Wealthfront and Betterment are robo-advisors. You answer a risk questionnaire and they buy a portfolio of ETFs and rebalance it. You pay an advice fee on top of the ETF expense ratios.
| Feature | Wealthfront | Betterment |
|---|---|---|
| What you are buying | A managed ETF portfolio plus a cash account | A managed ETF portfolio split by goal |
| You pick the funds? | No. A risk score picks them | No. Each goal has its own risk score |
| Advice fee | About 0.25% a year. Confirm on wealthfront.com | About 0.25% a year, or a plan fee. Confirm on betterment.com |
| How goals are split | One investing account plus cash | Separate accounts for retirement, a house, and so on |
| Tax-loss harvesting | On taxable accounts that qualify | On taxable accounts that qualify |
| Cheaper alternative | One target-date fund at a brokerage | One target-date fund at a brokerage |