Betterment Reviews - What Is It?
DO NOT USE Betterment!!! You Must Read This Review!
Fully Researched: Price, User Feedback and More!
Betterment is a quite new investment company on the modern market; however, it has stepped out as the only leader among the startup services. It can boast $9 billion in assets under management and more than 200,000 clients. The company creates a customized and efficient portfolio for you that contains low cost, yet widely diversified, ETFs. It is extremely easy to use even for new investors, but, at the same time, it has a wonderful feature to meet the needs of more advanced investors. If you don't want to hire a financial advisor or manage your portfolio for automatic rebalance on your own, Betterment will be the best option for you, especially taking into account its reasonable price. This year this company has changed its pricing and made financial advisors more accessible.
Betterment is a robo-advisor service. It means that it is an automated investing service. You will need to inform your goals to them, how much money you earn, and how old you are. Using this information, they will create a strategy especially for you. So, you can invest your money correctly. For instance, if you are just beginning your career, your money will be directed into growth-oriented stocks. Later, your assets will be directed into more stable stocks with a higher percentage. The company offers two plan options. The first one is Betterment Digital that charges 0.25% and has no account minimum. You can consult a financial advisor with the help of in-app messaging. The second option is Betterment Premium that provides unlimited access to financial advisors in exchange but requires an account minimum and a higher fee. All portfolios automatically rebalance when necessary.
Customer Reviews - Does Betterment Really Work?
There are numerous users' reviews on the internet on Betterment. Luckily, most of them are positive. Investors like that it requires no account minimum, unlike other robo-advisors. However, that only applies to Betterment Digital offering. In Betterment Premium you need to have a minimum $100,000 balance. The company bases its investment philosophy on modern portfolio theory, which focuses on the benefits of diversification. Betterment uses ETFs that represent up to twelve asset classes, depending on your goals and risk tolerance. You are free to select a socially responsible investing (SRI) portfolio, which emphasizes certain social causes. It means that you won't be able to invest your funds into the companies with negative records on environmental issues. It is called negative screening. This is done with the goal to assure investors that their invested money support companies with certain social values. Betterment is going to add more SRI funds soon.
The company automatically rebalances investor portfolios when money flows in or out - in the form of contributions, dividends, or withdrawals. Its algorithms serve to define whether rebalance is needed every day. Betterment buys fractional shares, so your portfolio does not contain uninvested cash. Premium accounts are monitored by financial advisors. As it was already mentioned, the company has two plans. Betterment Digital (0.25% management fee) offers access to in-app messaging with financial advisors 24 hours. Betterment Premium (0.40% management fee) offers access to financial advisors and unlimited phone calls and emails. Those advisors are ready to answer your questions 24 hours a day. Both plans seem to have reasonable fees. The company cannot supplement its management fee, the way broker-owned robo-advisors do.
The clients are glad that Betterment's sign-up process helps them to define their goals. First you are asked for your age and annual income, then you are suggested a series of goals depending on your answers, a retirement savings target, estimating a safety net of three to six months of expenses, and your investing goal. No matter what goals you have, you will be given a number of useful recommendations. Let's take a look at the experience of real clients of management fee.
"Betterment is a powerful option for those who like automated investing and are looking for hands-off rebalancing, customized portfolio allocation, and innovative automatic deposit solutions. People who invest more than $100,000 save money on management fees significantly. The company built me an efficient portfolio of low cost, yet widely diversified ETFs. If you don't want to hire a financial advisor or manage your own portfolio, you will like this option."
"Betterment is a unique brokerage as you do not have to trade mutual funds or individual stocks, but you invest in a bucket of Exchange Traded Funds that intend to meet your specific goals. This company is suitable for people who have not invested earlier, as well as those who don't have an IRA. It is a perfect place to invest your 401K or IRA. By the way, if you're doing passive investing with ETFs, compare Betterment fees with your expenses. I am sure you will be surprised."
"Betterment is a really great company to cooperate with. It provides different ways to automate your investing. It can become a wonderful start up for new investors who don't have too much money to invest. They give their clients the opportunity to grow by investing a small sum of money. It is a simple company to work with. They focus on simple asset allocation making investing easy for beginners like I was."
My Final Summary
Betterment is one of the largest independent robo-advisors that attract more and more clients with each year. Its assets are impressive, just like its goal-oriented features and tools. Those issues should appeal to both beginners and retirement investors, as the company offers advisors who will help you to decide on your investment plan. It is inexpensive compared with other independent hybrid advisors. One of the advantages of this company is that it allows young people to invest their money without any fear even in small amounts. You will be immediately provided with a financial advisor who can be contacted via Betterment's mobile app any time. This specialist will advise you what amount to invest, how to build saving goals or take risks.
Betterment will help you to reduce your taxes. Besides, the company requires no Minimum Deposit, unlike other companies of the kind. You will be able to deposit any sum of money you have. You don't need to have several thousands of dollars in order to invest. Even extra $20 will be enough for investing without any issues. You will still enjoy many of the same benefits. Betterment has got thumbs-up from well-known institutions. They are partnering with Vanguard and Goldman Sachs. This investment company is best for retirement investors, hands-off investors, those who are looking for automatic rebalancing, users with low balances and those who like goal-based tools. Betterment is a good place to invest your money, which is why I do recommend them.
Betterment Pricing and Rates
To get you started, you will need to go to Betterment official website and apply for its services. There is no account minimum, so you can get started almost immediately. If you have any questions you can contact their customer support and ask the questions you have. Their phone support works Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Eastern, Saturday-Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Eastern. There is also email support and live chat.