Consider Empower if you’re looking for free financial tools, a cash savings account or a wealth management program if your investment assets are worth more than $100,000. Look elsewhere if you want a platform to trade traditional assets like stocks and ETFs.
Wealth management firm Empower offers a collection of services designed to help you manage and grow your money. But customer support is limited and its portfolio management minimum is steep.
| Annual fee | 0.89% on balances up to $1,000,000 |
| Available asset types | Stocks, ETFs |
| Fees | ★★★★★ | Free financial tools but investment management fee is high. |
| Customer support | ★★★★★ | You can reach out to customer support via email or phone. |
| Mobile app | ★★★★★ | Mobile app users love the app’s simplicity but don’t like some minor bugs. |
| Research and tools | ★★★★★ | A variety of budgeting and financial tools. |
| Reliability | ★★★★★ | No major outages have been reported. |
To learn how our star ratings are calculated, read our methodology at the bottom of the page.
Even though Empower offers a wealth management program and a cash savings account, it’s most-utilized feature is the financial tools you get for free. Of course, if you have investment assets of $100,000 or more, you can combine these tools with the wealth management program.
The personalized financial planning is one of the best features for everyone who uses Empower regardless of net worth. The money management software gives you overview of your net worth, cash flow, budgeting and retirement planning.
To get the full investment benefits either for your retirement or for reaching your investment goals, you need to have at least $100,000 in investment assets. Also, the wealth management program, which is a combination of personal financial advisers and a robo-advisor that trades and rebalances your portfolio, isn’t cheap. The 0.89% annual fee is higher than competitor robo-advisors like Betterment where you pay 0.25% annually.
| Minimum deposit | $100,000 |
|---|---|
| First $1 million | 0.89% |
| First $3 million | 0.79% |
| Next $2 million | 0.69% |
| Next $5 million | 0.59% |
| $10 million or more | 0.49% |
Yes. Founded in 2009, Empower is a wealth management company based in San Carlos, California. In 2020, Denver-based Empower Retirement purchased Personal Capital. The company boasts more than 3.4 million users and $23.5 billion in assets under management. Empower is a registered investment advisor with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Deposits in Empower Cash savings accounts are spread across multiple institutions, allowing FDIC insurance for up to $2 million.
Here are some of the tools you can use on Empower‘s website after you log in:
Access Empower‘s management tools via iOS or an Android app. It’s user friendly and you can use it as a budgeting app, to monitor your retirement investments and finances, and it’s completely free.
| Google Play app reviews | 4.3/5 stars, over 500k+ downloads |
| Apple App Store app reviews | 4.7/5 stars based on 37.5k ratings |
If you’re using the wealth management program or the cash savings account, know that Empower is a registered investment advisor with the SEC, and your deposits in the savings account are spread across multiple institutions. This allows an FDIC insurance for up to $2 million.
Empower
★★★★★
Finder rating 4.1 / 5
Available asset types
Stocks, ETFs
Stock trade fee
Minimum deposit
$100,000
Complete signup bonus
SoFi Invest®
★★★★★
Finder rating 4.1 / 5
Available asset types
Stocks, Mutual funds, ETFs, Alternatives
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit
$0
Complete signup bonus
Get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account within 30 days.
Tastytrade
★★★★★
Finder rating 4.6 / 5
Available asset types
Stocks, Options, ETFs, Cryptocurrency, Futures, Treasury Bills
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit
$0
Complete signup bonus
Get $100-$5,000 when you open and fund an account with $5,000 to $1,000,000+
★★★★★ 5/5 — Excellent
★★★★★ 4/5 — Good
★★★★★ 3/5 — Average
★★★★★ 2/5 — Subpar
★★★★★ 1/5 — Poor
We analyze top online trading platforms and rate them one to five stars based on factors that are most important to you. These factors include fees, securities available for trade, customer support, customer feedback, platform resources and overall reliability.
For a complete breakdown of how we score each category, read the full methodology of how we rate trading platforms.
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