finder.com's rating: 3.95 / 5.0
★★★★★
Wealthfront alleviates the hassle of building a portfolio by hand with automated investing. But you’ll need at least $500 to get started, and more competitive management fees can be found elsewhere.
Automated stock and bond ETF investing with the ability to trade individual stocks for as little as $1 apiece.
Consider Wealthfront if you want a reputable robo-advisor with individual stock trading capabilities. Wealthfront offers automated rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, a sweeping selection of accounts, tiered perks for larger portfolios and a well-reviewed mobile app. It also offers individual stock trading with fractional shares for as little as $1, no commissions and no account fees. Look elsewhere if you don't want to pay a $500 minimum deposit requirement and 0.25% management fee.
Best for: Investors who want self-directed and automated investing options.
finder.com's rating: 3.95 / 5.0
★★★★★
Wealthfront alleviates the hassle of building a portfolio by hand with automated investing. But you’ll need at least $500 to get started, and more competitive management fees can be found elsewhere.
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Finder is not an adviser or brokerage service. Information on this page is for educational purposes only and not a recommendation to invest with any one company, trade specific stocks or fund specific investments. All editorial opinions are our own.
Fees | ★★★★★ 4/5 | Its 0.25% management fee is on par with competitors. No account-opening fees, withdrawal or account-closing fees, commissions or account transfer fees. |
Minimum deposit requirement | ★★★★★ 3/5 | You’ll need to deposit at least $500 to get started. |
Account selection | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Its account selection includes taxable and retirement accounts, 529 plans and 401(k) rollover accounts. |
Tax advantages | ★★★★★ 5/5 | Retirement accounts and tax-loss harvesting are available to all investors. |
Customer support | ★★★★★ 2/5 | Support can be reached by phone and email, but we had to wait a day for a response. |
Customer feedback | ★★★★★ 4/5 | Wealthfront reviews are largely positive. |
Mobile app | ★★★★★ 4.9/5 | Its mobile app receives high marks from both Google and Apple users. |
To learn how our star ratings are calculated, read the methodology at the bottom of the page.
Wealthfront is a robo-advisor — and the investment process doesn’t differ much from most of the other robo-advisors on the market.
There’s no person behind the curtain here — Wealthfront’s robo-advisor relies on a sophisticated algorithm to keep your portfolio on track. That’s what automated rebalancing is — and what the financial questionnaire is for.
Your responses are used to determine your risk tolerance and portfolio makeup. This is what allows you to “set it and forget it.”
You don’t need to monitor stocks, make trades or worry about what the market is doing — simply sign in to the online dashboard or mobile app to see how your investments are doing. Wealthfront tracks it all and moves investments in and out of your portfolio to maximize your return. But you can also trade individual stocks with Wealthfront. Access over 1,500 stocks and trade fractional shares for as little as $1 and with no commissions or account fees.
For its Automated Investing account, you need a minimum deposit of $500 to get started and can fund your account by linking an external bank account or by transferring funds from an existing investment account. Also, you’re free to withdraw a minimum of $250 as often as you’d like as long as there’s at least $500 in your account.
If your financial circumstances change, update your preferences or add information to your account for a more personalized experience at any time.
Minimum opening deposit | $500 |
Annual management fee | 0.25% |
Trading commissions | $0 |
Account transfer fee | $0 |
Wealthfront’s 0.25% annual advisory fee is fairly competitive, putting it squarely in the company of platforms like Betterment and J.P. Morgan. But not all robo-advisors charge fees.
For instance, M1 Finance and SoFi both offer automated investment services for free. Even Fidelity’s robo-advisor is free for portfolios under $25,000.
Wealthfront’s 0.25% annual management fee isn’t outrageously high — it works out to $2.50 per year on a $1,000 portfolio. That said, every penny counts towards your investment return, especially when reinvesting your returns to continue growing your portfolio.
In addition to an annual management fee, you’ll also pay expense ratios on any ETFs in your portfolio. ETF expense ratios are charged by the companies that run the fund, not Wealthfront. They typically range from 0.06% to 0.15%.
App store | Rating | Total reviews |
---|---|---|
Google Play | 4.83 | 7,092 |
Apple Store | 4.80 | 16,602 |
If you need to get in touch with customer service, you have two options.
Wealthfront has plenty of robo-advisor standards, including automated rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting. But there are a few places it misses the mark, and it won’t be a sensible fit for everyone.
Take its $500 minimum deposit requirement, for example. If you’re just starting out and can’t meet the minimum, look for a platform that doesn’t impose a minimum deposit requirement, like SoFi Invest or Betterment.
Or maybe you want a platform that takes automated investing a step further with transactional round-ups. If that’s the case, you’ll want to look at a service like Acorns.
There are plenty of platforms to consider, so weigh your options by comparing features, investor feedback and trading fees to find the account best suited to your financial goals.
Wealthfront
★★★★★
Finder rating 4 / 5
Available asset types
Stocks, ETFs
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit
$500
M1 Finance
★★★★★
Finder rating 4.1 / 5
Available asset types
Stocks, ETFs, Cryptocurrency
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit
$100
Titan
★★★★★
Finder rating 3.8 / 5
Available asset types
ETFs
Stock trade fee
$0
Minimum deposit
$500
★★★★★ 5/5 — Excellent
★★★★★ 4/5 — Good
★★★★★ 3/5 — Average
★★★★★ 2/5 — Subpar
★★★★★ 1/5 — Poor
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