Fidelity Go IRA vs Wealthfront IRA

Fidelity: best if you want

A Fidelity Go account is a great choice for investors looking for expert advice from one of the biggest names in retirement savings. The Fidelity Go robo-advisor is a low-cost solution that makes retirement planning easier for beginning investors. Fidelity’s robo advisor invests primarily in Fidelity Flex funds including asset classes like domestic stocks, foreign stocks, bonds, and short-term investments. This helps give investors a well-diversified retirement profile right from the start. With its $0 account minimum balance and $0 advisory fees for accounts under $25,000, a Fidelity Go portfolio is also a solid pick for investors with lower start-up capital for an initial deposit.

Fidelity Go customers still enjoy the benefits of live financial advice once their account reaches a balance of $25,000 or more. Fidelity’s financial advisor team can help investors tackle regular strategizing conversations like annual reviews of retirement account performance and one-off questions about budgeting, managing debt, investment strategy, achieving financial goals, and more.

Wealthfront: best if you want

Wealthfront is a great choice for investors looking for a robo-advisor account that allows them to set it and forget it. This is an automated investment platform with low fees. Since Wealthfront does not offer access to a human advisor, it’s ideal for people who are comfortable with software driving their retirement savings, or who are working with a financial advisor on their own to tackle their financial planning needs.

Wealthfront’s user-friendly website offers investors access to great planning tools that are helpful for both experienced and novice investors. Because these tools are integrated directly into the website’s user interface, they’re easier to access than similar tools offered by other brokers. Plus, Wealthfront features include automatic rebalancing and daily tax-loss harvesting to help you get the most bang for your buck, whether you invest in its low-cost index funds and mutual funds or buy fractional shares of individual stocks.

Fidelity: other features

Fidelity offers key features like its advisory clients access to research and financial planning tools regardless of their level of assets under management. In addition, investing at Fidelity means you may be eligible for other benefits, such as a Fidelity Rewards Signature Visa card. The Signature Visa card comes with a $0 annual fee and can help you earn up to 2% cash back, which can be deposited directly into an eligible Fidelity investment account (including an IRA!).

Fidelity also offers a cash management account that can help you earn higher-than-average interest on your uninvested assets. A cash management account is also available with no management fee or account minimums.

Wealthfront: other features

Wealthfront stands out from other robo-advisors thanks to its expert-curated investment options. When you set up your Wealthfront account, you’ll answer a series of questions about your financial situation, goals, and preferences. This is known as a risk tolerance questionnaire. It’s a common starting point when creating an investment portfolio.

Based on your answers, Wealthfront will calculate your risk score and create a portfolio for you. The money in your automated investing account will be allocated across a combination of asset classes like equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and international investments. Like other roboadvisors, Wealthfront tends to invest your money in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and low-cost index funds that allow you to get easy access to a diversified mix of investments in these asset classes.

Wealthfront also separates out its investment options into categories based on your goals and preferences. For instance, you can choose to invest in ETFs focused on technological innovation or put your money into cryptocurrency trusts, or you can opt for socially responsible portfolio options that align with your values. While the funds themselves are pre-arranged (and therefore pre-diversified), you have a lot of say when it comes to where your money is going.

Conclusion

Fidelity Go is a good option for investors looking for an expertly managed IRA but still want to maintain some autonomy in the mix of investment options chosen. It’s also great for investors looking for a platform that offers the low fees of a robo-advisor who likes the idea of having the account monitored by real people (and eventually working with them one-on-one). Fidelity’s commitment to making investing easy and accessible for everyone is a very good choice for people looking to have their retirement handled at a low cost.

If you’re looking to fund your new Fidelity Go IRA with a 401(k) rollover, Capitalize can help. We’ve made it our mission to make this process easier for everyone. We can handle the entire process for you. Most of the process can be done online and our rollover experts will guide you through any of the manual parts. Get started with your 401(k) to IRA rollover in just a few minutes.

Wealthfront offers one of the best robo-advised IRAs on the market, with a wealth of different asset classes and sectors available to investors. Plus, it has additional offerings, including a college savings plan and an interest cash account that works like a checking account, that allow you to save and invest for a number of goals.

Wealthfront is a good choice for “set-it-and-forget-it” investors who want to keep all their financial accounts in one place. Just remember: Wealthfront advisers are not easily available for those looking for real, live, human interaction.