Betterment Brokerage Services (1 Viewer)

[satch]

https://www.betterment.com

Anyone have any thoughts/experience investing with this company? Seems like a simple way to invest in the stock market without needing to know much about investing. As much as I'd prefer to really understand the market and trade like an expert, I simply don't posses the knowledge nor have the time to learn right now. With Betterment, simply deposit money, pay a small fee, let them do the work. Just tweak your ratio of stocks:bonds based on your desired level of risk and goals and they do the rest. Super easy to set up and virtually maintenance free.

I considered Vanguard but I wouldn't know where to begin as far as allocations. Betterment solves that dilema, so the small fee seems well worth it. The research I've done on Betterment has been 100% positive.

 

[Reegus]

https://www.betterment.com

Anyone have any thoughts/experience investing with this company? Seems like a simple way to invest in the stock market without needing to know much about investing. As much as I'd prefer to really understand the market and trade like an expert, I simply don't posses the knowledge nor have the time to learn right now. With Betterment, simply deposit money, pay a small fee, let them do the work. Just tweak your ratio of stocks:bonds based on your desired level of risk and goals and they do the rest. Super easy to set up and virtually maintenance free.

I considered Vanguard but I wouldn't know where to begin as far as allocations. Betterment solves that dilema for a small fee, so it seems well worth it.

You don't happen to work for betterment llc do u?

 

[satch]

https://www.betterment.com

Anyone have any thoughts/experience investing with this company? Seems like a simple way to invest in the stock market without needing to know much about investing. As much as I'd prefer to really understand the market and trade like an expert, I simply don't posses the knowledge nor have the time to learn right now. With Betterment, simply deposit money, pay a small fee, let them do the work. Just tweak your ratio of stocks:bonds based on your desired level of risk and goals and they do the rest. Super easy to set up and virtually maintenance free.

I considered Vanguard but I wouldn't know where to begin as far as allocations. Betterment solves that dilema for a small fee, so it seems well worth it.

You don't happen to work for betterment llc do u?

not sure if you're serious, but no.

 

[satch]

https://www.betterment.com

Anyone have any thoughts/experience investing with this company? Seems like a simple way to invest in the stock market without needing to know much about investing. As much as I'd prefer to really understand the market and trade like an expert, I simply don't posses the knowledge nor have the time to learn right now. With Betterment, simply deposit money, pay a small fee, let them do the work. Just tweak your ratio of stocks:bonds based on your desired level of risk and goals and they do the rest. Super easy to set up and virtually maintenance free.

I considered Vanguard but I wouldn't know where to begin as far as allocations. Betterment solves that dilema, so the small fee seems well worth it. The research I've done on Betterment has been 100% positive.

If you're at Vanguard, consider a "target date" retirement fund. You pick the year you want to retire. Say, 2050. It'll put your investments, today, in like 90% stocks, 10% bonds. By 2050, it'll be 90% bonds, 10% stocks. They'll take care of all the work in the middle to get the balance right over time. Literally you just deposit money into the fund and they do all the work for you.

Vanguard is one of the best and cheapest places out there, and solid as a rock. The day they go out of business is the day after the world ends.

Thanks for the reply. I appreciate Vanguard's track record and I know they have many happy, loyal investors. What attracted me to Betterment is that for a small fee they offer a service that removes the confusion, removes the intimidation, and makes it simple for someone like me to invest with confidence. Simple to set up, simple to fund, and they do all the work. They rebalance the portfolio constantly (stocks:bonds ratio) based on my desired risk level so essentially I don't have to worry about anything at all other than funding it, which can be accomplished via auto-deposit. They also offer tax-loss harvesting once your account balance qualifies. Basically, it's like paying a highly experienced financial advisor to figure everything out for you, except it's much cheaper, much simpler, and more efficient using their very user friendly app.

Reviews of the company are excellent across the board, and customer support/correspondence seems exemplary as well. I'm just not seeing any downside other than the small fee, which I don't really consider a downside since the service I'm paying for will provide returns exponentially greater than the relatively insignificant fee.

What's your opinion of Betterment's services? Specifically for the novice investor such as myself who finds investing to be confusing and somewhat intimidating.

 

[Plorfu]

 

[satch]

Last I knew that was reserved for excuse making of some kind. Doesn't seem to make any sense here. Does it mean something different now?

 

[eoMMan]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

 

[satch]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but why is that a huge red flag? Do you simply not believe that Betterment's services will provide better results than the average DIY'er?

 

[eoMMan]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but why is that a huge red flag? Do you simply not believe that Betterment's services will provide better results than the average DIY'er?

It's very possible that can beat the average DIYer but they shouldn't say "expect" and definitely shouldn't be saying a percentage on what to expect. That's never a good thing. Even the best fund managers in the world tend to not beat the S&P over the long term. And when they do, they tend to underperform the following year along with charging high fees.

What kind of fee is Betterment charging? Do you know what types of investments they are putting you in?

 

[satch]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but why is that a huge red flag? Do you simply not believe that Betterment's services will provide better results than the average DIY'er?

It's very possible that can beat the average DIYer but they shouldn't say "expect" and definitely shouldn't be saying a percentage on what to expect. That's never a good thing. Even the best fund managers in the world tend to not beat the S&P over the long term. And when they do, they tend to underperform the following year along with charging high fees.What kind of fee is Betterment charging? Do you know what types of investments they are putting you in?

The fee is .25%, investing in ETF's:VTI: Vanguard Total Stock Market

IVE: iShares S&P 500 Value Index

VEA: Vanguard Europe Pacific (EAFE)

VWO: Vanguard Emerging Markets

IWS: iShares Russell Midcap Value Index

IWN: iShares Russell 2000 Value Index

TIP: iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund

SHY: iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund

 

[eoMMan]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but why is that a huge red flag? Do you simply not believe that Betterment's services will provide better results than the average DIY'er?

It's very possible that can beat the average DIYer but they shouldn't say "expect" and definitely shouldn't be saying a percentage on what to expect. That's never a good thing. Even the best fund managers in the world tend to not beat the S&P over the long term. And when they do, they tend to underperform the following year along with charging high fees.What kind of fee is Betterment charging? Do you know what types of investments they are putting you in?

The fee is .25%, investing in ETF's:VTI: Vanguard Total Stock Market

IVE: iShares S&P 500 Value Index

VEA: Vanguard Europe Pacific (EAFE)

VWO: Vanguard Emerging Markets

IWS: iShares Russell Midcap Value Index

IWN: iShares Russell 2000 Value Index

TIP: iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund

SHY: iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund

Oh, okay. That's not too bad of a fee and a pretty good mix.

Good luck.

 

[Grahamburn]

I would stay away. Their website says something like "investors can expect 4.3% higher returns compared to DIY investors" . Huge red flag.

Buy some larger index funds from vanguard, fidelity, whoever....keep the fees low. It really shouldn't take you more than an hour or two finding a good mix of funds.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing, but why is that a huge red flag? Do you simply not believe that Betterment's services will provide better results than the average DIY'er?

It's very possible that can beat the average DIYer but they shouldn't say "expect" and definitely shouldn't be saying a percentage on what to expect. That's never a good thing. Even the best fund managers in the world tend to not beat the S&P over the long term. And when they do, they tend to underperform the following year along with charging high fees.

What kind of fee is Betterment charging? Do you know what types of investments they are putting you in?

The fee is .25%, investing in ETF's:

VTI: Vanguard Total Stock Market
IVE: iShares S&P 500 Value Index
VEA: Vanguard Europe Pacific (EAFE)
VWO: Vanguard Emerging Markets
IWS: iShares Russell Midcap Value Index
IWN: iShares Russell 2000 Value Index

TIP: iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund
SHY: iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond Fund

VTI through Vanguard is .05%

VWO is .15%

VEA is .09%

.25% isn't bad when they're mixing in funds from other places, but you could probably find the same things through Vanguard with a little research. I guess that's why you're paying the premium to go through them though.