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Are you looking for the best Robo-advisors to help you with investing?
Welcome to the phroogal 5, a series of the five best apps. We’ve done the work to narrow down the best choices. Want more options? Check the marketplace.
Robo-advisors are becoming increasingly popular among investors. They offer an alternative to traditional financial planners who charge high fees and can’t provide adequate service.
In this article, you’ll learn how Robo-advisors can help you reach investment goals without the need for a financial advisor or human advisors.
What is a Robo-advisor?
A Robo-advisor is a type of automated financial adviser that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide personalized investment advice.
Many of these brokerages use Modern Portfolio Theory as a core investment strategy, such as investing in low-cost ETFs. And investment account fees are often based on assets under management.
Best Robo-advisor Services and Platforms of 2021
| Roth IRA Account | Features | Best For |
| Betterment | Total investment management for 0.25% per year | Hands-off investing |
| Stash | Start with just $0.01 | Getting started |
| Acorns | Automated portfolios | Micro-savers |
| Wealthfront | Make zero-commission trades of stocks and ETFs | Active investors |
| Personal Capital | Traditional human advisor | Full management |
| Titan | Hedge-like fund strategy | Intermediate investors |
| Blooom | IRA and 401(k) analysis | Low-cost retirement fund management |
For novice or experienced investors:
Betterment: Best hand-off investors
Betterment is an online brokerage offering investment portfolios using low-cost indexed-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in broad market sectors. It is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC.
- Fiduciary advice with your best interest in mind.
- Automated investing and tax-saving strategies include automatic rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and asset allocation.
- Management fee: 0.25%.
Minimum: $0
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: 0.25-0.40% assets under management
Read the Betterment review.
Learn More About Betterment
Stash: Best for beginners
Stash Invest is an investment platform and offers banking features like a debit card. With Stash, you can select your investments and trade individual stocks and funds.
- Choose between a personal portfolio or a smart portfolio.
- Thematic or impact investing.
- Management fee: $1 – $9 per month.
Minimum: $0.01
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: $3 per month
Promo: Get a $20 bonus for opening an account.
Read the Stash Invest review.
Start with Stash Invest
Acorns: Best for micro-savers
Acorns is a micro-savings app that rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invests into exchange-traded funds.
- Automate your deposits with recurring contributions.
- Managed and optimized based on your age and time horizon.
- Diversified portfolio of exchange-traded-funds.
Minimum: $0
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: $3 per month
Promo: Get a $5 bonus for opening an account.
Read the Acorns review.
Start with Acorns
Wealthfront: Best for low-fee investing
Wealthfront is an online financial advisory firm offering investing and financial planning services. With their automated investing services, you can have individual and joint taxable accounts, trusts, 529 Plans, and retirement accounts: Roth, traditional, SEP, and rollover IRAs,
- Automated and diversified portfolio tailored to your risk profile.
- Tax-loss harvesting strategy and automatic rebalancing.
- Management fee of 0.25%.
Read Wealthfront review.
Learn More About Wealthfront
Personal Capital: Best Wealth Management
Personal Capital is a hybrid digital advisor. The digital platform looks at your entire economic life, not just your investments, to create a plan.
- Smart weighting to limit exposure to any sector.
- Tax optimization strategy to minimize your taxes.
- Intelligent rebalancing and dynamic portfolio allocation.
Minimum: $100,000
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: 0.89% ($100K managed)
Read the Personal Capital review.
Learn More About Personal Capital
The following are honorable mentions in the Robo-advisor industry. They offer a unique financial product utilizing algorithms to help investors maximize returns.
Blooom: Best for IRAs and 401(k) Management
Blooom can manage your employer-sponsored plans and IRAs. Financial experts created it to help you link your existing retirement accounts to gain insights into getting better performance.
- View all your retirement accounts in one place.
- Learn how to optimize based on specific plans.
- Start for free or get more guidance with premium plans: $45 – $250
Minimum: $10
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: $120 per year
Promo: Get a free account analysis of your retirement plan.
Read the Blooom review.
Get Free 401(k) Analysis
Titan: Best for hedge-like fund investing
Titan Invest aims to bring you the investment management service often reserved for the ultra-wealthy. With Titan, the investment team actively manages your portfolio, investing in individual stocks and short ETFs for hedging.
- Invest your capital directly into four strategies.
- Actively manage your money and make trades on your behalf.
- Insights into what’s driving portfolio performance.
Minimum: $100
Transaction Fee: $0
Management Fee: 1% per year of assets under management. $5 per month for assets under $10,000.
Read the Titan Invest review.
Start with Titan
Robo-advisors are best for?
It’s an attractive option to access an investing platform that creates intelligent portfolios for different investors. Most Robo-advisors offer a wide range of investment services to help you achieve financial goals.
Robo-advisors give you a more hands-off approach to your investment goals. You can take advantage of the algorithms and platforms to create wealth.
Conclusion
Robo-advisors help people invest their money without the need for human advisors or spend hours researching different investment options.
Through Robo-advisors, you get a class of financial advising that provides investment advice and management online using mathematical rules and algorithms. It reduces the need for human intervention relying on software using MPT to allocate, manage and optimize clients’ assets.
It’s a good alternative for those looking for lower expense ratios and lower minimum balance requirements.
