tastytrade SPOTLIGHT
Investormint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Commissions: Closing trades for Stocks & ETFs and Options are commission-free Account Balance Minimum: $0 Commissions: $0 flat rate for stocks Get Started via tastytrade secure site

In this tastytrade review (previously known as tastyworks), you will see why experienced stock and options traders who are looking for rock bottom trading commissions and a world class trading platform will find this discount broker hard to beat.

tastytrade is no longer the new kid on the block; it’s an established broker with a trusted trading platform backed by some of the most well-respected names in the options trading industry. Tom Sosnoff, who co-founded thinkorswim® has been a key team member. And thanks to his vision and pioneering innovations, tastytrade has become a truly unique brokerage.

At tastytrade, expect low commissions, powerful tools, customizable screeners, and extensive education. You can even follow other traders to see what trades they are placing and view their historical performance records.

Self-directed, fee-conscious, active traders will struggle to find a more trader-friendly platform or more knowledgeable support staff. It’s clear that the executive team took the baton from thinkorswim and have built an exceptional platform worthy of consideration by any serious stock, options, or futures trader.

tastytrade Features

tastytrade Platform Review

tastytrade was built for self-directed stock, options, and future traders who have an eye on costs and and want to actively manage their portfolios.

What makes the tastytrade brokerage shine brighter than most other discount brokers is its unique fee structure.

Price-sensitive Traders

tastytrade was the first options broker to provide commission-free closing trades. When you close a stock or options trade, you pay zero commissions (a clearing fee of $0.10 per contract is applied by the exchange), and you pay $0 commissions when opening stock trades too.

Unlike most other brokerage platforms who charge you when entering and exiting trades, tastytrade has made trading actively even more affordable with its innovative fee policy.

Social Trading

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the tastytrade platform is its social features, which enable you to follow other successful traders.

You can view the annual returns of other traders and follow the strategies of the most successful ones. But don’t worry, your own trades are not disclosed.

During our research, we followed trades executed by tastytrade CEO, Kristi Ross, and were impressed to discover that not only were options strategies easy to follow but she explained her reasoning behind them too. At the time her record was 17%, which beats the pants off a savings account rate!

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For new and experienced traders alike, this “look-over-the-shoulders-of-experts” feature is a game-changer. No longer are you left to trade solo and isolated as you are on other platforms but instead you can follow the trading activity of proficient traders.

And tastytrade goes a step further by categorizing traders you can follow as “expert””, “intermediate”, or “novice” so you are not left wondering about the skill-level of the person you are following.

Live Education Daily

Yet another innovative and valuable aspect of the tastytrade platform is the live eduction daily.

When you login, simply select the tastytrade icon and a streaming, real-time video feed opens up featuring live shows that are jam-packed with useful tips and education to improve your trading skills and knowledge.

The education doesn’t stop there. tastytrade also provides an educational video series, called Step Up to Options, with Rachel Fox.

The knowledge bank includes a detailed look at options strategies, such as:

• Covered calls
• Married puts
• Collar trades
• Long options and short options
• Spread trades
• Bull puts and bear call credit spreads
• Bull call and bear put debit spreads
• Butterfly and iron condor strategies
• Ratio call backspreads and ratio put backspreads

tastytrade Grid

Unlike traditional brokerage platforms, tastytrade has a different look and feel from start to finish. It’s clear the tastytrade team wanted the trading platform to be refreshing and trader-focused. And the tastytrade Grid is one example of how the platform is designed by traders for traders.

The Grid highlights noteworthy stocks and displays price changes in real-time. Whether you want to see the latest price changes, daily changes, or even view detailed information like implied volatility, it’s all at visible at a glance.

No more burying through watchlists to see how your stocks are performing for the day. Now you can spot the ones in the green and red instantaneously.

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tastywork paper trading

Although tastytrade is ideal for experienced traders, newbies will find tons of value too. For example, a trade journal is provided to help you jot down what went well or poorly when trading or paper trading.

For new traders, this tool is especially helpful when you want to look back and see the ingredients that led to successful trades.

Is tastytrade Right For You?

tastytrade is geared towards traders who are experienced stock, options and futures traders or those keen to become more proficient.

Whether you are on-the-go and want to use its mobile platform or at your desktop and prefer its browser-based interface, trading is made convenient no matter whether you are a long-term investor or a short-term trader.

The tastytrade platform is best for:

Visual Traders and Investors

The trading interface is highly innovative and far more advanced than what you will find at most big-name brokerages.

The flexibility to customize dashboards, execute orders, and visualize risk and reward is unparalleled.

Price-sensitive Traders

Price-sensitive traders will find the tastytrade commissions structure compelling.

In addition to low commissions on opening trades (and $0 when opening stock trades with no limit), no charge whatsoever is applied to closing stock and options trades.

When you trade with this brokerage, you put more of your money to work because you’re not spending it on commissions.

Individuals Who Value A Trading Community

tastytrade isn’t just about making trades.

It’s about connecting with other traders and learning more about how trading works and how successful traders do it!

Live streaming video is available with expert traders who are happy to share trading insights.

If video isn’t for you, they also have tons of blogs and articles about trading and investing to answer all your investment-related questions.

Self-directed Traders

tastytrade is great for self-directed traders!

You can use a laptop, web browser, or mobile platform to buy and sell stocks and options with just a few clicks of the mouse or taps of the screen.

tastytrade also offers quotes and trade information that’s updated in real-time so that you can make the best trading decisions for yourself any time you want to trade.

There are a lot of online trading platforms out there, but tastytrade is one of the best because it goes above and beyond the basics. With this platform, you’ll have all the information at your fingertips that you need to take the next step with your trading.

tastytrade Promo Deal

tastytrade, which competes with thinkorswim®, for the business of active options traders threw down the gauntlet to its rivals by first offering zero commissions costs on closing contracts.

• $0 commission to close options contracts ($0.10 per contract clearing fee applies)

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tastytrade Pros and Cons

tastytrade is ideal for active stock, options and futures traders looking in search of low commissions, innovative tools, world class education, expert support staff and the ability to follow and view the trades of experts.

For traders on the go, tastytrade offers a fully responsive mobile experience. If you are looking for a tastytrade app when away from your desktop, you can rest easy knowing you can trade even when you step out to your local coffee shop.

You may also be pleasantly surprised to discover that the tastytrade CEO regularly chimes in to answer customer queries, highlighting the company’s customer-centric focus. Plus, we found members of the customer support team to be highly knowledgeable, efficient and professional.

The Benefits of tastytrade

There are various pros and cons when using the tastytrade platform. First, the benefits:

• There are various account options to choose from. However, The Works will provide you with everything you need. This type of account is really easy to use and has loads of features.

• There are no closing fees on stocks and options on futures, which could save you a large sum of money. While some other online brokerage platforms may charge you exorbitant fees for these trades, you won’t have to pay anything here at all.

• There is a wide range of customer service options for all traders, meaning you can contact a member of staff by email, live chat, or phone if you have a query about your account or just need some additional help.

• Opening a new trading account is easy and can take as little as 15 minutes.

• You can access tastytrade on your desktop computer or mobile device.

tastytrade SPOTLIGHT
Investormint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Commissions: Closing trades for Stocks & ETFs and Options are commission-free Account Balance Minimum: $0 Commissions: $0 flat rate for stocks Get Started via tastytrade secure site

The Disadvantages of tastytrade

• You can’t invest in mutual funds or bonds. For the more experienced trader, this might be a problem. However, even seasoned traders can benefit from the low fees and commissions on the investment options available.

• New traders might find that the multiple features and account options are a little confusing. With time, though, they can trade on this platform quickly and easily.

• The mobile app doesn’t work on some older devices.

What Can You Trade at tastytrade?

tastytrade lets you invest in various assets, but you need to open an account first. There are various account types, so you need to find the right one for you.

The most common type of account, “The Works,” boasts the following features:

• Futures and options on futures
• Stock and options on stocks
• The opportunity to trade all available products
• Covered and uncovered options
• Covered and uncovered option spreads

tastytrade does not feature mutual funds on its platform. These funds conflict philosophically with the aim of the management team to empower traders to become stewards of their own portfolios – as opposed to buying mutual funds that compensate portfolio managers.

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tastytrade Commissions & Fees

You won’t be charged data or inactivity fees, and no account balance minimums nor any commissions are charged when closing options trades.

OK, this is where things get interesting. The problem with many online brokerage websites is that they are just too expensive to use. Many users have to pay exorbitant fees and/or commissions on any investments they make, which will eat into their profits.

With tastytrade, this isn’t the case at all.

“We all want low commissions. Lower commissions mean more freedom to place more trades more efficiently. That’s why we offer a great rate to open trades and an even better one to close them,” according to the company.

Here’s the latest pricing structure, which is very reasonable:

Options on stocks:

• $1.00 per contract ($10 maximum per leg) for opening trades.
• $0.00 for closing trades (plus commission and applicable fees).

Stocks:

• $0.00 for unlimited shares on opening trades.
• $0.00 for closing trades (plus commission and applicable fees).

Options on futures:

• $2.50 per contract on opening trades.
• $0.00 for closing trades (plus commission and applicable fees).

Futures:

• $1.25 per contract on opening trades.
• $1.25 per contract for closing trades (plus applicable fees).

These prices are very competitive. You will also notice that there is no closing fee for the second trade on stocks and options on futures, which could help you save money in the long run when making investments.

Typically, you will need to pay extra for banking fees. These are things like:

• Check copies
• Foreign checks
• Domestic Wires

You will also need to pay any trade-related fees, which are things like:

• NFA fees
• Paper confirms
• Exercise and assignment fees

Again, these fees are competitive when compared to other online brokerage platforms.

tastytrade’ fees are competitive because their accounts are designed for active traders. If you are new to online trading, you can still use this platform, of course.

The unique fee structure on this platform, however, makes it easy to trade online. You know exactly what you are paying for, and there are no hidden surprises. This is just one of the reasons why it is one of the most popular online brokerage platforms for active traders.

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How to Access tastytrade

Unlike some other online brokerage platforms, there are plenty of ways you can open and access your account and start trading.

Desktop

Obviously, you can log into your tastytrade account on your desktop computer and access trades with the click of a mouse.

There are two ways to do this, though. You can either download trading software onto your desktop computer or access your account directly through your web browser. The choice is yours. If you don’t want software slowing down your desktop, choose the browser option.

Some people prefer to download software to their computer for a more seamless trading experience, but the browser version of tastytrade operates just as well.

Mobile

You can also open and access your account on your smartphone or tablet. This means you can access trades wherever you are in the world with a swipe of a finger.

Again, there are two ways you can access tastytrade from your mobile device. You can download the company’s official app from the App Store or Google Play. Alternatively, you can visit the tastytrade website directly through your mobile browser.

Both the desktop software and mobile app are easy to use and work well on various devices. However, bear in mind, that the mobile app won’t work on older devices, including the iPhone 5.

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tastytrade Account Types

The account types available at tastytrade include:

Here are some of these other accounts in a little bit more detail:

Traditional IRA

“A retirement account eligible for persons with earned income or who file a joint return with a spouse who earns income,” says tastytrade.

Corporate

“Corporate accounts are opened on behalf of a legally established US entity.”

International

“Margin and cash accounts are available to our international customers.”

Tenants in Common

“A joint account type in which two owners each have a specific proportion of the account’s assets.”

How to Open an Account

Once you have chosen the type of account you want to open, the registration process is really simple. In fact, the whole thing could take you as little as 15 minutes.

Just enter a few details about yourself, as well as a valid email address. You will also need to enter other information such as your employer details and a current bank account.

This will verify your identity and ensure that tastytrade remains a safe, secure platform for all traders.

Once you’re done, you will receive an email with all of your confirmation details. Don’t delete this as you might need it in the future. You will also need to choose a username and password so you can log into your account.

Remember, though, it can take a couple of days for tastytrade to approve your account.

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How to Get Started

Now you’ve opened an account, know about fees, and the different types of trades available, it’s time to optimize your online trading experience.

Once you log into your account, you will find an easy-to-use dashboard that has all the trading information you need.

Here, you can change your bank details and other financial information, update your preferences, and access customization options. The great thing about tastytrade is that you can personalize your trading experience and make it work better for you.

There are other features, too. You can do all of the following:

• Create your own portfolios quickly
• Add possible trades to watchlists and receive notifications in real-time
• Follow other traders on the platform in real-time
• Access trading information with the latest charts and graphs

This last feature is really useful. It allows you to compare and contrast different trade histories so you can make better financial decisions and investments. You have access to all of this information on both desktop and mobile, so use it wisely!

Depositing and Withdrawing Funds

With tastytrade, deposits and withdrawals don’t have to be a big deal. You can do all of this from your personalized dashboard, too, which will save you a lot of time. There are no deposit fees, either.

There are a few things to note, however. There is no credit card or debit card option for withdrawals and deposits, which means you need to transfer funds from your bank account and do the same when you remove money from the platform. This can be a hassle, but it’s no big deal.

You also need to know that there is a withdrawal fee, so you might want to wait until you accumulate funds before you move money back to your bank account.

The withdrawal fees are:

• $25 for people in the U.S.
• $35 for people outside the U.S.

Although this seems expensive, these fees are competitive and similar to many other online brokerage platforms.

The withdrawal process can take a few days, so you should make alternative plans if you need funds.

Placing an Order

If you want to place an order, you will find the process simple.

There are three order panels on your dashboard. Two of these are for options and one is for stock. When placing an order on stock, you can choose from the following four order types:

• Limit
• Stop limit
• Market
• Stop market

If you get stuck, you’ll find various resources that help you navigate the platform properly. Refer to these documents to receive the latest tips, for example, on how to place orders.

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More About the Platform

You will soon familiarize yourself with the tastytrade platform, but here are some of the basics.

Once you log in and access your dashboard, you will notice that the platform displays your watchlists on the left-hand side of the screen. Here, you can check out your favorite trades and possible future investments in one place without having to click on multiple screens.

tastytrade displays options chains, building strategies, and charts in the center of the screen. Again, you won’t have to navigate through multiple menus or screens to access this information.

Finally, on the right-hand side of the screen, you will see position details and alerts.

Remember, you can customize all of this data so you can see the features that matter the most to you.

What About Customer Service?

Perhaps the stand out feature at tastytrade is its numerous customer service options available.

This means you can talk to a member of staff if you want to find out more about withdrawal or deposit options or discuss a problem with your account.

While some other online brokerages will leave you waiting for days to hear a response from a member of staff, tastytrade takes customer service seriously.

There are three main contact options if you require customer service or technical support. These are:

• Email
• Phone
• Live chat

Not every online brokerage has a phone option, so this is definitely a plus. The live chat feature is also great as you can receive a response to your query in real time without any of the fuss. Finally, email lets you communicate with staff quickly wherever you are in the world.

What About Security?

It can be daunting using an online brokerage, especially if you are new to trading. What happens to all that financial information you provide the brokerage? And, more importantly, is tastytrade safe?

It has a number of security measures in place to ensure all of your data is secure. This includes a two-factor sign-in process.

You will also need to validate your identity with the relevant documents when you sign up for a new account.

Plus, tastytrade might undertake a soft credit check in order to confirm your identity. This is nothing to worry about and will ensure the platform is safe for all traders.

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Tips for Using the Platform

Here are some tips for making your trading experience easier:

• You can search for trades on both the software, browser, and app version. This makes it much easier to find the information you are looking for quickly. You can also filter search results.

• If you want to keep track of all your trades, you can export your tastytrade portfolio to a CSV file really easily.

• There is a wide range of educational videos that explain how to make the most of your trades when investing online. Check these out and hear from experts in the industry.

• If you want even more trading advice, check out live TV segments every Monday through Friday, which are produced by legendary options trader, Tom Sosnoff, as well as co-host Tony Battista. These videos cover a wide range of topics, including trading advice, the latest news, options, and more.

Verdict

Whether you are new to trading or an experienced trader, you will find plenty of features available on tastytrade.

You can open a new account in as little as 15 minutes and trade on stock, options on stock, futures, and options on futures from the comfort of your own home on a desktop or mobile device.

Sure, other platforms might have more investment options. If you want to trade mutual bonds on tastytrade, for example, you will need to look elsewhere.

However, with low fees and commissions, and no closing fees on stocks and options on futures, you could save money in the long run.

Other benefits include excellent customer service, ease-of-use, and plenty of resources that will provide you with all the information you need when trading online.

Newbies might find some of the features a little bit confusing at first, but they will soon optimize their trading experience on this platform.

tastytrade Review Summary

Searching for an online brokerage platform that provides you with more value for money?

Look no further than tastytrade, an ideal platform for active stock, options, and futures traders. As a trading platform built by traders for traders, it has bells and whistles that are unmatched across the industry.

The social component of the platform distinguishes it from most other brokers. You can view expert traders, follow their trades, and learn from their explanations about why they entered positions.

Plus, you can stay tuned to the tastylive real-time financial network to learn tips and tricks about trading strategies.

For stock and options traders, the no-commission charge on closing trades is a money-saver and a compelling reason to sign up.

The bottom line is if you trade stocks, options, or futures and want an innovative, low-cost, powerful brokerage platform that is dedicated to helping you improve your trading skills, tastytrade is well worth checking out.

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The article tastytrade Review 2023: $0 Commissions Stock Trades! was originally posted on Investormint

Acorns is a mobile app that combines automatic saving with investment management. It links to your credit cards and debit cards so that each time you buy something the “loose change” is rounded up to the nearest dollar and invested on your behalf.

The investment account is managed by a computer algorithm similar to a robo-advisor. And the whole process from start to finish requires no effort on the part of users (after signing up!).

It is free for college students for up to 4 years, and costs just $1 per month for standard accounts or $2 per month for retirement accounts – unless you have a balance of $5,000 or more in which case an annual 0.25% management fee applies.

Acorns App

ACORNS SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Management Fee (up to first $5,000): $1 monthly Management Fee (above $5,000): 0.25% Acorns Deal: Free to college students for up to 4 years Get Started via Acorns secure site

Is Acorns Right For You?

College Students

As long as you have a .edu email address, Acorns is 100% free to use for up to 4 years.

It is an ideal way to squirrel away a few nuts without having to think about where to invest or how to invest, especially at a time when money may already be tight.

Fee-Savvy Investors

It’s hard to argue that $1 per month is particularly expensive when you factor in all the Acorns app can do: save and invest automatically on your behalf.

Nevertheless, if you have just $20 invested and $12 disappears over the course of the year to management fees, it’s obviously a bad deal!

But once you have a few thousand dollars invested the fees become very reasonable, and especially so when you have $5,000 or more at which time the flat monthly fee transitions to an annual percentage fee on assets.

Hands-Off Investors

Investors who want to take control over their money and how it is invested would do better a brokerage firm like thinkorswim or tastyworks, which hands responsibility for investment selection to clients.

But for hands-off investors who prefer to avoid the hassle of picking stocks or ETFs, Acorns is a match.

Every time you buy something, whether at a grocery store or gas station, the spare change is swept into an investment account and allocated to a diverse portfolio of low cost exchange-traded funds.

Acorns Features

Acorns Fees

Acorns pricing is rock bottom. For taxable accounts, a buck monthly is hard to beat. And for retirement accounts, called Acorns Later, two bucks a month is charged up to the first $5,000.

Account balances of $5,000 and above are subject to a 0.25% fee, which is very much line with the management fees applied by Betterment, Ellevest, and other top robo-advisors.

And Acorns earns high marks for providing its service free to college students who have a .edu email address.

Acorns Vs Stash: Fees

With respect to fees, Acorns is more attractive than its competitor Stash, which also charges $1 monthly but doesn’t automate and manage investments.

If you compare Acorns vs Robinhood, which charges no commissions then Acorns loses out on price. But Robinhood won’t automate saving money and requires clients to pick stocks so it’s more of an apples-to-oranges comparison.

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Acorns Investment Strategy

Acorns investment strategy is rooted in Nobel-prize winning academic research, called Modern Portfolio Theory.

Dr. Harry Markowitz, the father of Modern Portfolio Theory, and Nobel prize winner is on the Acorns board.

What Is Modern Portfolio Theory?

The big idea behind Modern Portfolio Theory is to diversify an investment portfolio across asset classes in order to maximize returns for a given level of risk.

Although everyone would love to “beat the market”, few have the skill, luck or timing needed to do so consistently. Investing in a diverse group of exchange-traded funds is widely accepted as a smart way to invest for non-professional investors.

Low-cost iShares and Vanguard exchange-traded funds up to seven asset classes are available, including:

• Corporate bonds
• Government bonds
• Real estate
• Large-cap stocks
• Small-cap stocks
• Emerging markets
• International Large-cap stocks

How Acorns Works

Acorns links to your bank account and sweeps ‘rounded-up’ cash amounts from transactions into an investment account, which is invested in a diversified portfolio aligned with your risk tolerance and financial goals.

Sophisticated investors can invest a lump-sum amount as well as set up recurring deposits on a regular schedule.

Step-by-Step

First begin by connecting your bank checking account to what’s called your Round-up account.

Next, you’ll be prompted to set up an investment account that has one of the following financial goals:

• General
• Long-term investment
• Short-term investment
• Children
• Major purchase

Your investment account will be invested according to the most appropriate risk level for your objectives. It will fall into the following categories:

• Aggressive
• Moderately aggressive
• Moderate
• Moderately conservative
• Conservative

Once you’re setup is complete, you can start using Acorns.

Acorns Example

Let’s say you pay for a coffee that costs $3.24, the rounded-up amount, $0.76, is added to what’s called your Round-Up balance.

Once your Round-Up balance has at least $5 in it, the money will be swept from your bank account into your Acorns investment account.

You can customize which transactions you want selected for your Round-Up account or choose the automatic setting which counts all eligible transactions.

It’s also possible to set up recurring deposits on a regular schedule each day, week or month.

And if you prefer, you can invest a lump sum amount of $20,000 or $30,000 too.

Acorns Pros and Cons

Acorns Fees & Investment Minimums

Acorns has low expense ratios, low management fees on amounts over $5,000 and hidden fees are not a concern when transferring or closing an account.

Acorns Account Types

A drawback of Acorns is that only taxable accounts are supported at this time. No IRA or 401(k) retirement accounts are supported.

Acorns Tax Strategy

While free rebalancing is supported, tax-loss harvesting is not a feature Acorns provides. Investors who care about automated tax-loss harvesting should consider other alternatives, such as Wealthfront.

Is Acorns Safe?

Data transfers are encrypted to ensure your money is protected using the highest security protocols.

Acorns Review Summary

Acorns makes it easy to save and invest automatically. Spare change from ordinary transactions can add up to produce a handsome nest-egg.

The low management fees, especially on large account balances, low investment minimums, top notch education in-app, and free account balancing combine to make Acorns one of the best investment apps period.

If you struggle to save, Acorns offers a way to build an investment portfolio effortlessly and almost invisibly.

Get Excited By Acorns!

The article Acorns Review 2020 – Invest Spare Change Automatically! was originally posted on Investormint

Below we compare SoFi vs Betterment to see which robo-advisor offers the best service, lowest fees and investment minimums, access to human advice and much more.

Betterment got its start long before SoFi. With around $13.5 billion under management at last count, it lives up to its reputation as a leader in the robo-advisor industry.

Having started about a decade ago, Betterment offers all the bells and whistles you might ever hope for: premium service with access to human advice, socially responsible portfolios, automatically balanced portfolios, tax-loss harvesting, and retirement calculators to name a few of the many perks.

How can SoFi possibly compete with Betterment? Simple. It gives away its entire automated investment management service FREE. But that’s not all. Below, we unearth the differences between SoFi Wealth and Betterment so you know which service is a better match for your investing goals.

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

• InvestorMint Rating

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
• Standout Feature
  High Value Service at Low Cost
• Management fee
  0.0%
• Account Minimum
  $100
• Get Started Now

• InvestorMint Rating

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
• Standout Feature
  Best Overall
• Management fee
  0.25% – 0.40%
• Account Minimum
  Starting at $0
• Open an Account

We compared fees, account minimums and types, services offered, tools and features offered by both SoFi and Betterment to see which fares best. Both companies offer customers compelling value propositions, with fee levels far lower than those charged by traditional financial advisors.

Where both companies shine is their customer-centric business models. The benefit of low fees means savings are passed on to customers which otherwise would accrue to advisors.

SoFi has created a loyal community of customers in its lending business that few financial institutions can match. Time will tell if it can energize its wealth management clients with similar loyalty.

Management Fees

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

Robo-Advisor	Management Fee	Account Minimum	Rating	Best for	Open Account
Full Review	0%	$100	1 2 3 4 5	Low Cost & Live Advisors	Get Started
Full Review	0.25% – 0.40%	Starting at $0	1 2 3 4 5	Low Fees	Get Started

When Betterment first launched, its low fees shocked traditional financial advisors. Up until then, human advisors typically charged north of 1% annually in management fees.

These days, Betterment charges just 0.25% for its basic digital money management service.

If you want access to human advice, you will need to pay a bit more: 0.40% annually.

These fees are right in line with rivals like Ellevest and Wealthfront. But remarkably, SoFi beats them all.

With 0% management fees annually, SoFi has moved the needle on money management fees all the way to zero.

But is it a case of you get what you pay for? Or does SoFi match Betterment and other top robo-advisors with a compelling service offering?

Who Is Better on Fees? SoFi wins with 0.0% management fees compared to 0.25% at Betterment for its basic service and 0.40% for its premium service that includes access to financial consultants.

Account Balance Minimums

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

SoFi Invest has a low sign up hurdle by requiring new customers to deposit just $100. The investment minimum is even lower if you are willing to commit to monthly deposits of $20.

You won’t be locked into any holding period at SoFi. If you wish to make withdrawals you are free to do so at any time.

At Betterment, the minimum amount required to get started varies depending on the service offering you choose.

Betterment Digital has no investment minimum whatsoever. Don’t be mistaken into thinking basic service at Betterment is, well, basic. It’s got more bells and whistles than most of its rivals for that low fee.

However, if you want access to human advice from financial experts, the investment minimum is significantly higher – you’ll need to deposit $100,000 to get get started at Betterment Premium.

Who is Better on Account Balance Minimums? Betterment has a lower investment minimum for basic service but for equivalent service that connects you to human advice, SoFi has the lower minimum.

Financial Experts

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

When robo-advisors first launched, they were purely digital offerings. No access to live financial experts was offered if you had questions about your portfolio. Over time, most robo-advisors learned that clients like the comfort of speaking with a real person from time to time and added this perk.

A rare exception is Wealthfront, which has remained true to its original vision to be purely digital while Personal Capital, at the other end of the spectrum, provides access to as many as two dedicated financial advisors to clients who meet high investment minimums.

The combination of a digital advisor plus access to human advice is called a hybrid robo advisor. Both SoFi Wealth and Betterment offer access to credentialed financial experts in addition to providing a purely digital investment management service offering.

SoFi has a no-commission policy for its advisors, meaning that their sole purpose is to address your financial queries versus to sell you on any other products.

At Betterment if you don’t meet the high investment minimum to qualify for access to Chartered Financial Professionals, you can still connect via email and live chat to a team of live advisors.

Who Provides The Better Hybrid Robo Service? Both SoFi and Betterment offer access to qualified and credentialed financial experts.

Account Types

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

For married couples and investors who have transferred assets to a trust, Betterment edges out SoFi. As the more established robo-advisor platform, Betterment caters to a broader range of account types, including joint and individual non-retirement, Roth, traditional, SEP and rollover IRAs, as well as Trusts.

Comparatively fewer account type selections are available at SoFi: individual non-retirement, Roth, traditional and SEP IRAs.

Individual investors and those with straightforward financial situations will be well served at SoFi, who we expect will expand the range of account types available over time, but for now Betterment wins this category.

Who is Better on Account Types? Betterment has a broader selection of account types; it offers Trusts, Rollover IRAs, and joint non-retirement accounts in addition to the account types offered by SoFi, which include individual non-retirement accounts, Roth IRAs, traditional IRAs, and SEP IRAs.

Type
Individual Non-retirement	YES	YES
Joint Non-retirement	NO	YES
Roth IRA	YES	YES
Traditional IRA	YES	YES
Rollover IRA	NO	YES
Trusts	NO	YES
Custodial Accounts	NO	YES
SEP IRA	YES	YES
529 Plans	NO	NO
401(k)	NO	NO (but will advise)

Tax Loss Harvesting

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

Tax-efficient investing is a core focus for Betterment, and specifically the goal is to increase after-tax returns.

Betterment structures tax-coordinated portfolios that feature tax-efficient securities, such as exchange-traded funds, which are generally more efficient than mutual funds.

It also offers real-time information which shows estimates of what taxes you owe before you make a portfolio change or withdrawal.

This nudge towards encouraging smarter investor behavior can increase after-tax returns, and leaves SoFi playing catch up.

Type
Tax Loss Harvesting	YES	NO
Free Account Rebalancing	YES	YES

Betterment employs tax-loss harvesting to systematically find embedded capital losses to lower investment taxes and increase after-tax returns.

For investors with long-term holdings in multiple accounts, Betterment applies an asset allocation strategy to boost after-tax returns as part of what it calls a Tax-Coordinated Portfolio.

Betterment claims that this process can produce an annual benefit of 0.48% on average, which amounts to an estimated extra 15% over a 30 year time horizon.

Betterment also applies what it calls Smart Rebalancing, a process which reduces the need to sell shares to rebalance by using every cash flow and dividend to rebalance your portfolio.

It claims its rebalancing process never results in short-term capital gains.

SoFi also provides a rebalancing service but it does not offer tax-efficient portfolios yet.

According to SoFi:

“Rebalancing is when we sell some of the ETFs that have gone up in value and buy more of the ones that went down, in order to keep your portfolio close to its original mix of investments. We will look at portfolios at least quarterly to see if any one asset is more than 5 percentage points off its original allocation.

We might do it more often if, for example, there is a big move in one asset class, or if we decide to change the mix of the funds in the portfolio.”

Who is Better on Tax-Loss Harvesting? Betterment pioneered real-time tax information that lets clients see the the potential tax consequences of making portfolio changes and withdrawing funds before taking action, and possibly regretting it later. Along with its trademarked Tax-Coordinated Portfolio and Smart Rebalancing features, Betterment comes out ahead of SoFi handily here.

Overall Winner

SoFi Wealth Management Vs. Betterment

Clients who have smaller nest-eggs and are content with a hands-off service will find Betterment more than meets their needs but for those seeking a white-glove service that includes human oversight at the same cost, SoFi delivers.

Anyone with a more complex financial situation, such as those who are married or have Trust accounts, as well as those looking for tools to track progress towards retirement and optimize portfolios for tax-efficiency will find Betterment to be a better fit.

Which Robo-Advisor Is Best For You: SoFi or Betterment?

SoFi and Betterment both cater to investors with smaller nest-eggs seeking a hands-off, automated portfolio management solution.

Betterment has the edge on advanced capabilities, such as tax-optimized portfolios, a broader selection of account types to support married couples and those with trusts, as well as investors keen to track progress towards retirement goals. It also caters to higher net worth investors who want access to financial experts via its higher tier offering, Betterment Premium.

Where SoFi earns brownie points is its basic service includes not just technology-powered investment management but also access to commission-free human financial advisors and above all, its no-management fee service and low investment minimum to get started.

Open a SoFi Account    Open a Betterment Account

The article SoFi Wealth Management vs. Betterment: Which Robo-Advisor Is Better? was originally posted on Investormint

Vanguard founder, Jack Bogle, pioneered the index fund, and is a proponent of diversified portfolios, so it’s no surprise that active trading in stocks and options is not as well supported at Vanguard as it is on platforms that cater to self-directed, active traders, such as TastyWorks.

Low costs at Vanguard are complemented by retirement planning tools, such as retirement calculators, and extensive education to prepare better for retirement. For example, if you want to know how social security timing will affect your income or how medical care could affect your expenses, Vanguard has resources to guide you through the nitty gritty details.

Vanguard Spotlight

VANGUARD INVESTMENTS
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4 out of 5 stars	Account Minimum: $0 Expense ratios: 0.18% (on average) Commissions: As low as $2 Get Started via Vanguard secure site

Vanguard Customers

Vanguard serves fee-sensitive, retirement-oriented investors, and caters especially well to higher net worth individuals. Whether a buy-and-hold, passive investor or a self-directed, active trader, Vanguard has services to meet your needs at low cost.

Vanguard targets high net worth investors for its brokerage arm and robo-advisor service, Vanguard Personal Advisor Services. In its brokerage, Vanguard passes on fee-savings to purchasers of its Admiral Shares (which have a minimum $10,000 investment hurdle). Vanguard robo-advisor clients must have a minimum $50,000 to be eligible for service, which includes access to a team of live advisors.

Commissions are tiered to favor high net worth individuals too. For example, clients with account balances under $50,000 are charged $7 per equity trade for the first 25 trades whereas clients with $1,000,000 or more invested enjoy the same number of trades free. For active traders with less than $50,000, commissions rates increase to $20 per trade thereafter, compared to $2 per trade for those with account balances of $1M+.

Fee-conscious investors will find Vanguard almost impossible to beat. Vanguard made its name as a low-cost provider, and both its brokerage and robo-advisor services charge highly competitive commissions rates.

Over 50+ commission-free ETFs and 2,500+ no-transaction-fee mutual funds are available. Expense ratios average just 0.18%, which compares favorably to the industry average that is 2-3x higher. And robo-advisor clients are charged a management fee of just 0.30%, which includes access to human advice.

Investors looking to keep taxes low will find Vanguard does a good job limiting tax liabilities from fund distributions; 83% of all Vanguard ETFs had no capital gains tax distributions in the past 5 years.

Vanguard is best for investors who are:

• Fee-conscious
• Tax-savvy
• Buy-and-hold
• Keen to build diversified portfolios
• Retirement-oriented
• Have higher net worth

Vanguard Pros and Cons

Vanguard has low expense ratios, low commissions (especially for higher net worth clients), an extensive range of NTF mutual funds and commission-free ETFs, plus in depth retirement planning resources. Active traders should compare other platforms for lower fees and better tools.

Vanguard Securities

Vanguard makes available the following securities to trade:

• Stocks
• Options
• ETFs
• Mutual Funds
• Bonds

Vanguard Fees

Vanguard has especially low commissions for higher net worth investors, while penalizing active traders by imposing higher charges.

Vanguard Access Features

Vanguard Summary

Over $600 billion of client assets are invested in Vanguard ETFs, and it is the go-to fund provider for many robo-advisors with good reasons:

• average expense ratio is 81% lower than the industry average
• 93% of Vanguard’s bond funds outperformed their peer group average
• 50+ commission-free exchange-traded funds are available
• 2,500+ no-transaction-fee mutual funds are available

Vanguard is especially enticing to high net worth investors, who are rewarded with even lower commissions and fees than regular clients. And retirement investors have access to a wealth of education resources to guide them through almost every conceivable step of wealth planning, whether for retirement, college tuition or most everything in between.

Passive investors will find Vanguard Personal Advisor Services, Vanguard’s robo advisor, to be very competitive on rates when factoring in accessibility to human advice as part of its core service. However, active traders should compare other brokers, especially if tools and charts are important when making trading decisions.

Open a Vanguard Account

The article Vanguard Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint

Merrill Edge is an online discount broker provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch that serves over 2 million clients. Preferred Rewards Platinum clients receive up to 30 commission-free trades monthly when minimum balances of $25,000 are maintained in Merrill Edge self-directed or Bank of America deposit accounts. Preferred Rewards Platinum Honors clients who maintain balances over $100,000 receive up to 100 commission-free stock and ETF trades monthly.

Penny stock traders will be attracted to Merrill Edge’s flat-fee $6.95 commissions cost and no over-the-counter surcharge fees but a minimum $25,000 balance is required to trade penny stocks.

Customers who maintain balances of over $50,000 (or those who make at least 15 trades quarterly) receive access to Merrill Edge Pro, which provides real-time market analysis, streaming and interactive charting, and features watchlists and alerts.

Merrill Edge Spotlight

MERRILL EDGE
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Promo: Up to $600 for new accounts Account Balance Minimum: $0 Commissions: $6.95 for stocks Commissions: $6.95 for options + $0.75 per contract Get Started

Merrill Edge Customers

Merrill Edge has industry leading customer support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by phone and complements its phone support with live chat, email and in-branch support nationwide.

The sweet spot range of client net worth is between $100,000 and $250,000 though Merrill Edge serves customers with lower and higher investable amounts. It incentivizes clients to maintain $25,000 minimum balances which makes customers eligible to receive up to 30 commission-free trades monthly.

Merrill Edge targets casual investors who value good customer service and the ability to walk into a local branch to speak with a financial advisor. Customers can contact support representatives every hour of the day every day of the week. Financial Solutions Advisors are available to current and prospective clients by phone and in local branches nationwide.

Merrill Edge is best for:

• Casual investors
• Higher net worth investors
• Bank of America customers
• Fee-conscious investors
• Penny stock traders
• Investors who want access to live advisors

Merrill Edge Promo Deal

Merrill Edge offers cash bonuses for deposits from $20,000 to $200,000 and above.

• $100 bonus for deposits of $20,000+
• $150 bonus for deposits of $50,000+
• $250 bonus for deposits of $100,000+
• $600 bonus for deposits of $200,000+

Open a Merrill Edge Account

Merrill Edge Pros and Cons

Merrill Edge offers commission-free stock and ETF trading incentives to clients who maintain minimum balances, offers extensive research from its own teams and third-party research firms, provides an easily navigable platform and excellent customer support 7 days a week by phone. The major drawback is that account minimums are high and Merrill Edge still relies on less-favored Java technology for its active trader platform, Merrill Edge Market Pro.

Merrill Edge Securities

Merrill Edge supports trading in stocks, options, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs. Futures traders may find Interactive Brokers to be a better solution.

• Stocks
• Options
• Bonds
• Mutual Funds
• ETFs

Merrill Edge Fees

Merrill Edge has competitive fees of $6.95 per stock trade and an additional $0.75 per contract for options trades. No account balance minimums are in place.

Merrill Edge Platform Features

Merrill Edge Account Types

Merrill Edge Summary

The average investor who thinks of brand name brokers and trading platforms will probably find Charles Schwab or Fidelity come to mind before Merrill Edge. But Merrill Edge competes about as well with Schwab as any discount broker. Low commissions, no minimum account balance requirements, 24/7 customer support, in-branch offices and extensive research are available to all clients.

Bank of America customers receive all those benefits plus the bonus of a limited number of commission-free trades when minimum account balance requirements are met.

Options traders and active traders looking for tools beyond what most casual investors need may be better served at thinkorswim and OptionsHouse.

Open a Merrill Edge Account

The article Merrill Edge Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint

Creating an algorithm to independently rank CEOs is no mean feat because so many factors come into play. A feature we gave extra weight too was whether the CEO co-founded the company.

It’s a monumental task starting a company from scratch and thereafter growing it to become an industry goliath. Many of the best-performing CEOs in the robo-advisor industry successfully accomplished that goal.

We rank our top five robo-advisor CEOs below

# 5 – Mike Kane: Hedgeable

CEO: Mike Kane

Company: Hedgeable

Profile:  After graduating from Penn State University with a BS in Finance, Mike Kane joined the highly prestigious Bridgewater Associates firm and subsequently worked as an analyst at Spruce Private Investors. In 2009, he co-founded Hedgeable with his brother, Matthew Kane. Mike describes himself as Hedgeable’s Master Sensei while Matthew is Hedgeable’s Chief Ninja!

Mike and Matthew have not raised nearly as much venture capital to finance Hedgeable’s expansion as leading robo-advisor rivals but they do have a different investing philosophy than their competitors.

While most robo-advisors rely on Nobel-prize winning academic research, called Modern Portfolio Theory, Hedgeable goes a step further and believes that principal can and should be protected during downturns. This twist on the classic investing method followed by most robo-advisors could be the spark that ignites rapid growth for Hedgeable as time goes by.  This investing approach has its fans and Hedgeable is closing in on assets under management of $100 million.

Hedgeable: Most robo-advisor firms keep you fully invested during market rallies and corrections. Hedgeable views investing differently, and endeavors to protect your portfolio when downturns take place.

Hedgeable also diverges from most robo-advisors by catering to a broad range of asset classes. Investing in bitcoin and start-ups as well as more conventional asset classes is possible at Hedgeable. Plus automatic rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting are included in its all-in-one wrap-fee that ranges from 0.30%-0.75% depending on how much is invested.

HEDGEABLE SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Management Fee: 0.30%-0.75% Account Minimum: $0 Get Started

# 4 – Bill Harris: Personal Capital

CEO: Bill Harris

Company: Personal Capital

Profile:  Bill Harris is a graduate of the prestigious Middlebury College and earned an MBA in Marketing from Harvard Business School. As former CEO of Paypal and Intuit, Bill is a veteran of the financial industry. His career history of firms is the proverbial who’s who of leading companies; he has been a member of the board of directors of GoDaddy, Answers.com, Business.com, Yodlee, SuccessFactors, Earthlink and many others. He has served as Chairman of Visual Sciences, PassMark Security and MyVest.

After all those accomplishments, Bill Harris then went on to form Personal Capital in 2009 alongside Louie Gasparini and Rob Foregger. As CEO of Personal Capital, Bill Harris has raised over $175 million in venture funding from Venrock, Crosslink Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and IGM Financial. At last count, Personal Capital had accumulated over $4 billion in assets under management.

Personal Capital: The business model Personal Capital has pursued is a hybrid robo-advisor model. Unlike some robo-advisors that offer only an automated portfolio management service, Personal Capital assigns clients to dedicated financial advisors. Because the model is labor intensive, the fees and account balance minimums are higher than they are at some other robo-advisor firms.

Investors who want to be hands-off yet want the flexibility to connect with a human financial advisor will find Personal Capital offers the best of both worlds. For users who don’t have the savings to open an account yet, Personal Capital offers a free mobile app that lets you link your third-party bank, credit card, and brokerage accounts to monitor spending, track financial goals, assess net worth, and keep an eye on any debts or loans outstanding

# 3 – Andy Rachleff: Wealthfront

CEO: Andy Rachleff

Company: Wealthfront

Profile:  Andy Rachleff could easily make a case for deserving the top spot on this list. His academic credentials speak for themselves: he is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Professionally, he became hugely successful as the co-founder of Benchmark Capital, a venture capital firm that has invested in household names, such as eBay, OpenTable, Twitter, Uber and Snapchat.

In 2008, Rachleff teamed up with Dan Carroll to form Wealthfront, a robo-advisor firm that provides portfolio management services with little human involvement. Since then, Rachleff and his team have grown assets under management into the billions; Wealthfront is hot on the heels of rivals Betterment and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

Wealthfront: Andy Rachleff and his management team have grown Wealthfront to a valuation headed towards $1 billion thanks to smart, strategic execution and with the help of about $130 million in funding from Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, and Spark Capital among others.

Unlike competitors, such as Vanguard and Personal Capital, who connect clients to live advisors, Wealthfront has stayed true to its roots as a purely automated investing service.

Wealthfront has kept fees and account minimums low, and is renowned as a leading robo-advisor in tax-loss harvesting via its “direct indexing” program that allows for the purchase of individual securities to optimize for tax advantages.

WEALTHFRONT SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4 out of 5 stars	Management Fee: $0 for first $10,000 An additional $5,000 managed free for each friend invited who signs up Management Fees thereafter: 0.25% Account Minimum: $500 Get Started via Wealthfront secure site

# 2 – Jon Stein: Betterment

CEO: Jon Stein

Company: Betterment

Profile:  Before Jon Stein co-founded Betterment with Eli Broverman, he had earned his educational badges in the hallowed halls of Harvard, where he graduated with a BA in Economics in 2001 and a degree in Premedical studies in 2002. Before entering top tier Columbia Business School in 2008, Stein worked for a number of years as a consultant at First Manhattan Consulting Group.

Betterment: While in business school, Stein managed to find time to form Betterment, a robo-advisor so disruptive to traditional financial advisors that it has spawned numerous competitors. In fact, the robo-advisor model has been so successful that financial industry heavyweights, such as Schwab, Vanguard, and Fidelity have endeavored to steal some of the pie away from Betterment and its early rivals, such as Personal Capital and Wealthfront.

As co-founder and CEO of Betterment, Stein has led the company from inception to accumulate over $7 billion in assets under management, raising over $200 million in equity funding along the way.

Betterment is seriously disruptive to traditional financial advisors who often charge fees well over 1% of assets managed. Betterment’s low-fee, higher tier investing services feature live advisors and seeks to provide tax-optimized investment returns for clients with individual, IRA, Roth IRA, and rollover 401(k) accounts.

As much success as Jon Stein and his team have created so far, they will have their work cut out for them staving off the competitive threats from industry giants, such as Schwab, who have their own robo-advisor platform, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.

In fact, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has a business model so innovative that it became the first robo-advisor to amass over $10 billion in managed assets. And another threat lurking is that posed by the CEO who made it to the top of the list, Mike Cagney of SoFi.

BETTERMENT SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 5 out of 5 stars	Promo: Up to 1 Year Free Management Management Fee: 0.25% - 0.40% Account Minimum (Betterment Digital): $0 Account Minimum (Betterment Premium): $100,000 Get Started via Betterment secure site

>> Compare SoFi Wealth Management to Betterment

# 1 – Chris Costello: Blooom

CEO: Chris Costello

Company: Blooom

Profile:  In a competitive world of robo-advisors, it’s hard to find an angle to stand out but Chris Costello certainly succeeded.

While the best robo-advisors generally focus on building investing products for the long-term in taxable and retirement accounts, and steer clear of 401(k)s, Chris bit the bullet and founded Blooom, which specializes in analyzing and optimizing 401(k) portfolios.

Chris is a University of Kansas graduate who started out life as a financial advisor at UBS Wealth Management before moving on to Wachovia Securities.

Amazingly, Blooom isn’t the first highly successful company Chris has grown. Previously, he co-founded The Retirement Planning Group, where he contributed to growing the asset base to $500 million before stepping away to concentrate on growing Blooom.

Blooom: Blooom is a specialist when it comes to 401(k) portfolios. Typically, when new employees begin work, they are offered a range of 401(k) options. If you are like most employees, you may have experienced this process and picked randomly from various fund choices and never again looked at those selections.

Where Blooom adds value is by analyzing whether those selections you made could be optimized. Do they align with your risk profile and financial goals? Are you paying too much in expense ratios and fees? If you are not sure, Blooom will automatically do the hard work for you and will continually to monitor your portfolio.

BLOOOM SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4 out of 5 stars	Management Fee: $95 - $250 Account Minimum: $0 Get Started via Blooom secure site

The article Top 5 Best Robo-Advisor CEOs was originally posted on Investormint

Motif is a pioneer in bringing thematic investing to the general public. Investors who care about causes can align their investments with those causes or themes in what are called motifs.

The Motif platform manages portfolios for hands-off investors, allows traders to transact in stocks and ETFs, and has tools to discover an extensive range of new trade ideas. It’s not a standard broker or a robo-advisor or a financial tool, but rather a combination of all three in one.

Motif Investing serves a wide range of investors: thematic investors looking to align their invested dollars with causes and themes they care about, IPO investors, fee-conscious investors with smaller account sizes, and hands-off investors looking for an automated investing solution.

Motif Spotlight

MOTIF SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Account Minimum: $0 Commissions: $4.95 per share Commissions: $9.95 per motif Automated portfolio management: $4.95 - $19.95 monthly Get Started

What Is A Motif?

Perhaps the simplest way to think of a motif is as a collection of stocks or ETFs that you can bundle together under a single umbrella, similar to an ETF, but personalized as opposed to pre-packaged like an ETF. Motifs fall into two categories:

• Professional motifs
• Community motifs

Professional Motifs are pre-built motifs created by Motif Investing, the company, that require no input from the user to customize.

Community Motifs are built by Motif Investing customers, who can bundle a customized selection of stocks or ETFs into a single motif, and even get paid a small amount when other customers purchase those motifs.

It’s easy to create a motif in which each stock or ETF is weighted equally or individually. Then you can easily see how your motif would have performed against the S&P 500 over time. If you don’t like the back-tested performance results, you can make changes to the motif composition and see how the changes improve or hurt performance.

Professional and community motifs offer exposure to a wide range of themes, such as precious metals, emerging markets, 3D printing, casino gambling, social media, healthcare, renewable energy, and a host of other areas.

Motif Customers

Motif Investing serves fee-conscious investors who wish to build a diversified portfolio of thematic investments at low cost.

Motif does an excellent job serving fee-conscious investors. Instead of paying individual transaction costs on as many as 30 different stock or ETF trades, an investor can create a motif (which comprises combinations of stocks or ETFs) that encapsulates all 30 stocks or ETFs and pay just $9.95. When compared to even the cheapest of brokers, such as OptionsHouse, Motif offers a compelling value proposition.

Motif is somewhat similar to Stash in catering to investors who are thematically-minded. If you care about investing in companies who focus on fair labor practices, a sustainable planet, or good corporate behavior, Motif makes it easy to ensure your invested dollars align with your values.

Motif has the edge over Stash in terms of the depth of themes available as well as its business model; Motif makes money from transactions whereas Stash charges a monthly fee regardless of whether you are buying or selling.

Motif also offers an automated investing service for hands-off investors called Motif Blue, ranging from $4.95 to $19.95 monthly that includes automatic portfolio rebalancing.

Motif is best for:

• Investors who are mission-driven and thematically-minded
• Investors wanting access to IPOs
• Fee-conscious investors
• Hands-off investors
• Self-directed investors

Motif Fees

Motif charges transaction fees for brokerage services when traders purchase stocks or motifs and subscription fees for customers who enroll in Motif Blue, its automated portfolio management service.

Brokerage Transaction Costs

• Stock trading costs: $4.95 per share
• Motif trading costs: $9.95 per motif

Automated Portfolio Management Service Costs

• Motif Blue Starter: $4.95 per month
• Motif Blue Standard: $9.95 per month
• Motif Blue Unlimited: $19.95 per month

Open a Motif Account

Motif Automated Portfolio Management

Motif Blue is an automated investing product that allows users to add holdings to their motifs biweekly, monthly, quarterly or annually without paying additional commissions. Investors considering Motif Blue should compare the service to robo-advisory firms that automatically manage and rebalance portfolios.

Three categories of automated investing service are provided:

• Blue Starter ($4.95 monthly): automatically invests and rebalances one motif.
• Blue Standard ($9.95 monthly): automatically invests in 3 motifs and rebalances 1 professional motif plus 1 commission-free stock or motif trade monthly as well as an exclusive monthly market report.
• Blue Unlimited ($19.95 monthly): automatically invests in 3 motifs, auto-rebalances any professional motif plus offers 3 commission-free stock or motif trades monthly as well as real-time stock quotes on all pages and an exclusive monthly market report.

Investment in Motif Blue is restricted to professional motifs created by the company as well as motifs you created yourself (as opposed to motifs created by others, which is not permitted). For investors who wish to regularly at no cost add to their positions, Motif Blue is a winner, especially when compared to the ongoing transactions costs that would otherwise be charged at a traditional broker.

Motif Tools

Compared to leading brokerage platforms, such as tastyworks and thinkorswim®, Motif comes up short for self-directed investors when it comes to tools but Motif’s advisory platform for financial advisors has extensive capability to build, monitor and rebalance portfolios.

Motif claims to “arm advisors with remarkably powerful tools while dramatically reducing costs” allowing them build, monitor and rebalance portfolios. But for retail self-directed traders, who are spoiled for choice when it comes to tools, research and analysis on platforms like thinkorswim®, Motif comes up shy.

Motif does offer various innovative products, such as Horizon motifs that are commission-free, professionally built asset allocation models that target investment maturity in a certain time frame while accounting for risk tolerance. However, research, back-testing tools and other features freely available on platforms like thinkorswim are not abundant at Motif.

Motif Pros and Cons

Motif is virtually without competition when it comes to offering investors a low cost way of building a portfolio aligned with a theme or causes they care about. Transaction fees are low and flexibility exists to invest in fractional shares. Motif also caters to the more hands-off investor who wants an automated portfolio management solution. Self-directed investors may find the tool suite Motif provides to be disappointing but overall Motif earns high marks for its platform and pioneering motif product.

Motif Fees & Minimums

Motif charges competitive transaction fees for brokerage style purchases and sales of stocks, ETFs, and motifs. For its automated portfolio management service, Motif has a subscription model that is in line with the fees charged by competitor robo-advisors, such as Betterment.

Motif Tradeable Securities

Motif facilitates transactions in stocks, ETFs, ADRs, IPOs, fractional shares and motifs.

Should You Choose Motif?

Self-directed investors looking to customize portfolios to themes or causes they care about will find Motif has extensive capabilities to provide a great solution at low cost. Investors with smaller account balances and those looking to invest in initial public offerings will also be well served at Motif.

For automated portfolio management, Motif Blue is a nice starter product though other robo-advisory firms, such as Personal Capital, may be better suited to investors looking for advanced capabilities, such as tax-loss harvesting, as well as access to live advisors. Self-directed investors looking for powerful screening tools or to trade options or futures may also better served elsewhere, such as at Interactive Brokers.

Open a Motif Account

The article Motif Investing Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint

Active, experienced traders will find a home at Interactive Brokers, whose platform facilitates access to US and international markets. Beginners and infrequent traders may be better served on other platforms, such as that provided by ETrade.

Above all, Interactive Brokers has garnered a reputation as a low-cost commissions broker serving international markets. It rewards active traders with low costs, not just in its commissions but in its margin rates too. Its platform is highly advanced and provides access to almost every imaginable tradeable security but user experience suffers somewhat with such advanced and powerful capabilities.

Interactive Brokers Spotlight

INTERACTIVE BROKERS SPOTLIGHT

InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4 out of 5 stars

Promo: Interactive Brokers does not typically provide promotional offers within the US, though clients under 25 are not subject to inactivity fees if monthly commissions are equal to at least US $3 Account Balance Minimum: $10,000 (at the end of month 8, total commissions are subtracted from the $10,000 deposit to reach the required commission minimum) Stock Commissions: $1 Minimum & $0.005 per share Options Commissions: $0.70 per contract with no minimums Get Started

Interactive Brokers Customers

Interactive Brokers serves clients in Europe, USA and the Asia-Pacific region, and targets active, experienced traders by rewarding them with low commissions while penalizing infrequent traders with inactivity fees.

Day traders, options traders, experienced traders and traders leveraging margin will find Interactive Brokers to be a superior platform. While Interactive Brokers does provide phone and email support, both fall short of the stellar support offered by low cost peers, such as TradeKing.

However, traders who require little handholding will not find this shortfall outweighs the low commissions costs, powerful platform capabilities and virtually unparalleled access to international markets.

The Interactive Brokers trading platform is best for traders who are:

• Active traders
• Options traders
• International traders
• Experienced traders
• Day traders
• Fee-conscious traders

Interactive Brokers Promo Deal

Interactive Brokers typically does not offer promotions within North America, however clients under age 25 are rewarded with lower inactivity fees and account balance minimums:

• Under 25: $3,000 account balance minimum
• Under 25: $0 inactivity fee with monthly commissions of at least $3

Open a Interactive Brokers Account

Interactive Brokers Pros and Cons

Interactive Brokers has a powerful trading platform that provides access to international markets and rewards active traders with low commissions and fees but its powerful platform is not intuitive to beginner traders, and inactive traders will be penalized with monthly fees.

Interactive Brokers Securities

Interactive Brokers has an extensive list of tradeable securities across asset classes, from currencies to futures, options to stocks, and globally across continents, including North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

• Stocks
• Options
• Bonds
• Mutual Funds
• ETFs
• Futures
• Forex

Interactive Brokers Fees

Interactive Brokers has an industry-leading fee schedule, particularly as it relates to options and stocks:

Interactive Brokers Platform Features

Interactive Brokers Summary

Interactive Brokers makes 24 countries and over 100 markets accessible on its fast, powerful trading platform that deals in stocks, options, futures, forex, bonds, ETFs and mutual funds.

Seasoned investors with account balances of at least $10,000 are rewarded for active trading with low commissions and margin rates. Beginner traders should consider other alternatives here.

Open a Interactive Brokers Account

The article Interactive Brokers Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint

ETrade first became famous as much for its funny baby commercials as its top notch trading platform. Serious traders will find ETrade’s advertising and marketing prowess is backed up by an impressive trading platform chock-full of cutting-edge stock screeners, excellent customer support, live market commentary, and advanced order execution capabilities.

Beginner traders as well as less activ

e traders will also find a home at ETrade, which has a reasonable commission structure relative to its competitors and about 2,500 no-transaction-fee (NTF) mutual funds.

ETrade Spotlight

ETRADE SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 4.5 out of 5 stars	Promo: 60 days of commission-free trades with $10,000+ deposit Pricing: $6.95 per trade Easy navigation, extensive screening tools, and excellent customer support Minimum Initial Account Balance: $500 Get Started

ETrade Customers

ETrade trading platform serves a broad range of customers from frequent traders to buy-and-hold investors.

ETrade serves beginner traders, active traders, buy-and-hold investors and experienced traders equally well.

While its research and advanced charting capabilities don’t compare as well to Thinkorswim, ETrade still offers a combination of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, a broad range of no-commission ETFs, fast and accurate order execution, low account minimums, and excellent customer support to sufficiently please most customers.

ETrade trading platform is best for traders who are:

• Equities traders
• Options traders
• Futures traders
• ETF traders
• Mutual fund investors
• Bond investors
• Self-directed
• Active traders
• Buy-and-hold investors

For regular traders, ETrade offers a web platform with free real-time data and quotes, stock screeners, research and market commentary.

For active traders with 30 stock or option trades quarterly or an account balance of $250,000, ETrade Pro offers advanced capabilities, including ideation tools, similar to what’s available freely at thinkorswim.

ETrade Promo Deal

ETrade promotional offering for new accounts is:

• Get up to $600 plus 60 days of commission-free stocks and options trades

Open an E*Trade Account

ETrade Pros and Cons

ETrade provides an extensive list of no-transaction-fee mutual funds and no-commission exchange-traded funds for investors as well as customizable charting and ideation tools for active traders.

ETrade Securities

ETrade facilitates the following securities trading:

• Stocks
• Options
• Futures
• Bonds
• ETFs
• Mutual Funds

ETrade Fees

ETrade has fair though not industry-best commission rates and fee structures. ETrade does reward active traders with volume discounts.

ETrade Platform Features

ETrade Summary

For traders on-the-go, ETrade provides the standout mobile trading app in the industry. As an all-round platform capable of serving long-term oriented investors, active traders, beginners and experienced traders, ETrade excels relative to its peers.

Although it’s Pro features are out of reach for many customers, who may prefer thinkorswim or tastyworks, for similar features, ETrade still stands out from the crowd with top notch customer support, good research, a large range of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, and reasonable commissions.

Open an E*Trade Account

The article E*Trade Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint

TradeKing makes a compelling case as the best value trading platform by combining low-cost commissions, great customer service, and top notch research, with a premium web trading platform that offers a broad array of tradeable securities, including options, futures, forex, and fixed income.

After Ally Financial acquired TradeKing in 2016, its brand value will likely become better known. Plus, its product expansion into Forex and automated portfolio management via TradeKing Advisors allows TradeKing attract an even larger customer base.

TradeKing Spotlight

TRADEKING SPOTLIGHT
InvestorMint Rating 1 2 3 4 5 5 out of 5 stars	Promo: Get up to $1,000 in commission-free trades Stock trade commissions: $4.95 flat rate Options trade commissions: $4.95 + $0.65 per contract Minimum Initial Account Balance: $0 Get Started via TradeKing secure site

TradeKing Customers

TradeKing trading platform serves a broad range of customers from frequent traders to buy-and-hold investors.

TradeKing began as a low-cost brokerage firm with great customer service that focused on building a community of traders who could share trading ideas (shut down in 2014 as dedicated social networks like StockTwits gained in popularity). Since its inception, TradeKing has evolved from attracting fee-conscious customers to including a broader target audience seeking quality research, automated portfolio management, futures, fixed-income and forex trading.

The TradeKing trading platform is best for traders who are:

• Active traders
• Fee-conscious traders
• Self-directed traders
• Stock traders
• Options traders
• Forex traders

TradeKing does have an annual inactivity fee which customers should note. Account balances falling below $2,500 or accounts with no activity over the prior 12 months are subject to a $50 inactivity fee.

TradeKing Promo Deal

When you open a new account with TradeKing, you get to enjoy the following promotional deal:

• Get up to $1,000 in commission-free trades

Open a TradeKing Account

TradeKing Pros and Cons

TradeKing has few rivals capable of matching its highly competitive fee schedule, though OptionsHouse stands toe-to-toe with them. For all-round depth of offering, including options, forex, futures, fixed income, automated portfolio management, research and navigability, TradeKing stands out from the pack.

Mutual fund investors and ETF traders will be disappointed by the lack of no-transaction-fee mutual funds, and no-commission ETFs but most other traders and investors will be more than pleased with TradeKing.

TradeKing Securities

Tradeable securities at TradeKing include:

• Stocks
• Options
• Futures
• Forex
• Bonds
• Mutual Funds
• ETFs

TradeKing Fees

TradeKing has one of the most competitive fee schedules of any brokerage firm:

TradeKing Platform Features

TradeKing Summary

For traders seeking an all-round platform that delivers great value, TradeKing far exceeds expectations. The combination of low commission rates, in-depth research from Standard & Poor’s, automated portfolio management, great tools and calculators, no account balance minimum and great customer support gives larger brokerage firms a serious run for their money and TradeKing for the most part wins on the critical criterion of cost structure.

Open a TradeKing Account

The article TradeKing Review 2020 was originally posted on Investormint