Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios are distinct enough to make the choice rather easy regarding which is best for you. If you don’t have the $5,000 minimum required by Schwab, then Wealthfront’s $500 is more attainable. Both offer some level of portfolio customization, and the Intelligent Portfolios income fund is a find for those seeking cash flow. Knowledgeable Wealthfront users might want to put their own stamp on the portfolio by adding additional exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Wealthier investors might lean toward Schwab’s Intelligent Portfolio Premium with Certified Financial Planner access and low subscription pricing. For those looking for access to more traditional support, the 24/7 customer service and branch access available at Schwab is also enticing. We will cover all the different features of both digital investment advisors to help you decide which is best for you.
- Account Minimum: $500
- Fees: 0.25% for most accounts; no trading commission or fees for withdrawals, minimums, or transfers
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Key Takeaways of Wealthfront
- The extensive customization options including over 200 ETFs and two cryptocurrency funds are good for investors looking to tweak their portfolio compositions.
- Wealthfront offers both a high-yield checking and a margin account.
- The Path is a best-in-class financial planning tool in the digital investment advisory sphere.
- Wealthfront is best for investors comfortable with an all-digital platform and weekday only phone customer service.
- Minimum Account: $5,000 ($25,000 for Premium)
- Fees: $0, expense ratios range from 0.03%-0.18%. ($300 initial consultation plus $30 per month for Premium)
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Key Takeaways of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
- Schwab offers highly diversified portfolios with U.S., Global, and Income choices.
- The 24/7 phone and financial representative customer service is a plus.
- Fee-free investment management is a rare benefit for cost-conscious investors.
- The required cash allocation and high account minimum may deter some investors.
Account Setup
Wealthfront
The Wealthfront account setup is quick. Users complete the initial questionnaire which assesses goals, timeline, and risk level. You can create an account with your name, email, address, phone number, and password. No Social Security number is required to view the suggested Core portfolio, which is a nice benefit. The Core offer includes U.S. and international stock and bond ETFs along with a real estate ETF—another plus not found on some competitors' platforms. Users can check out alternate portfolio choices before transferring funds into the account.
You will need a $500 investment minimum to begin investing at Wealthfront. The 0.25% management fee of assets under management is near the average digital advisory cost. No financial planners are available at Wealthfront, although the well-trained customer service representatives have a minimum of Series 7 investment license. More sophisticated investors can add to existing portfolios or create a new portfolio from a choice of 200-plus ETFs and two Grayscale cryptocurrency funds.
The well-regarded Path digital financial planner, available to clients and the public, enables users to link external accounts and receive high-level digital financial planning guidance.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios guides users through 12 questions spanning investing goals, timeline, and risk tolerance. Your responses inform a customized investment portfolio containing roughly 12 distinct ETFs and a cash allocation. You must open and fund an account to view the tailored portfolio ETFs. This drawback is partially offset by Schwab’s choice of low-fee, diversified funds for Intelligent Portfolios.
The barrier to entry is a $5,000 account minimum, steeper than many digital investment managers. Making up for the high account minimum, however, is the fact that Schwab Intelligent Portfolios doesn’t charge an investment management fee. Some investors will take issue with the required 8% to 10% cash allocation within each portfolio as it can contribute to performance drag over time.
Still, investors with greater risk tolerance will find cash allocations of 7% or below within Schwab’s Global and U.S. focused strategies.
The Schwab Intelligent Portfolios interactive tool, based upon investment strategy and risk tolerance level, provides potential best- and worst-case scenario investment returns. Although Schwab Intelligent Portfolios doesn’t include investment advisors, you can visit a branch or speak with a well-qualified customer service representative for basic guidance.
Final Verdict
Onboarding is easy at both platforms. That said, we like the opportunity to view specific ETFs before funding an account at Wealthfront, so it gets the edge in this category.
Goal Planning
Wealthfront
Winner of our Best for Goal Planning overall category, Wealthfront is superb for mapping your future plans. Users choose from goals such as large purchases, college planning, and retirement. Your progress is updated automatically on the dashboard. The Path digital financial planner provides the opportunity to try out multiple goal-based scenarios. The tool can answer more than 10,000 financial planning questions, including “When can I retire?”, “How much should I save for a home down payment?”, and “Can I afford a new car?”. For a large majority of people, the Path digital financial planner is an effective replacement for a financial planner in most situations.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios goal planning includes choices such as retirement, college, home down payment, long-term wealth, and income. Users can access Schwab’s interactive tool to assess how changes in the market, contribution rates, and other factors will impact the likelihood of achieving goals. All Schwab clients can access their digital financial planning tool which helps you clarify your goals and create a personalized investment strategy.
Users seeking a digital investment advisor with financial planner access can sign up for the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium product. Clients with $25,000 or more gain access to a Certified Financial Planner on an as-needed basis, along with automated investment management for the subscription pricing of $30 per month and a one time setup fee of $300.
Final Verdict
Both Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios offer top-notch goal-planning and advice options. As mentioned, however, Wealthfront’s Path digital financial planning tool is almost a match for a live financial planner, so we give it an edge here for having comprehensive digital advice within the platform.
Account Types
Most investors will find sufficient account types at either platform. Wealthfront has a high-interest cash account, which requires an additional sign-up. Schwab requires a new account for its checking account with a debit card. Other account differences include a 529 college account at Wealthfront and Schwab’s custodial and SIMPLE individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Wealthfront
- Individual taxable
- Joint taxable
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- 401(k) rollover IRA
- Simplified employee pension (SEP) IRA
- Trust
- 529 college saving plan
- High-interest cash
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
- Individual taxable
- Joint taxable
- Traditional IRA
- Roth IRA
- SEP IRA
- SIMPLE IRA
- Revocable living trust
- Custodial
Final Verdict
The basic account types are available at both Wealthfront and Schwab, so this category is effectively a tie. If you are looking for a 529 plan, choose Wealthfront. Those seeking a custodial account or SIMPLE IRA should select Schwab.
Account Services
Wealthfront
Investors who open an account with Wealthfront will have access to all of the expected financial products and services available at a major financial firm. Presently, Wealthfront customers have the usual auto deposits along with cash accounts, debit cards, and lending.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios sticks with investment management without checking, debit cards, or lending products within the robo-advisory product. But with a click, Intelligent Portfolios users can sign up for banking, lending, self directed investing, and more on the Schwab platform.
Cash Management
Wealthfront
Wealthfront Cash management requires a separate signup. The fee-free, high-yield checking account is available to anyone, whether they have a Wealhtfront investment account or not. Top features include goal-based saving, a fee-free ATM debit card, bill pay, and direct deposit. Wealthfront Borrow provides account holders with at least a $25,000 account value the opportunity to borrow up to 30% of their holdings amount for low interest rates without a credit check.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios doesn’t offer cash management within the robo-advisory platform, but access to cash management is quite straightforward. Anyone can open a Schwab high-yield checking account with debit card, banking, and brokerage services.
Final Verdict
At both Wealthfront and Schwab you need to set up separate accounts for cash management. The distinction between the two is that Wealthfront’s cash management is more integrated with its investment services.
Portfolio Construction
| Wealthfront | Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Stocks | Yes: Direct indexing for accounts worth $100,000+ | No |
| Mutual Funds | No | No |
| Fixed Income | Yes, ETFs only | Yes, ETFs only |
| REITs | Yes | Yes |
| Socially Responsible or ESG Options | Yes | No |
| ETFs | Yes | Yes |
| Non-Proprietary ETFs | Yes | Yes, but only a few |
| Mutual Funds | No | No |
| Forex | No | Yes/No |
| Crypto | Yes, 2 Grayscale crypto funds | No |
Portfolio Customization
Wealthfront
Wealthfront ramped up its customization features by adding access to 200-plus ETFs and two Grayscale cryptocurrency funds. Users can add additional ETFs to existing portfolios or create new customized portfolios with their own picks.
In June 2023, Wealthfront introduced an Automated Bond Portfolio, a first of its kind in the robo-advisor space. The portfolio features a 5.75% blended 30-day SEC yield (net of fees), designed to provide higher yield and more liquidity than a variety of popular fixed-income products. For context, the current yield on U.S. one-year Treasurys is 5.36%.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios users can change their asset allocation composition by retaking the initial goals and risk questionnaire. You can also exclude up to three ETFs from the portfolio. Users may choose a U.S. domestic portfolio of ETFs or a global option. The platform also offers an Income portfolio choice for those seeking cash flow from a more conservatively invested account, with greater allocations to cash and fixed income ETFs.
Portfolio Management
Wealthfront
Wealthfront monitors portfolios daily and rebalances when investment values deviate significantly from the target weight you agreed upon. Wealthfront rebalances your portfolio whether you’ve customized it or not.
At Wealthfront you can sync outside accounts using the Path digital financial planner. Path is designed to answer thousands of financial planning questions and will make recommendations based upon all of your linked accounts. The synced accounts don’t impact your portfolio’s asset allocation recommendations.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios also monitors your holdings daily and rebalances when needed. Schwab doesn’t enable syncing of outside accounts.
Final Verdict
Wealthfront offers more customization options than Schwab, so it has the edge for us when it comes to portfolio management. For a customized portfolio, Schwab users will need to open a brokerage account.
Tax-Advantaged Investing
At both Wealthfront and Schwab, tax-loss harvesting opportunities are monitored daily in taxable accounts. At Schwab, only those with at least $50,000 in their accounts can opt for tax-loss harvesting. Wealthfront customers benefit from tax-loss harvesting on all taxable accounts. Taxable accounts at each service include municipal bond ETFs.
| Key Portfolio Management Features | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wealthfront | Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | |
| Automatic Rebalancing | Monitored daily and rebalanced as needed | Monitored daily and rebalanced as needed |
| Reporting Features | Statements, tax information; goal progress viewable online | Statements, tax information; goal progress viewable online |
| Tax-Loss Harvesting | Yes | Yes, for accounts worth $50,000+ (clients must opt in) |
| External Account Syncing/Consolidation | Yes, automatically updated after linking; used in Path recommendations, not portfolio asset allocation | No |
Security
Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios enable top-level, financial institution-grade security protocols. Both also offer two-factor authentication and the highest level of privacy standards. Cash Accounts at Wealthfront are insured with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) while investment accounts carry Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) insurance on each platform. You can be confident your money is protected with the highest bank-grade security features and insurance protection for institutional failure and bad actors at both Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.
Users can be comfortable with the security protocols at either digital investment advisor. However, no investment service protects your money from the fluctuations of the financial markets.
User Experience
Desktop
Wealthfront
Wealthfront users will find a clean interface and accessible menu on the desktop site. The home screen includes tabs for Invest, Cash, Borrow, and Blog. Other categories within reach include research, support, and contact.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios offers an easy-to-navigate, tab-based dashboard. Users can view Portfolio, Goal, Performance, Activity, and Settings at the touch of a button. Clients can easily compare their performance to various benchmarks and view goal performance.
Mobile App
Wealthfront
Wealthfront’s mobile app is well-regarded, with a good user experience on both the Android and iOS platforms. The app approximates the functionality of the desktop version. Anyone can link their accounts and use the Path digital financial planner. This is a benefit for portfolio insights and financial analysis.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Schwab doesn’t have a dedicated Intelligent Portfolios app. Schwab is updating its Android app soon to make access to Intelligent Portfolios easier. That said, you can access most of the desktop features on the mobile app. Users will appreciate that customer service is very convenient to access via the app.
Final Verdict
Wealthfront’s mobile app surpasses the functionality and features of the Schwab mobile app.
Customer Service
| Wealthfront | Schwab Intelligent Portfolios | |
|---|---|---|
| Phone Contact Available | 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. PT, weekdays | 24/7 |
| Pre-Funding Phone Consultation With Certified Advisor | No | No |
| Online Chat Available | No | Yes, 24/7 with customer service representative |
| Website FAQ section | Yes, comprehensive | Yes, comprehensive |
Final Verdict
Customer service at Schwab is superior to Wealthfront’s. With 24/7 live access options as well as nationwide branches, it’s easier to receive live help at Schwab. Wealthfront’s phone representatives are well-trained, but phone access is somewhat difficult to find on the website. That said, both platforms offer good quality FAQ and search features.
Fees
Wealthfront
Wealthfront charges 0.25% of assets managed, regardless of portfolio size. This is a fair price for the platform’s robust features and significantly lower than a typical financial planner. The tradeoff is that users need to be comfortable with limited human hand-holding.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
The Schwab Intelligent Portfolio all-digital option doesn’t charge any management fees. The uniform pricing for the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium is $30 per month with a one-time $300 setup fee. This is rock-bottom for larger accounts but high for accounts between $25,000 and $72,000. For example, a $50,000 account will cost 0.72% of assets under management (AUM). But once your portfolio hits $300,000, the AUM fee is a paltry 0.12%.
Final Verdict
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is preferred for investors seeking investment management without a management fee. However, Schwab users will need to accept a modest cash allocation and forgo the customization options available at Wealthfront. Both Schwab and Wealthfront use low-fee ETFs within their portfolios.
| Category | Wealthfront | Schwab Intelligent Portfolios |
| Management Fees for $5,000 Account | $12.50 | $0 |
| Management Fees for $25,000 Account | $62.50 | $30 per month plus $300 setup fee for Premium |
| Management Fees for $100,000 Account | $250 | $30 per month plus $300 setup fee for Premium |
| Termination Fees | $0 | $0 |
| Expense Ratios | Average 0.08% - 0.11% | 0.04% - 0.18%, with an average of 0.11% |
| Mutual Funds | N/A | N/A |
Final Verdict
Wealthfront is the winner of both our Best Overall and Best for Goal Planning Platforms. This makes Wealthfront a solid choice for any investor comfortable with an all-digital investment service. Wealthfront is also the choice for those without the $5,000 minimumrequired by Schwab. The addition of 200-plus ETFs for customization, two cryptocurrency funds, and the Path financial planner places Wealthfront among the best robo-advisors available.
While Schwab Intelligent Portfolios is clearly the low-fee choice, wealthier investors seeking a combined human and digital platform might lean towards the Schwab Premium offer. Existing Schwab customers as well as those seeking extensive customer service options or an income portfolio might prefer Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. In the final analysis, both platforms are well-regarded, and the choice between the two depends upon the features and services that you are seeking.
Can You Have Multiple Schwab Intelligent portfolios?
Yes, you can open a different Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account for each goal. For instance, you can have one portfolio be risk-averse and a second portfolio that's more risk-tolerant. The goal tracker will monitor your progress towards each goal separately.
What Happens to My Money If Wealthfront Goes Out of Business?
It’s important for customers to note that Wealthfront is not a bank. However, customer deposits are in fact insured through Wealthfront’s partner banks. Wealthfront’s cash account offers up to $5 million in FDIC insurance for individual accounts, and up to $10 million for joint accounts.
Can Customers Take Money Out of Wealthfront?
Yes. Customers can withdraw money from Wealthfront with no fee. There are, however, daily limits for transfers in and out of Wealthfront accounts, for security purposes.
Which Is Better: Wealthfront or Schwab?
Both Wealthfront and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios are well-regarded, diversified, and reasonably priced robo-advisors. Schwab doesn’t charge management fees but requires you to hold cash in the portfolio. Wealthfront offers greater customization options and excellent digital financial planning tools at a lower account minimum and competitive fee. It really does depend on what you are looking for. That said, Wealthfront was our overall winner with the caveat that it works best for those who are ready for truly digital investment management.
Methodology
Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of digital wealth management companies, more commonly known asrobo-advisors, is a top priority of Investopedia. Over a period of two months, our team of researchers, data collectors, and industry experts conducted an exhaustive review process that included in-depth industry research, company survey data collection, and hands-on demonstrations and evaluations of 19robo-advisor platforms.
We then developed a quantitative model that scored each company to rate its performance across nine major categories and 57 criteria to find the bestrobo-advisors. The score for each company’s overall star rating is a weighted average of the criteria.
Many of the companies we reviewed also performed live demonstrations of their platforms and services in video calls with our research and editorial teams. Our team of expert writers and editors was also granted access to live accounts so they could perform hands-on testing. Through this all-encompassing data collection and review process, Investopedia has provided you with an unbiased and thorough review of the toprobo-advisors.
Read our fullMethodologyfor reviewingrobo-advisors.
Dotdash Meredith receives cash compensation from Wealthfront Advisers LLC (“Wealthfront Advisers”) for each new client that applies for a Wealthfront Automated Investing Account through our links. This creates an incentive that results in a material conflict of interest. Dotdash Meredith is not a Wealthfront Advisers client, and this is a paid endorsem*nt. More information is available via our links to Wealthfront Advisers.
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Article Sources
Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy.
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Charles Schwab. "Schwab Intelligent Portfolios."
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Charles Schwab. "Debit Card Security and Convenience."
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Charles Schwab. "Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Coming Soon."
Wealthfront. "How Wealthfront Offers $5M of FDIC Insurance."
Wealthfront. "Limits on Transfers and Spending."
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