Anyone use WealthFront?

[JakeRogue]

Getting into investing, I'm a fan of the roboadvisor concept, as I think I'll make bad decisions and am not patient enough for day/short term trading. Wondering if anyone uses/has a WealthFront account.

[Anonymous]

Very good decision not to be involved in short-term and day trading.

Note, however, that this has been the consistent advice of reliable people well before the advent of robo-advisors.  Just a few years ago, the recommended approach would be to open an account with Vanguard (or a similar group).  Thus you do not have to choose between Frequent Trading vs. having a Robo-Advisor.  There are other options.

Here is a link to articles that contrast the pros and cons of robo-advisors (e.g. Betterment, WealthFront, etc.) with Vanguard.

Here is a link to articles that contrast two competing robo-advisors: Betterment vs. WealthFront.

Morningstar is a respected reliable source for investment advice.  I'd look at what they have to say here, in their piece on How To Choose A Robo-Advisor.

[iced]

I echo the sentiment about avoiding day-trading and shorting. The real patience comes with the long traders though - you have to steel yourself to not react to market downturns and sell instead of buy (or hold). I know more people than I should who lost their mind in 2010, thought the world was going to hell in a handbasket, and dumped their stock holdings to buy gold. Now they're still broke while those who rode it out have since quadrupled their investment.

Have not tried any roboadvisors, though I read a few online advisors now and then (Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, etc). I think they're all garbage and largely biased. Over a longer time, a simple index fund will win out over a customized portfolio, so anytime someone asks me for investment advice I just point them that way.

If there's particular companies you feel strongly about or you're looking for your investments to provide something you value in particular (high dividend payout, for instance), that's when you spend time doing the individual research into the fundamentals of that company to see if you're making a wise decision investing in them or not. The trick in that is that no advisor is going to have the same desires you do, nor are they going to know anything you can't find out with a quick Google search and some light reading.

Not particularly helpful to your question I know, other than perhaps to say you should trust yourself more than you do.

[mattmyFIC0]

I switched to wealthfront about a year ago and I have been very happy with them. I was attempting to manage my portfolio myself and it was doing horribly. It has been been doing considerably better since I switched. I set my risk tolerance at 5.

[Moneyklutz]

Been using them since May 2016. Started off with $500 initially at level 10 risk and plunked a 100 a month into it. In May of 2017 I doubled the contribution to $200 a month.

Even allowing for such a bull market since last November I'm quite tickled with these results:

Don't know how long this run will last, but my experience with them has been easy so far and until I hit 20K, won't cost me a dime in fees. I consider this a play account but I cry every time I compare the returns on it vs my Stifel managed Sep-IRA (12% or so). I've since recommended Wealthfront to friends, fam and co-workers as an easy way to start an investment account.

[Anonymous]

I am very encouraged by what you guys are saying about WealthFront.  At sounds like there are no fees when an investor is new and has little saved (compared to where he will be in a few years).  What happens when you cross over that line and they start charging you fees?  What kind of fee does WF charge for transfering your money away (e.g. to Vanguard or Fidelity or whatever)?

[Moneyklutz]

"Wealthfront does not charge an advisory fee on the first $10,000 of assets under management. On amounts over $10,000, we charge a monthly advisory fee based on an annual fee rate of 0.25%.

As an example, an account with an average monthly balance of $100K with our standard $10K managed for free will have a monthly advisory fee of $18.49. Assuming 30 days in the month and 365 days in the year, the math is as follows: $90,000 * .0025 * (30/365).

The only other fee you incur is the very low fee embedded in the cost of the ETFs you will own that averages 0.08%.

There are no account-opening fees, withdrawal or account-closing fees, trading/commission fees, account transfer fees or any other fees of any kind"

You can get an additional 5K free of fees, per friend you recommend Wealthfront to, who subsequently opens an account as well. 

[Anonymous]

I would just put money into index fund at fidelity or TD. You will not beat the market using this service 

[JakeRogue]

Thanks for your input, based on what I have available to start investing (account minimums are a thing with all these advisory firms) and my propensity to micro-manage, I've opened up an account with WealthFront. Right off the bat, I'm really digging the interface and layout of this service. Time will tell how my experience goes

[Anonymous]

I usually research my companies before buying, don't make decisions based on only one report, and only buy well known companies that I like instead of ones I have never heard of.   I have done alright that way.   I have gotten experienced investors to look at my companies for me free of charge.   I don't use WealthFront and might never.