Any experience with wealthfront.com

[aim-high]

Hi,
I recently came across wealthfront.com automated investing service. looks like first 10K is free.
I definitely invest my money in different areas like 401k, roth ira, traditional ira and stocks/bonds.
I do use managed services from Schwab for some of my assets but I do want to try some of these companies. I am sure there are other companies like wealthfront.
Anyone having experience investing in this particular company ? Any advantage/disadvantage that i need to look into ? Reading through the website and wikipedia, seems like it is another vehicle to invest.

Thanks,
Sunray

[FPLCapital]

Hi,
I recently came across wealthfront.com automated investing service. looks like first 10K is free.
I definitely invest my money in different areas like 401k, roth ira, traditional ira and stocks/bonds.
I do use managed services from Schwab for some of my assets but I do want to try some of these companies. I am sure there are other companies like wealthfront.
Anyone having experience investing in this particular company ? Any advantage/disadvantage that i need to look into ? Reading through the website and wikipedia, seems like it is another vehicle to invest.

Thanks,
Sunray

“Robo-Advisors” are good for the price they are offered at.
I would not recommend those type of services to affluent investors.
There are certain limitations with “cookie cutter” portfolio management services, such as Wealthfront and Betterment.
Below are some:

- They clear through small brokerage houses. Wealthfront clears through Apex, and Betterment has their own brokerage house. Although, they may have to adhere to the same standards of Vanguard, Schwab, Fidelity, and TD Ameritrade, there may be inherent risks with smaller brokerage houses.
- In most cases, limited to ETFs. No mutual funds or stocks (no MLPs).
- No margin accounts. Cash accounts only.
- Cannot custody self-directed company retirement accounts.
- No custodial accounts.
- Periodic re-balancing may be overkill causing unnecessary transactions and capital gains in taxable accounts (annual re-balancing is sufficient in most cases).
- Can only invest cash accounts. If you currently hold mutual funds and stocks must liquidate before purchasing their recommended ETFs. This may not be so prudent with a taxable account.

They are a great deal for smaller portfolios. As your portfolio grows, you may want to look to other options for investing your money.