Investing: Where Are The Hidden Fees?

Where Are The Hidden Fees? 24 What is it? Getting Started Hidden Fees You should know Minimum: $1K $3.49 per equity trade and $0.35 per optíons contract. Followers copy investments and tip their leaders voluntarily, Leaders' tips have avéraged -10% Instavest A network where investors can make, share and follow investments for a portion of the profits. Approximately 70% of the company's user báse is comprised of millennials & ex-money managers None www.instavest.com Minimum: $0 App that automatically invests your spare change into ETFS. $1 / month for accounts > $5K 0.25% p.a. for accounts < $5K Students under 24 invest free Acorns is designed with frequent investing in mind and the fee structure may not be appropriate for individualś looking to 'make few or infrequent small dollar investments. None www.acorns.com Minimum: $0 Betterment uses ETFS with expense ratios from 0.09% - 0.17% in customer accounts. The company used to charge a whopping $1,000 to transfer accounts into Betterment, but this charge has since been eliminated due to a blog post! Betterment aggregates transactions across customer accounts (i.e. your trade aren't executed immediately; they are batched with other customers orders. Are you really getting the best price? 0.35% p.a. with a min. of $100 month deposit $3 per month w/out deposit 25% p.a. for accounts Betterment The largest robo-advisor (by users) www.betterment.com over $5K $10K - $100K 0.25% of assets 0.15% of assets p/y $100K+ Minimum: $5K charles SCHWAB Schwab's answer to the Robo-Advisor (sans the fees)* Accounts must maintain a minimum balance of $5K to be eligible for automatic rebalancing $0 advisory fees, service fees and commissions. Schwab affiliates earn revenue from the underlying assets by putting part of the funds in a Tow-interést-rate cash account and profiting from the interest spread. Watch ouf for the ETF expenses! Schwab uses ETFS ranging from about 0.18% for a conservative portfolio to 0.26% for an aggressive portfolio. Be wary of these fees. https://intelligent.schwab.com/ digit Every few days, Digit checks your spending habits and removes ă few dollars from your checking account and puts it into a Digit savings account Minimum: $0 No fees, Digit funds its operations by taking the 'interest on your cash You could be losing money after take into account inflation (e.g. no return on $) None https://digit.co FutureAdvisor offers investment advice and portfolio optimization services The company executes transactions by placing "márket orders". This could result in clients paying a higher purchase price or 'receiving a lower sale price when the company places market orders. It could also result in higher execution fees charged by the brokers. Minimum: $0 FutureAdvisor Third party brokerage charges and ETF expense ratios Freemium model 0.5% annual fee on investable assets + transaction fees (depending on broker) www.futureadvisor.com Minimum: $250 (for Motifs) motifiNVESTING Brokerage where people can invest in customizable baskets of up to 30 stocks or ETFS. Minimum for margin: $2K $9.95 per Motif $4.95 per stock/ETF in Motifs No hidden fees but it may be easy to accumulate charges if you re-balance frequently or trade often Commissions of $9.95 can also be charged quarterly or annually - whenever rebalancing occurs. www.motifinvesting.com Minimum $10OK PERSONAL CAPITAL Investing more than $1 million with the company qualifies you for private client services. Those sub-$1 million work with financial advisors who manage many more clients ll First $1 million 0.89% p.a. First $3 million 0.79% p.a. Next $2 million 0.69% p.a. Next $5 million 0.59% p.a. +$10 million 0.49% p.a. A robo-advisor with human assistance None www.personalcapital.com It's possible that because RobinHood sells its order flow you may not be getting the best execution price (i.e. you are paying more) and they may be getting rebates from these wholesalers. Minimum: $500 robinhood Brokerage that allows customers to buy and sell U.S. listed stocks and ÉTES with zero commission RobinHood also makes money on interest from deposits None www.robinhood.com Parker Conrad, CEO of Zenefits (a VC unicorn 4.5x over), was an original co-founder of Sigfig but was kicked out by his co-founder. The company used to be called Wikinvest. Minimum: $2K SigFig Robo-advisor - seems to competes on price None Annual fee of 0.25% billed monthly after the first $10K www.sigfig.com On top of your annual fee, the average expense ration is 0.25% for ETFS and Vanguard goes down as low as 0.18% +$500K gets you preferential treatment; others must call 800 number. Only Vanguard funds. Minimum $50K Vanguard A hybrid human-robo management service Annual fee of 0.30% http://investor.vanguard.com Minimum: $500 wealthfront The company's website says the average expense ratio for the ETFS it invests in is 0.15% A 30-year old woman who invests $100,000 in retirement with Wealthfront will likely pay the company over $100,000 in fees by her 75th birthday. The robo-advisor formerly known as KaChing $1,00K for tax optmized direct indexing service Nothing on first $10K. After $10K, 0.25% p.a. www.wealthfront.com Sources: SEC filings, company websites, news.