Best Robo-Advisors of 2024

Acorns seeks to modernize the practice of saving loose change for those who are struggling to put money aside. The company’s unique platform combines an automated savings tool with a robo-advisory model.

The Acorns approach is simple - the platform rounds up your purchases on linked debit or credit cards and sweeps the change into an automated investment portfolio.

Account Types

Acorns is an excellent choice for hands-off investors, complete beginners, and non-savers. The company manages individual non-retirement accounts, traditional and Roth IRAs, and children’s accounts in accord with the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act and the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act.

Investment Strategies

Getting Started

Signing up with Acorns is incredibly easy. All you have to do is provide some personal information and choose a pricing plan. Once you have your account, you’ll be ready to download the robo-advisor and manage your money whenever and wherever you are.

Portfolio Management

Before starting your investment journey, you’ll need to answer a few questions about your comfort level with risk, your investment goals, and the time you have to achieve these goals. After gathering this information, Acorns will suggest a diversified investment portfolio that fits your profile.

While you are not obligated to accept the robo-advisor’s suggestion, note that there are only five portfolio options to choose from. 

Once you decide on the solution that best fits your needs, you’ll proceed by informing your robo broker about how much to invest. You can invest a lump sum of as little as $5, set up a recurring investment from your checking account, or combine the two approaches.

From there, Acorns will take care of everything by reinvesting dividends and rebalancing your portfolio automatically.

Fees and Commissions

When it comes to pricing, Acorns doesn’t disappoint. There are three plans: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Based on our fee comparison, this provider offers one of the best deals for unlimited investing, regardless of the plan you choose.

The Bronze plan costs $3 per month and lets you invest spare change (the round-ups feature), earn bonus investments (the found money feature), and grow your knowledge using the platform's educational resources. 

For $6 per month, the Acorns Silver plan offers an all-in-one investment, retirement, and checking account along with a metal debit card, the ability to earn bonus investments, and access to comprehensive money advice. Lastly, Gold plan costs $12 per month.

Additional Services

Round-Ups

The Acorns round-ups feature lets you link your credit and debit cards to the Acorns app, which rounds up each transaction to the nearest dollar and invests the change. The platform doesn’t make an investment each time you make a purchase. It waits until the spare change meets the $5 threshold, and then it withdraws the amount from your checking account and invests it automatically.

Found Money

Acorns has another unique feature: found money. Each time you make a purchase within Acorns’ network of more than 350 partners, including Airbnb, Expedia, Walmart, Nike, and Sephora, a little cashback will land in your investment account.

Customer Support

You can get in touch with the Acorns customer service team via phone, email, and a contact form. Support representatives are available 24/7. They are quick to respond and very knowledgeable. You can also go through the site's comprehensive help page if you don’t feel like contacting a support representative.

The Bottom Line

Acorns isn’t free, but it’s one of the more affordable options we’ve come across. Although the minimum investment is only $5, keep in mind that you run the risk of losing out to fees if you only invest small amounts. If you’re looking for a platform for automated investing for beginners but have a hard time setting aside money, Acorns just might be for you.

Launched more than a decade ago, Betterment has set the standard for robo-advisory services, and it remains one of the industry’s leaders. This automated investing platform offers tax-loss harvesting, portfolio rebalancing, robust financial planning tools, and the option to buy fractional shares so that the whole account balance can be invested.

Betterment’s platform is incredibly easy to use, and it even lets you sync external accounts to receive investment advice on them. Customers who opt for the Premium plan also get access to human advisors.

Account Types

Betterment offers individual and joint non-retirement accounts; traditional, rollover, SEP, and Roth IRA savings accounts; trusts; and cash accounts. The company also lets you link your external account for personal advisor services and guidance, but it won’t directly manage these accounts.

Investment Strategies

Betterment employs modern portfolio theory to create and manage clients’ investment portfolios. What makes this type of investment strategy unique is the emphasis on diversification and asset allocation in managed portfolios based on predetermined risk levels.

Getting Started 

Opening a robo-advisor account with Betterment is quick and easy. All you have to do is provide some basic information and fill out a questionnaire that determines your time horizons, risk tolerance, and investment goals. Based on that information, a personalized portfolio will be designed for you.

Depending on your risk-tolerance assessment, you’ll be offered a conservative portfolio (predominantly consisting of bonds) or an aggressive portfolio (fewer bonds, more stocks).

Portfolio Management

This automated financial advisor uses ETFs that represent about 12 asset classes for different investment goals and levels of risk tolerance. Another good thing about Betterment is that it lets its clients adjust the percentage of money invested in any particular exchange-traded fund if they want a bit more control over their robo-advisor portfolio.

In addition to the standard portfolio, there are a few more options to choose from: a "smart beta" portfolio that embraces systematic risks and seeks higher-than-average returns, a bond-heavy income portfolio, and a socially responsible portfolio.

Once your portfolio has been created, it will be fully managed by Betterment’s robo advisor. To keep each asset class in line with the target investment percentage, the company will provide periodic portfolio rebalancing. This online investment advisor will also reinvest dividends per your portfolio’s targets.

Additional Services

Tax-Loss Harvesting

Betterment performs tax-loss harvesting on all taxable accounts. In other words, it sells off losing asset positions near the end of the year, aiming to offset gains in other asset classes.

Financial Planning Tools

The company offers multiple financial tools and calculators that help clients choose the right accounts, set investment goals, and make smarter money decisions.

Human Financial Advisor

Unlike most of its competitors, Betterment provides access to human advisors for account holders with balances over $100,000. Offered as a part of the robo-advisor’s Premium plan, this service comes at a fraction of the 1% to 2% fee typically charged by traditional financial advising specialists.

Fees and Commissions

Betterment’s service comes in the form of two plans. If you opt for the Digital plan, you’ll be charged a 0.25% annual fee in return for access to the company’s standard offering and the option to get in touch with an advisor via mobile messaging.

To apply for the Premium option, which comes with a 0.40% annual management fee, you’ll need to have a balance of at least $100,000. This plan comes with all the features included in the Digital option plus unlimited calls to Betterment’s team of certified advisors, if you need a human financial planner.

ETF expense ratios range from 0.07% to 0.17%, assessed annually, and there are no additional account charges.

Customer Support

Should you require assistance, you can get in touch with the robo-advisor’s support team via phone or email from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday. There’s also a live chat option (available on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET), but it’s offered only to existing Betterment clients.

The Bottom Line

A clear leader among robo advisors, Betterment offers two service plans: the Digital option for inexperienced investors and the Premium plan for those who prefer self-directed investing combined with professional management.

The company’s goal-oriented tools and multiple portfolio options appeal to both retirement and non-retirement investors, and access to a human financial advisor is very affordable compared to others, all of which makes Betterment one of the best options available today.

The Vanguard Group, Inc. is a registered investment advisor and one of the oldest investment management companies on our list, founded back in 1975. It provides some of the finest automated investment services in the world. Their services are a perfect match for those looking for retirement plans and matching portfolios, but also for investors seeking low-cost robo-advisors. 

Account Types

Vanguard works with joint and individual brokerage accounts, traditional and Roth IRA, and 401(k) accounts. These are all available to investors on a full-service record-keeping platform, provided they have the applicable defined contribution plans.

Investment Strategies

Getting Started

To sign up in the Vanguard Digital Advisor app, you’ll need a brokerage account with at least $3,000 opened on the company’s platform. Vanguard allows you to add either a standard or IRA account.

The sum mentioned abovementioned minimum account balance is also the minimum initial investment you’ll need to make. Considering that many robo-advisors do not require an initial deposit, and many of them have much lower deposit requirements, this is not the best option for cautious buyers. It’s clear that Vanguard doesn’t really cater to small-time investors.

When you fulfill all the requirements and open a Vanguard account, you’ll fill out details regarding your age, risk tolerance, and several other factors. The company will invest your assets in a managed portfolio consisting of four different exchange-traded funds. Vanguard covers both stock and bond markets. We’ll talk a little more about these ETFs later in the review.

Portfolio Management

Vanguard decided to offer only the robo-advisor in a simple digital package without adding optional services that might come in handy but are not essential for investors. Alternate robo-advisors provide advanced services such as tax-loss harvesting. Vanguard has instead opted for a more straightforward approach. 

Vanguard will create an essential index funds portfolio that will suit basic investment needs while incurring minimal expenses. The robo-advisor from Vanguard uses target-date retirement funds for automatic investments into your retirement plan. The investment allocation steadily changes as the investor approaches their target retirement date.

The key benefit here is that Vanguard makes custom-allocated target-date retirement funds at a similar cost to what other companies would charge for standard target-date funds.

Fees and Commissions

One of the notable advantages of using Vanguard products is the affordable investment options that the company provides. The same goes for their app, the Vanguard Digital Advisor. It offers a 0.20% all-in fee that covers everything you’d need to worry about, including the portfolio management and expense fees.

As an example, for an investment portfolio of $20,000, investors would need to pay account fees totaling only $40.

Additional Services

Low Investment Expense Ratio

Leading robo-advisors, including Vanguard, create personalized managed portfolios by looking at the investor’s current financial status, retirement goals, and other preferences. As we’ve already mentioned, Vanguard’s advisor uses four exchange-traded funds to build portfolios. These funds are called Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), Total Stock Market ETF(VTI), Total International Bond Market ETF (BNDX), and Total Bond Market ETF (BND). 

Vanguard exchange-traded funds have a mere 0.05% average investment expense ratio. Another bonus is that the app doesn’t charge annual, closing, transfer, onboarding, or setup fees. Overall, low costs help investors hold onto more money for investments.

Personalized Retirement Plan

Here is something that not many robo-advisors offer. Vanguard gives investors the ability to use an online retirement calculator to make personal retirement plans. The calculator needs a finished personal financial profile, along with household income and tax-filing status. If you want, you can connect outside accounts to it, too.

Another excellent feature of the Digital Advisor is the risk tolerance tool, which determines the investor’s willingness to accept the risks by facing them with several scenarios. During the final step, the investor fills in their retirement goals, keeping in mind retirement account contributions, planning horizon, Social Security benefits, etc.

When the process is complete, Vanguard creates a portfolio that matches the investor’s goals and takes over managing that portfolio in the future. With Vanguard’s portfolio management solution, these are checked daily and rebalanced if an asset class differs by 5% or more from the target asset allocation. All of this is done without any assistance from real people advisors.

Payoff Calculator

Vanguard also offers a payoff calculator option that assists in paying off different types of debts. While the Vanguard’s abilities are focused on only a handful of financial aspects, all of them serve to improve or maintain the investors’ financial standing.

Customer Support

While it is not a round-the-clock service, phone support agents are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday. You can also consult the site’s excellent knowledge base if no support agents are currently available.

The Bottom Line

Vanguard offers solid automated retirement investments with low fund management fees. The only real snag is that you will have to invest $3,000 to get things started.

Launched in 2009, Empower quickly became one of the market’s most popular financial products. Offering a service that combines cutting-edge technology with professional financial advice, this hybrid digital asset management company now has over $12 billion in assets under management.

Account Types

Empower supports individual and joint non-retirement investment accounts, traditional, Roth, rollover and SEP IRAs, trusts, and cash accounts. The company also offers advice on 401(k) and 529 plan allocations. However, it doesn’t offer direct management for these account types.

Investment Strategies

Getting Started 

Empower’s model of operation is built upon selling investment advisory services to a small percentage of customers while offering plenty of features for free. Still, we suggest you don’t waste your time exploring this option unless you are looking to start investing with $100,000 or more in your investment portfolio. 

If you are part of Empower’s target audience, you can rest assured that signing up with this robo-advisor is simple. All you have to do is provide the requested personal information and link one or more of your investment accounts with the platform.

Portfolio Management

Empower bases its investment methodology on personalized and dynamic portfolio allocation, increasing diversification for better returns and risk minimization (smart weighing), automatic rebalancing, and tax optimization (tax-loss harvesting, tax allocation, and tax efficiency).

Fees and Commissions

While you can use Empower’s financial management app for free, its wealth management services (investment management and other financial services provided by advisors) come with fees. The robo-advisor cost is determined by the size of your portfolio.

To get access, Empower investors pay 0.89% per year on $1 million (or less) of assets under management. The fees drop as your portfolio grows. You’ll be charged 0.79% annually on the first $3 million, 0.69% on the next $2 million, 0.59% on another $5 million, and 0.49% if you invest more than $10 million.

Additional Services

Retirement Planner

Thanks to this feature, you can easily access your income and spending details to project the future value of your portfolio. Using this information, you’ll be able to see if you’re in the right shape for retirement.

Empower also offers a Recession Simulator that you can use to get an idea of how your portfolio would have performed throughout past recessions. If you are concerned about the effects of a recession on your retirement plan, this is an excellent asset.

Cash Flow

Empower’s cash flow feature works like a personal finance manager - not only does it aggregate your income and expenses automatically, but it also displays cash flow data in neatly organized charts.

Budgeting

There’s also a budgeting feature that groups all of your personal financial tools into a single app. You can use Empower’s budgeting functions to set a monthly spending threshold and track your spending or see your savings and spending by merchant, date, and category.

Customer Support

To get the registration process started, you can reach customer service agents by phone. If you’re already a member, everything is handled directly through the financial advisor assigned to your account.

The Bottom Line

This hybrid robo-advisor appeals mostly to investors who can deposit a large enough sum to gain access to services that aren’t available with a traditional financial advisor. However, Empower is also an excellent robo-advisor for beginning investors, as they can use the financial tools at no cost to get valuable insights into their portfolios.

Launched in 2008, Wealthfront has quickly established itself as one of the market’s biggest robo-advisors. The company’s automated investment management and holistic financial advice appeal to both new and experienced investors.

Multiple tax-optimization strategies, low fees, and free financial planning guides make Wealthfront worthy of consideration, especially since you don’t need lots of experience or a huge amount of money to get started.

Account Types

Wealthfront offers traditional, Roth, SEP, and rollover IRAs; individual and joint non-retirement accounts; 529 college savings plans; trusts; and cash accounts.

Investment Strategies

Designed to meet the needs of both hands-off investors who want guidance from experts and hands-on investors who need help making better investment decisions, Wealthfront’s investment management is automated but also strategic and adjusted to each client’s individual risk levels.

Getting Started

When starting your journey with Wealthfront, you'll be asked to provide some basic information. The website will inquire after personal information, then ask about how much you have in savings and what your pre-tax income is.

Then you'll be given an opportunity to choose your investment goal - this can be anything from long-term investing to a retirement savings account. Lastly, to assess your risk tolerance, Wealthfront will require you to complete a short questionnaire.

Portfolio Management

After assessing your level of risk tolerance, Wealthfront's automated advisor builds a diversified portfolio with up to 11 asset classes (most portfolios include six to eight asset classes). Wealthfront’s investment options cover US and foreign stocks, dividend stocks, real estate, natural resources, emerging market bonds, US government bonds, corporate bonds, and Treasury inflation-protected securities.

The robo-advisor primarily uses low-cost exchange-traded funds, while investors with six-figure investments can opt for a stock portfolio.

From there, the process is completely automated. The software may rebalance your portfolio when money is deposited or withdrawn, if dividends are reinvested, or if market fluctuations make it necessary.

One of the best things about Wealthfront is that it uses threshold-based rebalancing. In other words, portfolios are rebalanced each time an asset class crosses a predetermined threshold, rather than on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly schedule.

There are no options to get in touch with a human advisor. Still, given that Wealthfront's software does a great job in creating and managing personalized portfolios, this isn't a major disadvantage.

Additional Services

Tax-Loss Harvesting

Wealthfront offers daily tax-loss harvesting on all taxable account types. New account holders who transfer in assets may find the company’s tax-minimized brokerage account transfer service useful. Accounts with balances of at least $100,000 are also eligible for stock-level tax-loss harvesting.

Goal Planning

What makes Wealthfront stand out from the competition in the context of additional advisor services is its robust set of financial planning tools. These tools come free of charge even if Wealthfront isn’t managing your assets. They can help you plan for life events such as buying a home, paying for college, retirement, and traveling.

Cash Account

In addition to multiple investment account options, Weatlhfront also offers cash accounts. Defined by the provider as a good place to earn interest on the funds you don’t want to invest, these FDIC-insured accounts come with an impressive 0.35% APY.

Lines of Credit

Clients with $25,000 or more in their accounts can borrow against their portfolios by opening a line of credit. Wealthfront lets you take out up to 30% of the value of your portfolio at rates that currently range from 3.9% to 5.15%. You won’t be asked to fill out an application, undergo a credit check, or pay any additional fees.

Fees and Commissions

Wealthfront has a competitive and easy-to-understand fee structure. Investment account holders are charged 0.25% of their portfolios every month.

Note that larger portfolios (over $100,000) may be invested in funds that incur slightly higher fees. Exchange-traded funds make up most of the portfolios Wealthfront manages. They come with expense ratios of 0.06%-0.13%.

To open an investment account with Wealthfront, you’ll be required to deposit a minimum of $500, while the minimum for a cash account is $1.

Automatic portfolio rebalancing is free on all accounts, as is linking your retirement and bank accounts to the company’s signature finance planning tool, Path.

Customer Support

Almost all interactions with Wealthfront’s customer service agents are conducted electronically. In addition to the comprehensive library of frequently asked questions and answers,

Wealthfront’s account holders can also get in touch with the customer service team via phone and email. Support agents are available Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET.

The Bottom Line

Wealthfront offers goal-based investing and helps its clients understand how the financial choices they make today may affect their future.

This robo-advisor also provides tax-loss harvesting and automatic portfolio rebalancing. It supports a good selection of investment account types, and the fees on its ETFs are among the market’s lowest. The company doesn’t buy fractional shares, which may prevent it from investing your entire deposit; however, it offers a good deal on an FDIC-insured cash account.

Well-known for its lending products, SoFi is a new kid on the block when it comes to robo advising. This doesn’t mean that SoFi Automated Investing can’t compete with the industry’s top players. The company doesn’t charge administrative or advisory fees, and it provides access to low-cost ETFs.

To top things off, SoFi’s service includes unlimited access to a team of CFPs along with complimentary career coaching.

Account Types

SoFi’s account offerings are somewhat limited compared to those offered by competitors. Options include retirement accounts such as traditional, Roth, SEP, and rollover IRAs, along with individual and joint non-retirement accounts.

Investment Strategies

SoFi Automated Investing offers an excellent platform for cost-conscious investors who are just starting out and thus favor a hands-off approach. Like other robo-advisors, the company offers competitively priced diversified portfolios.

Getting Started

Setting up an account with SoFi is quick and easy. While new clients are asked to provide basic personal and asset information, there are no inquiries related to your market experience or risk tolerance.

The automated investing platform picks one of the model portfolios based on your investment objectives. However, prospective clients can override the robo-advisor’s suggestion and choose their own risk profile. Getting in touch with a human advisor is also an option at this point.

Portfolio Management

Based on investment objectives and risk tolerance, SoFi’s clients can choose from a selection of 10 model portfolios. Each option comes with a diversified selection of low-cost ETFs, which mostly consist of international stocks, US stocks, and real estate, high-yield, and Treasury bonds.

Much like most other advisors, SoFi Automated Investing provides automatic portfolio rebalancing. Each time money enters or leaves your investment account, the robo-advisor checks to see if your portfolio has drifted away from predetermined target allocations. If it has, it rebalances your portfolio automatically.

Additional Services

Financial Planning

What makes SoFi really stand out from the competition is that, in addition to automated investment tools, all of its clients have unlimited access to the company’s team of certified advisors at no extra charge.

Special Bonuses

SoFi offers special bonuses to clients. These include things such as access to members-only social events and complimentary career coaching.

As this company’s client, you can also get reduced rates on student loans and mortgages that are provided by SoFi. To become eligible for these special perks, all you have to do is invest at least $20 each month.

Fees and Commissions

As far as costs go, SoFi is one of the most investor-friendly providers on our list. Unlike its competitors, the company charges no monthly management fees. Additionally, there are no administrative charges for transferring money or closing accounts. Portfolio expense ratios are also very low, ranging from 0.03% to 0.08% of assets under management.

Customer Support

Inexperienced investors - or those simply looking to access certified professionals - will be happy to hear that there are multiple ways to get in touch with a SoFi financial advisor. You can schedule a phone or video call between the hours of 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday, and from 5 a.m. until 4 p.m. ET on Fridays. 

Should you require assistance with technical issues, this automated advisor’s customer service agents will be there to help you from 4 a.m. until 9 p.m. PT Monday through Thursday and from 4 a.m. until 5 p.m. PT on Fridays. Support channels include phone, email, and Twitter.

The Bottom Line

A relative newcomer to the industry, SoFi Automated Investing stands out from the crowd for its incredibly investor-friendly service.

To help you reach your financial objectives, the automated advisor offers robust goal-based planning tools and automatic portfolio rebalancing - everything you need, except perhaps tax-loss harvesting. 

In addition, SoFi’s clients get access to a financial advisor, discounts on other financial products offered by the company, and fee-free career advice.

Launched in 2017, Ellevest is a robo-advisor designed to meet the needs of female investors. Although it was created to help women overcome gender wage gaps, this robo-advisor accepts clients of any gender identity and expression.

Ellevest uses a proprietary algorithm to identify financial targets and determine the best achievement strategies for each client’s specific needs. Unlike most of its competitors, this stock investing platform uses gender-specific salary curves and longevity data to forecast financial goals and provide personalized recommendations.

Account Types

Ellevest offers several types of investment accounts. Clients who choose the Essential plan can open only individual taxable accounts, while those who go for the Plus or Executive plans can choose among traditional, SEP, and Roth IRAs. Ellevest doesn’t offer joint taxable accounts.

Investment Strategies

Getting Started

Starting your robo investing journey with Ellevest is relatively easy. In addition to providing your basic personal data, you'll be required to choose among the three subscription plans fairly early in the registration process. At this point, you may still be unsure about what you want from a robo trading platform, so you might find this requirement premature. 

From there, you’ll be required to link an eligible bank account. Then the platform will ask you a few questions related to your household income. You’ll also need to enter estimates of your balances in checking and savings accounts, 401(k)s, IRAs, and taxable accounts to help Ellevest get a complete picture of your assets.

After that, you can choose investment goals such as retirement, starting your own business, or a down payment on a house. Ellevest lets you invest in multiple goals at once. The platform will suggest totals for your goals and allow you to review them and adjust your risk level. 

Once you approve the goals for your account, you’ll be able to see the specific ETFs and mutual funds Ellevest recommends before making a decision. Ellevest portfolios consist of a mix of ETFs that cover more than 20 asset classes. For its standard portfolios, the company chooses from 20 ETFs, while impact portfolios draw from 27 ETFs and mutual funds.

Portfolio Management

Unlike most other robo-advisors, Ellevest focuses on creating specific target allocations for each portfolio. In other words, the platform selects more aggressive funds for long-term investment goals and more conservative options for the short term.

Ellevest gives clients a certain level of control over how aggressively their money is invested and allows them to adjust their exposure up or down (between 5% or 10%, depending on the investment goal).

Whenever the portfolio drifts away from its target allocation, the platform makes sure to rebalance the investments automatically.

Additional Services

Financial Planning

While everyone can purchase CFP services or coaching sessions through Ellevest’s website, members get access to professional financial help at a lower price. You can get a one-time session on budgeting, unlimited access to a certified financial planner, and everything in between with a 20%, 30%, or 50% discount based on your membership plan.

Educational Resources

Ellevest offers all members free digital workshops led by its team of coaches. Investors receive personalized progress reports with useful advice on how to keep their goals on track, plus access to a huge library of videos, articles, and how-to guides.

Fees and Commissions

As of June 2020, Ellevest stopped charging a percentage of assets under management to new investors. Instead, the company introduced Money Memberships, a tiered pricing structure with flat monthly fees.

The company’s fees start at just $1 per month if you sign up for the Ellevest Essential plan, which lets you set a single goal. To open any type of IRA, you must go with Ellevest Plus ($5 per month). If you’d like to pursue up to six investment goals, the Executive plan ($9 per month) is your only option.  

Customer Support

You can get in touch with customer service via email or by phone. While the hours for phone support are limited (9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET), customer service agents are knowledgeable and quick to respond. You can also request help by sending a text message or by getting in touch with the agents via Facebook Messenger.

The Bottom Line

Even though Ellevest welcomes all investors, it is an especially good robo-advisor for women with multiple goals in mind. The fact that its algorithm takes the salary curve and lifespan of each client’s gender profile into account is refreshing, and so is the pricing policy. Beginning investors will appreciate the comprehensive library of educational resources and access to a team of CFPs.

Offered by Interactive Brokers, a popular broker for advanced traders, Interactive Advisors was created with a mission: to make investing easy, transparent, and efficient. The software has secured a spot on our list thanks to a broad range of customizable portfolio options, low fees, and access to highly trained investment professionals.

Account Types

The Interactive Advisors platform supports a wide variety of broker account types such as individual and joint taxable accounts, trusts, and different IRA structures, including traditional, Roth, and rollover.

Regardless of the type, each account works as a cash account, which means it can use the proceeds from stock sales instantly rather than waiting for a two-day settlement to pass.

Investment Strategies

Getting Started

Widely regarded as suitable for both retirees and younger investors, Interactive Advisors lets you sign up with a fast and simple application process. If you already have an account with Interactive Brokers, all you need to do is complete a short questionnaire.

However, if it’s your first time doing business with this robo-advisor or its parent company, you’ll need to provide personal data, choose an account type, and confirm that you are a US resident. 

From there, you’ll be able to set your goals and get an overview of the performance data on a wide range of available portfolios.

Portfolio Management

Even if you are an experienced trader, you’ll still benefit from Interactive Advisors’ ability to create low-cost, diversified portfolios customized for your needs and the risk levels you’re comfortable with.

Seeking to combine assets that perform well in different economic conditions, this robo-advisor makes sure to allocate investors’ capital to a bond component, an equity component, and an inflation-hedging component. Given that this strategy delivers solid diversification, you can count on risk reduction and good returns.

In addition to portfolio personalization and smart diversification, Interactive Advisors also offers quarterly automatic rebalancing and complete transparency.

Note that the clients have the option to start trading their own assets (stocks, bonds, options, and ETFs) by upgrading to an Interactive Brokers Universal Account at any time.

Fees and Commissions

Given the wide range of fees, the best way to get a cost estimate is by using the Interactive Advisors cost breakdown tool. Keep in mind that the least expensive portfolios come with 0.08% annual management charges, while the most expensive options carry a 1.5% fee. You won’t be charged anything on uninvested cash.

Additional Services

Cash Account

You can keep your uninvested funds in a cash account. However, interest rates are very low. Also, there are quite a few restrictions that keep small balances from earning anything at all.

Human Advisors

One of the best things about Interactive Advisors platform is that it offers unlimited phone access to highly trained investment professionals.

Educational Resources

A comprehensive educational center is another reason this company’s services deserve a spot among the top individual account robo-advisors. There are plenty of in-depth articles, videos, and how-to guides on the website.

Customer Support

Interactive Advisors offers multiple ways to get in touch with its customer service team. Phone support is available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Sundays. Online chat and email support are available around the clock on business days - for both current and prospective clients.

The Bottom Line

Interactive Advisors’ set of portfolios is among the most complex we’ve encountered, which makes it an excellent robo-advisor for hands-on investors. In other words, if you are among trading veterans who understand how index funds are constructed but are still looking for a bit of a hands-off approach, Interactive Advisors offers a sophisticated way to introduce some automation to your investment strategies.