost.

Another type of rebalancing commonly found in robo-advisors—and which is made cost-effective through the use of algorithms—is tax-loss harvesting. Tax-loss harvesting is a strategy that involves selling securities at a loss to offset a capital gains tax liability in a similar security. This strategy is typically employed to limit the recognition of short-term capital gains. To do this, robo-advisors will maintain a stable of two or more etfs for each asset class. So, if the S&P 500 loses value, it will automatically sell that one to lock in a capital loss while at the same time buying a different S&P 500 ETF. Robo-advisors must be careful to select the appropriate etfs and backup etfs so as to avoid a wash sale violation.

Benefits of using robo-advisors

The main advantage of robo-advisors is that they are low-cost alternatives to traditional advisors. By eliminating human labor, online platforms can offer the same services at a fraction of the cost. Most robo-advisors charge an annual flat fee of 0.2% to 0.5% of a client's total account balance. That compares with the typical rate of 1% to 2% charged by a human financial planner (and potentially more for commission-based accounts).

Robo-advisors are also more accessible. They are available 24/7 as long as the user has an internet connection. Furthermore, it takes significantly less capital to get started, as the minimum assets required to register for an account are typically in the hundreds to thousands ($5,000 is a standard baseline). One of the most popular robo-advisors, betterment, has no account minimum at all.

In contrast, human advisors do not normally take on clients with less than $100,000 in investable assets, especially those who are established in the field. They prefer high-net-worth individuals who need a variety of wealth management services and can afford to pay for them.

Efficiency is another significant advantage these online platforms have. For instance, before robo-advisors, if a client wanted to execute a trade, he/she would have to call or physically meet a financial advisor, explain their needs, fill out the paperwork, and wait. Now, all of that can be done with the click of a few buttons in the comfort of one's home.

On the other hand, using a robo-advisor will limit the options that you can make as an individual investor. You cannot choose which mutual funds or etfs you are invested in, and you cannot purchase individual stocks or bonds in your account. Still, picking stocks or trying to beat the market has been shown time and again to produce poor results, on average, and ordinary investors are often better off with an indexing strategy.

Hiring A robo-advisor

Opening a robo-advisor will often entail taking a short risk-profiling questionnaire and an evaluation of your financial situation, time horizon, and subjective investment goals. You will have the opportunity in many cases to link your bank account directly for quick and easy funding of your robo-advisory account.

The hallmark of automated advisory services is their ease of online access. But many digital platforms tend to attract and target certain demographics more than others. Namely, the younger cohort of millennial and generation X investors who are technology-dependent and still accumulating their investable assets. This population is much more comfortable sharing personal information online and entrusting technology with important tasks, such as wealth management. Indeed, much of the marketing efforts of robo-advisory firms employ social media channels to reach millennials.

Still, the industry is garnering increasing interest from baby boomers and high-net-worth investors as well, especially as the technology continues to improve. Recent research by hearts and wallets shows half of the investors aged 53 to 64, and one-third of retirees, use digital resources to manage their finances.

Robo-advisors and the SEC

Robo-advisors hold the same legal status as human advisors. They must register with the U.S. Securities and exchange commission to conduct business, and are therefore subject to the same securities laws and regulations as traditional broker-dealers. The official designation is "registered investment advisor," or RIA for short. Most robo-advisors are members of the independent regulator financial industry regulatory authority (FINRA) as well. Investors can use brokercheck to research robo-advisors the same way they would a human advisor.

Assets managed by robo-advisors are not insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation (FDIC), as they are securities held for investment purposes, not bank deposits. This does not necessarily mean clients are unprotected however, as there are many other avenues by which broker-dealers can insure assets. For example, wealthfront, the second-largest robo-advisor in the U.S., is insured by the securities investor protection corporation (SIPC).

How robo-advisors make money

The primary way that most robo-advisors earn money is through a wrap fee based on assets under management (AUM). While traditional (human) financial advisors typically charge 1% or more per year of AUM, most robo-advisors charge around just 0.25% per year. They are able to charge lower fees because they use algorithms to automate trades and indexed strategies that utilize commission-free and low-cost etfs. Because they charge lower fees, however, robo-advisors must attract a larger number of smaller accounts in order to generate the same revenues as a pricier advisor.

In addition to the management fee, robo-advisors can make money in several other ways. One way is the interest earned on cash balances ("cash management"), which is credited to the robo-advisor instead of the client. Since many robo-advised accounts only have a small allocation to cash in their portfolios, this can only become a significant source of income, again, if they have many users.

Another revenue stream comes from payment for order flow. Typically, robo-advisors will accumulate funds that have been added from deposits, interest, and dividends and then bundle these together into large block orders executed at just one or two points in a day. This allows them to execute less trades and get favorable terms due to the large order sizes. Many times, these blocks will be directed to particular liquidity providers such as high-frequency trading shops or hedge funds in return for rebates which are paid to the robo-advisor.

Finally, robo-advisors can earn money by marketing targeted financial products and services to its customers such as mortgages, credit cards, or insurance policies. These are often done through strategic partnerships rather than the use of advertising networks.

The best-in-class robo-advisors

There are now over 200 robo-advisors available in the U.S., and more of them are launching every year. All of them provide some combination of investment management, retirement planning, and overall financial advice.

Below is a compilation of the most competitive robo offerings with the largest market shares.

Standalone robo-advisors

These firms are some of the earliest pioneers of digital advisory technology. They have the most competitive fees with low to zero account minimums. Clients who have no current invested assets can start from scratch with these platforms.

Legacy offerings of robo-advisors

An increasing number of financial services and asset management firms are launching their own robo-advisors. These platforms typically have higher fees and account minimums and are geared more towards sophisticated investors. They are convenient options for clients who already use these firms as their asset custodians.

Shortcomings of robo-advisors

The entry of robo-advisors has broken down some of the traditional barriers between the financial services world and average consumers. Because of these online platforms, sound financial planning is now accessible to everyone, not just high-net-worth individuals.

Still, many in the industry have doubts about the viability of robos as a one-size-fits-all solution to wealth management. Given the relative nascency of their technological capabilities and minimal human presence, robo-advisors have been criticized for lacking in empathy and sophistication. They are good entry-level tools for people with small accounts and limited investment experience, namely millennials, but are far from sufficient for those who need advanced services like estate planning, complicated tax management, trust fund administration, and retirement planning.

Automated services are also ill-equipped to deal with unexpected crises or extraordinary situations. For instance, if a young person's parents passed away and he/she receives an inheritance, going online to a robo-advisor to manage the money is probably not the optimal decision.

In fact, a study conducted by investopedia and the financial planning association found that consumers prefer a combination of human and technological guidance, especially when times are rough. According to the report, 40% of participants said they would not be comfortable using an automated investing platform during extreme market volatility.

Furthermore, robo-advisors operate on the assumption that clients have defined goals and a clear understanding of their financial circumstances, to begin with. For many, that is not the case. Answering questions like, "is your risk tolerance low, moderate, or high?" presupposes the user has a fundamental knowledge of investment concepts and the real-life implications of each option they choose.

Trading conditions of robomarkets broker

Robomarkets provides its clients only with the most comfortable trading conditions.

Low spreads
from 0 pips

Execution from
0.1 seconds

5 account currencies

Cent accounts with
minimum lot size of 0.01

8 asset
classes

Expert advisors and scalping
are enabled

Account types

First deposit

Execution type

Spreads

Commission free stock trading

Instruments

Platforms

Pro-standard

The most popular account type at robomarkets. Suitable for traders with different trading experience on the currency market.

Prime

"prime" accounts are suitable for experienced traders and have the best features of ECN accounts.

Pro-cent

"pro-cent" accounts allow traders to test new trading strategies with small deposits.

“ECN” accounts are intended for professional traders, who choose optimal trading conditions with lowest spreads.

R trader

R trader is a new generation platform, which combines classic design, user-friendliness, advanced technologies, and access to the largest global financial markets.

First deposit 100 USD

Execution type market execution

Spreads floating from 0 points

Commission free stock trading

Instruments over 12,000 stocks, indices,
forex, etfs, cfds, cryptocurrencies

Platforms

Demo account is an excellent opportunity to test trading conditions, which are offered by robomarkets on real accounts, without investing funds.

First deposit not required

Execution type market execution

Spreads depends on type of account

Commission free stock trading

Instruments depends on type of account

Platforms

Trading platforms

The most popular platform for trading on the forex market with a great deal of information materials, trading robots, and indicators.

3 types of order execution

9 timeframes for charts

50 integrated indicators for technical analysis

Variety of order types

The latest version of metatrader platform with an opportunity to choose from netting and hedging systems.

4 types of order execution

Multi-currency tester

Market depth

6 types of pending orders

Robomarkets trading platforms

Robomarkets presents mobiletrader and webtrader, proprietary platforms, more flexible and cutting-edge alternatives to desktop platforms.

Opportunity to trade from a browser on any ios- or android-based mobile device.

The same functionality as on desktop platforms.

Control over your positions from anywhere in the world.

A multi-asset platform with high-functioning tools for technical analysis and the fastest financial charts in the industry.

More than 12,000 stocks, indices, FX, and ETF.

Minimum deposit is 100 USD.

Unique trading robots builder, which requires no programming skills.

Trading platforms center

Exclusive trading platforms

For those traders who prefer to be always on the move we present exclusive roboforex trading platforms: webtrader and mobiletrader.

Security of your funds

Robomarkets follows the EU-legislation and meets actual requirements to secure your trading with us.

European regulated broker
cysec license no. 191/13

Negative balance
protection

Member of the
ICF

Segregated accounts

start trading now

8 asset classes

Get access to the largest global markets with the help of robomarkets accounts and platforms.

Forex

Robomarkets offers reliable and transparent access to trading more than 40 currency pairs.

Forex features

Institutional spreads from 0 pips

Metatrader4, metatrader5, and R trader platforms

Fastest possible execution speed

Stocks

Investments in real US stocks and cfds on stocks through one of the most reliable platforms in the industry.

Stocks features

Minimum deposit is 100 USD

Metatrader4, metatrader5, and R trader platforms

Free online up-to-date data from stock exchange

Indices

Index is often perceived as a stocks portfolio, which represent some market or a market sector.

Indices features

Tight spreads without mark-up

Metatrader4 and R trader platforms

More than 10 instruments

Join the ETF trading, where assets worth more than 3 trillion USD are managed.

ETF features

Minimum deposit is 100 USD

R trader platform

Corporate events supported and handled automatically

Soft commodities

Try trading etfs on soft commodities such as cocoa, corn, coffee, soybean, sugar, fruit or wheat.

Soft commodities features

Minimum deposit is 100 USD

R trader platform

More than 100 instruments

Energy commodities

Try trading cfds and etfs on energy commodities such as natural gas, oil, heating oil, and ethanol.

Energy commodities features

Low spreads

Metatrader4 and R trader platforms

Excellent choice for intraday trading

Minimum deposit - 100 USD / 100 EUR / 100 GBP

Metals

Try trading cfds and etfs on precious metals including gold, silver, palladium, and platinum, as well as gold/USD and silver/USD pairs.

Metals features

Opportunity to hedge risks of political instability and dollar weakness

Metatrader4, metatrader5, and R trader platforms

Minimum deposit - 100 USD / 100 EUR / 100 GBP

Cryptocurrencies

Trading cfds on popular cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, bitcoin cash, dash, EOS, ethereum, litecoin, and ripple.

Cryptocurrency features

Metatrader 4, metatrader 5, R trader platforms

More than 10 cryptocurrencies are available

Leverage up to 1:2

24/7 trading

0% commissions

When our clients deposit their trading accounts, no commission is charged, because robomarkets covers all deposit expenses. Choose the payment system according to your convenience, not cost effectiveness.

Moreover, robomarkets offers its clients to withdraw funds with no commission twice a month.

Instant withdrawals

Automatic withdrawal system: withdrawals within a minute for certain payment methods

System works 24/7

Simple, reliable, and fast

More than 20 ways to deposit funds

Invest on forex

For simple short-term investments

1,000 traders to choose from

Detailed statistics on the trader’s trading results

Opportunity to cancel subscription at any moment

Copyfx platform was created for those traders, who look for a simple and convenient way to invest funds.

Robomarkets market analytics

Forex analytics

Fibonacci retracements analysis 19.01.2021 (EURUSD, USDJPY)

The yen remains in the range. Overview for 19.01.2021

The euro is trying to recover. Overview for 19.01.2021

Economic calendar

Company news

Robomarkets: changes in trading schedule (martin luther king jr. Day)

Robomarkets receives the “best mobile trading platform” award at professional trader awards 2020

Robomarkets: changes in trading schedule (christmas and new year holidays)

Currency quotes

symbol	bid	ask	spread
AUDUSD	0.76903	0.76907	0.4
GBPCHF	1.21089	1.211	1.1
GBPJPY	141.53	141.538	0.8
GBPUSD	1.36202	1.36208	0.6
EURCHF	1.07766	1.07772	0.6
EURGBP	0.88993	0.88999	0.6
EURJPY	125.959	125.963	0.4
EURUSD	1.21217	1.21219	0.2
NZDUSD	0.71074	0.71083	0.9
USDCAD	1.2744	1.27443	0.3
USDCHF	0.88904	0.88909	0.5
USDJPY	103.91	103.914	0.4

Exclusive market analytics

Claws & horns, an independent organization that provides brokers with a set of necessary analytical tools.

Fxwirepro™ is a leader among financial analysis companies providing real time research to FX participants around the world.

Recognized by prestigious awards

Recognized by the most respected experts of the financial markets industry.

More than 200,000 trading accounts.

Best mobile trading platform

Best ECN broker (europe)

Most innovative trading platform (MT5) (europe)

Best indices
broker

Most trusted
european broker

Best
global stocks broker

Safest
european broker

Platinum partner of "autolife" team: starikovich – heskes

Robomarkets ltd (ex. Roboforex (CY) ltd) is a european broker regulated by the cysec, license no. 191/13.
Robomarkets ltd provides financial services only to the residents of the EU/EEA countries.

The website is the property of robomarkets ltd.

We understand that in order to maintain comfortable conditions for work, it's essential for traders to focus on searching for efficient trading methods instead of worrying about the adherence of cooperation conditions by the broker. Therefore, we made additional efforts to protect our liabilities to clients through the civil liability insurance policy for forex brokers up to 5,000,000 EUR. This program includes market-leading insurance coverage in case of risks that may lead to financial losses of clients (such as fraud, omissions, negligence, errors, and others).

Robo brokers

Fintech, robo-advisors & “robo-brokers”

Fintech aka financial technology is the term used to describe the plethora of new technology platforms that are disrupting the financial industry. (lending tree, square, mint, personal capital, venmo, kickstarter etc.) until recently finance has been dominated by a few powerful wall street firms that have continued in their own, somewhat archaic ways. Banks and other institutions were slow to adopt technology not due to a lack of intelligence or savvy, but because they have always known that technology could replace or eliminate much of the value they provide customers. Does this sound familiar?

It was only a matter of time techies in T-shirts would take aim and disrupt such a huge and profitable industry. Fintech started to stir the pot about ten years ago, but really started to gain momentum around 2013. From payments to wealth management, to peer-to-peer lending, to crowdfunding, a new generation is taking aim at the heart of the industry.

Despite the fact that many very successful and promising companies have began disrupting the industry, they have barely made a dent in the overall market. Believe it or not, fintech relies on traditional finance as much as it challenges it.

Fintech robo-advisors
robo-advisors, like wealthfront, futureadvisor, and betterment, are the recipients of a lot of VC money. These platforms are geared for those who are looking to manage their own investments, not for those currently working with a human advisor. The robo-advisor industry, still in it’s infancy, can claim just under $20 billion dollars under management, a small fraction of the $24 trillion in US retirement assets. What’s interesting to note is that vanguard and schwab are feeling the heat so much so that they have launched their own automated advice platforms.

Robot hand ordering on a laptop keyboard an exchange trade. Robot trading system is a computer trading program that automatically submits trades to an exchange without any human interventions. Depth of field with focus on finger.

The ironic truth regarding trust
it’s interesting to note that many people, especially millennials, seem to trust giving their money to a one year old startup with a 25 year old CEO, than a traditional bank that has been in business for many years. Maybe it’s because we grew up during the financial collapse caused by traditional greedy bankers and lenders (among other things). Maybe it’s because it it is all automated then there is no salesperson there to single us out and screw us. Whatever it is, there is a trust in silicon valley startups far exceeding that of wall street.

My fintech usage
I use several fintech products. I first began using mint back in 2009 to track my expenses. As a starving college student, I used it out of curiosity. I didn’t have spending problems at that time because I had no money to spend. In 2013, no longer a poor college student, I placed a decent amount of my savings into wealthfront. They do almost everything a traditional financial advisor would do for me. They allow you to set your portfolio based on your risk tolerance. They invest primarily in low cost ETF’s, which you should do, unless you are warren buffet. The difference is that there are no annoying sales pitches and I pay .25% as opposed to 2.5%. Personal capital is another wealth management platform. Aimed at those that want to manage all the assets and finances in one place. I link all of my bank accounts, credit cards, IRA’s, 401k’s, retirement accounts, wealthfront etc. I have also been happy with it because I can view all my financial information in one place, for free. They also provide their users with a human advisor for an additional charge. I use venmo at least once a week to safely transfer money to friends.

Robo-brokers
so how does this apply to the commercial real estate industry. I predict that we will quickly see “robo-broker” platforms gaining market share. Yes, I just coined the term “robo-broker.” similar to the financial sector, the multi-sided platforms will be bringing together suppliers of real estate with users and buyers of real estate electronically. We will see these platforms have their largest impact in office leasing transaction space, since small office spaces can be somewhat commoditized and because more and more businesses are looking for short-term and flexible space. I see a need for an automated platform to better connect occupiers of office space with suppliers of office space. Companies like liquidspace, the square foot, hirise, spacelist, and others are already doing this. I’m sure we will see similar platforms disrupting other sides of the CRE industry as well.

We can learn from fintech that there is a portion of our market that will eventually be serviced with automated platforms. Beginning with office leasing and data analysis, software platforms will have an a huge impact in positive ways. Like the financial industry, I don’t think we will have to worry about them taking our jobs anytime soon.

Best robo advisors of 2021

Find the robo advisor that best meets your investment needs.

A robo advisor is an automated investment manager—a software platform where a computer algorithm allocates your funds to a professionally-designed portfolio. These relatively new investment platforms tend to charge a fraction of what a traditional, human investment advisor would, and you could get a better portfolio at the same time.

Choosing which robo advisor is right for you depends on your current portfolio, what your investment goals are, if you want access to a financial advisor, and if your focus is on retirement. We considered each of these factors, as well as fees and features, to come up with our list of the best robo advisors.

Robo advisor	why we picked it	account fees	account minimum
betterment	best overall	0.25%	$0
charles schwab	runner-up	0%	$5,000
sofi	best for no fees	0%	$0
wealthfront	best for multiple accounts	0.25%	$500
sigfig	best for robo advising in your existing accounts	free up to $100,000, then 0.25%	$2,000
blooom	best for employer-sponsored retirement plans	$95 to $250 per year	$0
personal capital	best for hybrid human/robo advising	0.49% to 0.89%	$100,000

Best overall: betterment

Founded in 2010, betterment pioneered the robo advisor industry as we know it today. The robo advisor has attracted 480,000 customers and more than $22 billion in assets to the platform. It offers taxable and tax-advantaged retirement accounts among its suite of banking and investment products. Betterment allows you to start accounts with no minimum and all accounts include automatic features like rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and customized portfolios.

The 0.25% management fee applies to both taxable and retirement accounts including IRA and even 401(k) plans if your employer chooses betterment as a plan administrator. If you’re willing to pay 0.40% and have a $100,000 minimum balance, you can also get access to a human financial advisor who will help with your entire financial life, not just what you have in betterment.

No minimum balance for the standard account

All accounts include tax-loss harvesting

Support for multiple types of investment accounts

Ability to sync external accounts to keep all an eye on all finances

0.25% fee is higher than some competitors

Charges higher fees and requires a minimum balance if you want access to human financial advisors

Charles schwab: runner-up

Charles schwab is a massive brokerage founded in 1971 that holds more than $4 trillion in client funds and more than $480 billion in its own mutual funds and etfs. In addition to traditional brokerage accounts and investment services for virtually any financial situation, schwab offers its own robo advising product called schwab intelligent portfolios.

The core schwab intelligent portfolios product is free to use with no advisory fees or commissions. The only major downside is that you need at least $5,000 to get started. If you want the robo advisor experience with the added assistance of a financial planner, schwab intelligent portfolios premium charges $300 for setup and $30 per month for unlimited access to a certified financial planner (CFP) as long as you meet the $25,000 minimum balance threshold.

No advising fees or commissions for robo advising

Portfolios built from more than 1,800 etfs

High minimum balance for a basic account

High fees for add-on access to a human financial planner

$50,000 minimum balance to get tax-loss harvesting

Sofi: best for no fees

Sofi is a financial company that offers lending, banking, and investing, among other useful financial products and tools. Sofi was founded in 2011 as a student lender and has since attracted more than 1 million customers across its product portfolio with more than $45 billion in funded loans.

Sofi’s robo advisor is called “automated investing.” it’s a free product and has no minimum balance required. Launched in 2019, automated investing is a basic robo advisor that includes features like goal planning and automatic rebalancing. You can choose between taxable and IRA accounts, too.

Free to use with no management fees

No minimum balance required to open

Features to save for multiple goals simultaneously

All sofi customers get free financial planning appointments and career coaching

No automated tax-loss harvesting

Limited account options

Wealthfront: best for multiple accounts

Wealthfront traces its roots to 2008 when it began as a mutual fund analysis company. These days, it offers banking, investment, and lending. The firm’s robo advisor offers additional features as your portfolio grows.

All accounts include tax-loss harvesting and risk management for a 0.25% fee. For balances of at least $100,000, you get access to stock-level tax-loss harvesting and risk parity. For balances of $500,000 or more, you get access to wealthfront’s smart beta program designed to build you your own portfolio of stocks based on five factors to optimize how your money is invested.

All accounts include automated tax-loss harvesting

Multiple account types including taxable, retirement, and 529 college savings

Advanced features like passiveplus require a $100,000 or $500,000 minimum balance

Minimum balance required to get started

0.25% fee is higher than some competitors

Sigfig: best for robo advising in your existing accounts

Founded as wikinvest in 2006, sigfig provides management of funds from TD ameritrade, charles schwab, and fidelity. Sigfig requires a $2,000 minimum balance and is free to use with balances up to $10,000. Beyond $10,000, you’ll pay 0.25% (though the first $10,000 is still managed for free) and you’ll get access to a sigfig human investment advisor.

Sigfig includes automatic rebalancing and tax-efficient investing strategies to, in theory, help your portfolio keep on growing. Sigfig also offers a free tracking dashboard from which you can manage your retirement accounts, get investment alerts, and portfolio analysis.

Free portfolio tracking software

Minimum balance required to get started

Access a human investment advisor with balances of $10,000 or more

0.25% fee is higher than some competitors

Blooom: best for employer-sponsored retirement plans

Blooom is a unique robo advisor that doesn’t work like the others. Blooom connects to your existing 401(k) or IRA, analyzes your accounts for fees, diversification, and allocation, and then makes trades on your behalf. The entire process takes up to seven business days. This is great because you don’t have to set up any new accounts.

Blooom can manage your fidelity, schwab, and vanguard accounts.

Unlike most other robo advisors, you still have control of the day-to-day management of your brokerage accounts; blooom only adjusts your account about every 95 days, if necessary.

Most robo advisors can’t help you with a 401(k) plan, as those are administered by a brokerage selected by your employer. The option to connect your account and get advice within the constraints of what’s allowed in your account can be very helpful.

Blooom charges $95 per year for an “essentials” account (personalized portfolio), $120 per year for a “standard” account (personalized portfolio, auto-optimization, advisor access), and $250 per year for an “unlimited” account, which includes “standard” features and priority access to advisors. There is no account minimum required, either.

Robo advising for your existing IRA and 401(k) accounts

Automatic investment management in accounts with several major brokerages

The “standard” account includes financial advisor access

No account minimum required

“standard” and “unlimited” account fees are more than some full-featured robo advisors charge

Does not offer non-retirement investing

Personal capital: best for hybrid human/robo

Founded in 2009, personal capital’s investment management service is a hybrid robo/human advisor experience where you work with an advisory team or advisors to manage your investments based on your goals. Personal capital has more than $12 billion in assets under management with more than 24,000 paid clients. Investment services start at 0.89% for clients with up to $1 million under management and decline to 0.49% for those with $10 million or more. You need $100,000 in investable assets to get started. The firm provides three tiers of service based on your balance:

Investment services: $100,000 to $200,000

Wealth management: $200,000.01 to $1 million

Private client: more than $1 million

Each tier offers different levels of advisor access and asset oversight.

Even if you don’t use personal capital’s paid investment service, it’s worth checking out the free investment analysis tools. Anyone can connect their existing investment account to analyze portfolio allocations, fund fees, and other important financial details.

All accounts include access to a human financial advisor

Investment analysis tools are free for anyone to use

Additional features for higher-net-worth clients

High 0.49% to 0.89% management fees

High minimum asset level requirement to get started

What is a robo advisor?

A robo advisor is an automated investment manager. It is a software that works with your financial information. In most cases, new users complete a short questionnaire when signing up asking about their current age, target retirement age, investment goals, and risk tolerance. Based on the results, the algorithm will assign the account to a professionally-designed portfolio made up of low-cost exchange-traded funds (etfs).

Financial management software has superpowers that people don’t, including the ability to analyze investments while you sleep and enter small, frequent trades to lower your taxes and improve your portfolio. This, and low costs, are a big reason why robo advisors are quickly growing in popularity among investors.

How do robo advisors work?

While the name robo advisor might conjure up images of a robot picking stocks, in reality, robo advisors often rely on etfs built based on modern portfolio theory and designed to follow indexes like the S&P 500.

Depending on the robo advisor you choose, you might come across any of these common features:

Taxable or retirement accounts: choose between taxable or retirement accounts so you can set up your accounts to meet specific investment goals.

Automatic portfolio rebalancing: periodic selling and buying of funds keeps your portfolio in-line with your target allocation.

Automated tax-loss harvesting: selling and buying similar securities quickly can capture a tax loss without significantly impacting your portfolio strategy. This can lower your capital gains taxes on taxable investment accounts.

Financial advisor access: the investing platform gives you access to a team of advisors or individual advisors assigned to your account.

Who are robo advisors best for?

Robo advisors are best for investors who want to set and forget their investment portfolios and get active portfolio management. If you don’t know much about investing or just don’t want to spend much time on it, robo advisors are perfect for your needs.

Robo advisors are even a good idea for some experienced investors. The low-fee structure and automated features could make a robo advisor ideal for long-term goals and retirement investing accounts regardless of your investment background.

How should I choose a robo advisor?

The best robo advisor for your needs typically comes down to the cost and features. Most robo advisors use similar signup systems and relatively similar portfolio models. Cost is a huge driver of your long-term returns, so that should be the first place you look when choosing any investment advising service (robo advisor or otherwise.)

Next, you should look at what the robo advisor can do to help you reach your financial goals. While automatic rebalancing is a given with most robo advisors, features like tax-loss harvesting for all accounts can add to returns.

How we chose the best robo advisors

We compared 16 different robo advisors based on fees, investment products offered (etfs, 401(k)s, and iras), access to human financial advisors, features like tax-loss harvesting and rebalancing, and account minimums. Robo advisors that didn’t make the list failed to offer enough of a well-rounded experience for the average user.

Robo brokers

Fintech, robo-advisors & “robo-brokers”

Best robo advisors for 2021

Robo advisors, sometimes also known as automated online advisors or digital investing services, are technology-based investment platforms that offer fully automated online investing. These financial technologies (fintech) firms spring up quickly and target mostly new and younger investors (such as millennials). But which one is the best choice for your investment preferences and risk? What features do robo advisors have in common, and how do they compare to each other?

Quick recap of the best robo-advisors

Here's a quick recap of the best robo advisors currently in the investing space and how they stack up against each other. We've thoroughly reviewed and tested each robo advisor service listed below.

Betterment — best for the beginner investor.

Personal capital — best all-around service

Wealthfront — best for goal-oriented investors

Vanguard digital advisor — best for ETF investing

M1 finance — robo advisors for those who like to remain in control

Ellevest — best for women's special investment needs

Blooom — best to monitor your 401(k) or IRA plan

Leading robo-advisors for investors of 2021

Thanks to the rise in popularity of robo advisors, investing for the future is now more accessible than ever. You don't have to go it alone, be wealthy, have a lot of investment knowledge, or even hire an expensive financial advisor to create a decent asset allocation. Why? Because robo advisors now have the technology to do all of this for you — and at a low annual fee to boot. Here are the leading robo advisors for 2021

1. Betterment — best for the beginner investor

Betterment was one of the first robo advisors to crop up, but that doesn't mean it hasn't remained on the cutting edge. Fees are low (0.15-0.40%, depending on the size of your investment and the level of service you choose), and there's no minimum investment required to get started.

That makes betterment particularly appealing to beginning investors. This is not a product designed for the DIY investing crowd — you can expect to “set it and forget it” with this robo advisor service.

One thing that sets betterment apart from the competition is its premium plan, which offers unlimited access to CFP professionals for guidance on saving up for major life events. These human advisors can help set you on the right path for marriage, children, retirement, or any other big step. You'll also receive advice on your accounts beyond betterment.

Also, betterment recently expanded its socially responsible investing portfolio. In addition to its broad impact portfolio, which focuses on companies that meet certain social, environmental, and governance criteria, you can also focus more on social or climate issues. Betterment's climate portfolio has a special focus on companies that are mitigating climate change, while their social impact portfolio includes companies that are focused on diversity.

2. Personal capital — best all-around service

Our score: 9.5

Personal capital is a robo advisor, and then some. This service combines the investing capabilities of a traditional robo advisor platform with general personal finance functions such as expense monitoring and budgeting.

You can use personal capital ‘s app for free to receive regular summaries of your spending, net worth, and investment portfolio. It can help you determine if you're on target for your retirement, even if you have decades to go. However, if you want to pay for wealth management services, you'll pay 0.49-0.89% annually (depending on your account size). You'll need $100,000 deposited for this premium feature.

3. Wealthfront — best for goal-oriented investors

What makes wealthfront so unique?

You can start with its low fees (only 0.25% per year or free, if you just want to use the financial planning app) and doable minimum investment ($500). But you should also take into account its wealth of investment options and tools that genuinely democratize the investment process.

Wealthfront's path algorithm can help you save for retirement, a home purchase, or your kids' education. You'll get the kind of planning advice you could usually expect from a high-priced personal advisor.

Other unique features include an interest-paying cash account that requires only $1 to open and tax-loss harvesting for all accounts, regardless of size. There are lots of tools and resources here to explore and use to your advantage.

4. Vanguard digital advisor — best for ETF investing

They've recently launched a robo advice service, which means you can get access to their world-class investment service for a low fee of just 0.15% per year. This makes it one of the cheapest robo advisors.

You can set up an account for just $3,000. You'll be automatically enrolled in a customized combination of their top etfs:

Vanguard total stock market ETF

Vanguard total international stock ETF

Vanguard total bond ETF

Vanguard total international bond ETF

Plus, they offer a comprehensive overview of your retirement goals. You can check to make sure your on track to possibly meet your investing goals. You can also include accounts you have at other companies to make sure you have a comprehensive picture. And you can get access to their debt calculator to help pay off your loans.

5. M1 finance — robo advisors for those who like to remain in control

M1 finance is a robo advisor with a twist. That's because it can provide you with more control over choosing your investments than regular robo investors.

M1 finance is an excellent choice for new investors because it teaches you how to build a portfolio using “pies,” which are investing templates. You can create your own pie portfolio by selecting stocks and etfs yourself, or you can let M1's experts and algorithms do it all for you.

There are no minimum investments required to get started with M1 finance. Plus, it's fee-free, too.

6. Ellevest — best for women's special investment needs

Ellevest was created with a mission in mind: to address women's special investment needs. The founder, former wall street exec sallie krawcheck, wanted to tighten the wide gap she saw between men and women when it comes to investing for the future.

Women do have unique financial considerations. They're more likely to take time off work to care for children or elderly parents. They tend to live longer and have steeper retirement-age medical bills. And then there's the big elephant in the room — they earn less than their male counterparts.

Ellevest seeks to make investments in the future easier. Low fees (0.25-0.50% per year) and no minimum required investment are excellent places to start.

7. Blooom — best to monitor your 401(k) or IRA plan

How's your 401(k)? No, really — how's it feeling these days?

If you want to check the health of your 401(k) or IRA plan — and fix it — check out blooom. For only $45/year, this unique robo advisor can monitor and manage your 401(k), 401(a), 403(b), 457, or TSP plan.

This robo advisor will help you eliminate funds that aren't doing you any favors and choose new ones with an asset allocation more closely aligned to your goals. Blooom works with many different plan providers. If your employer-sponsored plan has online access, blooom can handle it.

How do we rate robo advisors?

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 robo advisor's 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. Read more about what is a robo advisor here.

Aren't all robo advisors the same?

The differences among robo advisor firms might seem minor to the casual reader, but in reality, they're not. You have a choice when it comes to:

Minimum deposit: with some firms, you can start out with nothing, while others require sizable amounts to invest.

Annual fees: be aware of hidden costs and fees for the ETF a robo advisor purchases on your behalf.

Asset allocation: asset allocation can vary quite a bit based on your age and how you answer the service's risk assessment questions.

Account type support: does the robo advisor offer individual or joint accounts, iras, etc.? Can the robo advisor assist with your 401(k) plan?

Automation: some services are 100% automated vs. Human-assisted advice.

Tax optimization: services such as tax-loss harvesting can help at tax time.

Custody of funds: managed either by you, in which case the robo advisor gives trading advice, or directly by the firm.

Management of assets: manage all your assets or just a portion.

End goal: retirement-only or other goals (e.G., college education).

How to choose a robo advisor?

The best way to choose a digital investment advisor is to start with your needs and then match up your preferences with the best robo advisor for you.

For example, you might want a plain-vanilla robo advisor with low fees that will invest your money in a diversified mix of stock and bond funds, in line with your risk level. For example, schwab intelligent portfolios is a basic robo advisor with zero management fees. If youвђ™re low on cash, you might search for a robo advisor that doesnвђ™t require a lot to get started.

For investors who must have a human financial advisor, aв robo advisor with a human touchв is the way to go. This option is like the вђњhave your cake and eat it tooвђќ approach to investing. You get access to a personal advisor plus computer algorithms (which help cut total management costs) to manage your investments. Both sigfig andв vanguardв offer human financial-advisor help to all their clients. And sigfig allows you to keep your investments where they reside (inв TD ameritrade ">TD ameritrade , schwab or fidelity). Or maybe you already have an account at fidelity, vanguard, E*TRADE or schwab and want to try out their robo advisors.

If you must have tax-loss harvesting or you need a trust account, choose a robo advisor that offers those options. A robo-advisor comparison chart will get you set up to make a feature-by-feature comparison.

Out of all the services, personal capital is among the most expensive and has the most human interaction with its clients. It could be said personal capital is much more of a traditional financial advisor that uses technology to assist. Personal capital's fees also include trading fees, and it recommends mostly individual stocks to minimize expenses and taxes as well. So its true cost might be more in line with the other firms mentioned.

Cost is an important consideration when picking your robo advisor. Be aware the robo advisor fees are only for its services — it doesn't include the fees on the etfs it purchases on your behalf. If you're curious, I've researched the popular robo advisors and broken down each's true annual costs.

Bottom line

The universe of robo advisors is large and growing. Itвђ™s easy to get sidelined by the many choices. Narrow your search for a robo advisor by homing in on what you really want in an investment manager.

Finally, the benefits of investing with a robo advisor, including low fees and professional management, will be irrelevant if you donвђ™t get started. So do a robo-advisor comparison and start out with the one that best fits your needs.

Robo-advisors vs. Discount brokers---what you need to know

Modified date: december 22, 2020

If you want to get started investing but have no clue where to start, you’re not alone. One common question many beginner investors have is what’s the difference between a robo-advisor and a discount broker?

While both types of firms allow you to invest money, they focus on very different things. Let’s explore the differences between robo-advisors and discount brokers, and then look at some examples of each.

What is a robo-advisor?

A robo-advisor is an investment firm that manages your money for you on your behalf. They typically help you with investment selection, rebalancing your portfolio on a regular basis and may even try to optimize your returns using methods such as tax harvesting.

These firms usually charge a management fee in addition to any underlying investment fees you’d normally be charged on your investments.

Why they’re perfect for beginners

Beginner investors may like that robo-advisors help deal with some of the complexities of investing that you may not tackle until a few years after you start investing. However, robo-advisors charge for these services that you may not benefit from very much in the first few years you invest.

Low fees

Even so, the fees robo-advisors charge are typically much lower than a traditional financial advisor would charge.

Low minimum investment requirements

Additionally, many robo-advisors have no or lower minimum investment requirements while financial advisors may have higher initial investment requirements that could scare off beginner investors.

That said, robo-advisors could still charge more than what a brokerage firm would charge if you took care of the robo-advisor functions yourself. Over time, the additional fees could add up to thousands of dollars when you consider the compounding returns you may miss out on.

Who should use a robo-advisor

As you can see from above, robo-advisors are great for beginners, but they’re also great for those who want hands-off investing and/or those with little to invest. Robo-advisors typically have a lower minimum investment than big brokerage firms.

You should also use a robo-advisor if:

You understand and don’t mind paying fees

Again, as we said above, fees are a big concern when considering a robo-advisor. Those fees may be worth it for someone who understands the importance of investing, but doesn’t have the time to (or simply doesn’t want to) pay close attention to what they’re investing in.

That brings us to our next point.

You’re okay with someone else doing ALL of your investing

Robo-advisors offers great peace of mind, because they choose your investments based on what you tell them, and they automatically keep you diversified. This means less risk for you.

What is a discount broker?

A traditional brokerage firm allows you to pick and choose your individual investments. They can hold your money before you decide what to purchase and may charge fees for you to buy and sell investments.

You’re on your own as an investor

These companies do not help you choose what to invest in based on your risk tolerance and won’t automatically rebalance your portfolio for you. Everything is completely up to you at a traditional brokerage firm.

With a traditional broker, you may be charged a fee to purchase or sell certain investments and be able to purchase and sell other investments for free. If you want to rebalance your portfolio or attempt tax harvesting, you’ll have to learn to do it yourself and request the necessary transactions to make it happen.

They typically have minimum investment requirements

Traditional brokers may also have minimum investment requirements to invest in certain mutual funds or other investments. If you don’t have the minimum required amount, they usually offer other investments with a very low or no minimum investment requirement that you can use until you reach the higher minimums of the funds you want to invest in.

Who should use a discount broker

A discount broker is best for the hands-on investor. You can choose the investments you want to make, including socially responsible investments. The broker is there simply to help you.

So, you should only use a discount broker if:

You have a lot of money to invest

Traditional discount brokers typically have a minimum investment balance somewhere in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range. When it comes to that much money, it makes sense to have an actual person handle it.

You don’t want to make online transactions

Some people like to know the person who handles their money—and for good reason. If you’re one of those people, using a robo-advisor makes no sense since everything is conducted online.

Examples of robo-advisors

Robo-advisors are fairly new to the investing world. In fact, the first robo-advisors appeared in 2008. Here are some of the more popular robo-advisors and how they work.

Betterment

Getting started
with betterment

To get started with betterment, you’ll tell the robo-advisor a bit about your investing goals. Betterment will then recommend how much you need to save to meet those goals both now and over time.

They’ll also assess your risk tolerance and suggest how much of your investments should be allocated to stocks and bonds. Then, you simply invest and let betterment take care of purchasing the correct funds and rebalancing using tax-smart technology.

Betterment’s fees

Digital package—betterment currently charges an annual management fee of 0.25 percent of your account balance for their digital package, which has a $0 minimum balance requirement.

Premium package—offers in-depth advice on investments outside of your betterment account and access to a CFP for guidance on life events. The premium package has an annual management fee of 0.40 percent of your account balance and a $100,000 minimum balance requirement.

Best for

Betterment’s simple layout and low minimum account balance make it perfect for investing beginners.

Personal capital

Getting started with personal capital

Personal capital is a robo-advisor that comes with traditional financial advisor advice. Your first step will be registering for a personal capital account, then linking your assets so they can see where you’re currently invested.

Next, you’ll talk to a personal advisor that discusses your investing goals, risk tolerance and other big life events to help you decide where to invest. From there, a plan is created and their technology takes charge of making sure you invest in a tax-efficient manner. They’ll also properly rebalance your portfolio as necessary and be available to give investment advice when you need it.

Personal capital’s fees

Personal capital charges you nothing to use their financial tools. However, if you want personal capital to manage your investments, they charge a 0.89 percent annual fee on investments up to the first $1,000,000. Personal capital requires a minimum of a $100,000 investment.

Clients with over $1,000,000 managed by personal capital pay a lower fee. Investments within personal capital may charge fund fees, too.

Best for

Personal capital is a fantastic robo advisor – perhaps the best on the market – for people with a high net worth.

Blooom

Getting started with blooom

When you sign up for a paid account with blooom, you’ll answer a few questions about yourself then link your 401(k) account so blooom can analyze your account.

Once the analysis is complete, blooom will show you your 401(k)’s health based on your mix of stocks and bonds, your diversification and fees you may be paying. They’ll make suggestions on how to optimize your 401(k), allow you to choose your stock and bond allocation and then make all of the necessary adjustments as long as you remain a paying customer.

Blooom’s fees

Blooom doesn’t charge the typical percentage of assets fee that many other robo-advisors use. Instead, they charge you $10 per month for your first account and $7.50 per month for each additional account.

Best for

Blooom’s offering is centered around 401(k) accounts – they’ll help choose your stock/bond allocation, optimize your fund and more. If you’re looking to invest for retirement, go with blooom.

Read our full blooom review or visit blooom to open an account today and get $15 off your first year of blooom with code BLMSMART.

Examples of discount brokers

Discount brokers have been around for centuries to help people buy and sell investments. You’re likely familiar with at least a few brokerages whether you realize it or not. Here are some of the more popular discount brokers and how they work.

You invest by J.P. Morgan

Getting started with you invest by J.P. Morgan

You invest by J.P. Morgan makes setting up your portfolio easy. You’ll have two big choices from the start: you invest trades, which has you setting up and managing your own investments, and you invest portfolios, which creates an expertly-built portfolio based on your goals and manages it for you.

Once you’ve set up your account, you’ll be walked through the process of building your portfolio. You can see the level of risk and projected reward you’ll get with various choices, based on J.P. Morgan data. You’ll be able to tweak these options at any time, even after you’ve set up your portfolio.

You invest by J.P. Morgan’s fees

If you choose the self-directed portfolio option, you’ll pay no advisory fees and have no investment minimums. You can get started with as little as $1.

The you invest portfolios option comes with a 0.35% annual advisory fee, which is $0.18 per month on a $500 investment. You will have to come up with at least $500 as an initial investment with this option, as well as maintain a $250 minimum balance.

You invest by J.P. Morgan is perfect for new investors who want to start slowly. Not only can you get started with as little as $1, the research-based interface makes it ideal for those who interested in learning the market.

Disclosure – INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: NOT A DEPOSIT • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE

Vanguard

Investments offered by vanguard

Vanguard also offers brokerage services. They offer free investing in vanguard mutual funds and etfs as long as you meet the fund minimums. This is where vanguard shines as their etfs and mutual funds usually offer low cost investing options.

You can buy stocks and non-vanguard etfs for $7 per trade for the first 25 trades and $20 for each additional trade.

Option trades start at $7 plus $1 per option contract. If you wish to buy a mutual fund that requires a transaction fee, you’ll pay $20 per trade. If you have an account balance of over $50,000, your fees may be lower.

Fidelity

Investments fidelity offers

Fidelity is another highly respected company that offers brokerage services. They offer:

US stock and ETF trades for $4.95 and option trades for $4.95 plus $0.65 per contract.

Certain fee-free etfs and mutual funds. However, if you want to purchase a different mutual fund, there is a $49.95 fee to purchase the fund and no fee for redemption.

Fidelity’s robo-advisor

Fidelity also offers a digital advisory service for an annual fee of 0.35 percent. Based on answering a few questions, fidelity will suggest an investment strategy and manage your money using that strategy, making adjustments as necessary.

Summary

Now that you understand the difference between robo-advisors and discount brokers, you can decide which is right for you.

While some discount brokers offer robo-advisory services, not all do. On the other hand, robo-advisors typically don’t offer traditional brokerage features. Once you’ve made your decision, compare multiple robo-advisors and brokerages to find the one that’s best for you.

We mentioned a couple above, but here is a complete list of our favorite robo-advisors.

Recommended investing partners

Recommended
M1 finance gives you the benefits of a robo-advisor with the control of a traditional brokerage. M1 charges no commissions or management fees, and their minimum starting balance is just $100. Visit site

No minimum

low-fee robo-advisor with no minimum investment. Creates fully-automated portfolios based upon your desired allocation. Visit site

$500 minimum

wealthfront requires a $500 minimum investment and charges a very competitive fee of 0.25% per year on portfolios over $10,000. Visit site