"3 Of the Best Robo-Advisors--and One of the Worst"

[Taylor Larimore]

Bogleheads:

I have never used a Robo-Advisor, but the more I learn about them the more I am convinced that they are worthwhile for many investors.

Morningstar has researched several of the best known Robo-Advisors and recommends Vanguards' Robo-Advisor. Bogleheads can read the Morningstar report here:

https://www.morningstar.com/financial-a ... ne-worst-2

It would be informative to learn the experience of Bogleheads who have used a Robo-Advisor.

Best wishes
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "Vanguard has a superior robo system because clients have individuals they can talk to. Let’s call that robo-plus."

[nedsaid]

I think Robo-Advisors have their place, these put you into a diversified portfolio, have relatively low fees, and rebalance your
portfolio automatically. There is a survey that you take and then you are put into a portfolio that matches the level of risk that you are willing to take.

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold. You might get a different approach with the new owner. One also should check to see if these are managed for tax efficiency within a taxable account. I also question whether a survey is thorough enough to accurately assess your risk tolerance, my observation is that the surveys tend to have a bias towards more aggressive portfolios. I prefer to have interaction with a live human being, I think the best services are a human/robot hybrid, Vanguard Personal Advisor Service is a good example.

Keep in mind that nothing out there is perfect, any portfolio management service will have its strong and weak points. Do your research before engaging such a service.

[abuss368]

Bogleheads:

I have never used a Robo-Advisor, but the more I learn about them the more I am convinced that they are worthwhile for many investors.

Morningstar has researched several of the best known Robo-Advisors and recommends Vanguards' Robo-Advisor. Bogleheads can read the Morningstar report here:

https://www.morningstar.com/financial-a ... ne-worst-2

It would be informative to learn the experience of Bogleheads who have used a Robo-Advisor.

Best wishes
Taylor

Jack Bogle's Words of Wisdom: "Vanguard has a superior robo system because clients have individuals they can talk to. Let’s call that robo-plus."

Hi Taylor -

Thanks for sharing!

Personally, I have a family member who has used Vanguard PAS for many years.

Vanguard PAS provided an excellent portfolio review and analysis, where they wanted to position the portfolio, and roadmap to get there. The results worked and my family could not be happier. Many times the peace of mind is worth the 0.30% investment management fee!

Hope you are well.
Tony

[abuss368]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

[nedsaid]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

Early on, there were two Robo-Advisors that drew a lot of attention early on: Betterment and Wealthfront. I did a search and found that Wealthfront had been acquired by UBS in January 2022. Betterment is still independent.

I would agree that Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are much less likely to be purchased than Wealthfront.

[the_wiki]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

Early on, there were two Robo-Advisors that drew a lot of attention early on: Betterment and Wealthfront. I did a search and found that Wealthfront had been acquired by UBS in January 2022. Betterment is still independent.

I would agree that Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are much less likely to be purchased than Wealthfront.

The Wealthfront- UBS deal fell through. Wealthfront is still independent.

Either way, the risk of a buyout is low because you can always ACATS out.

Personally I find Wealthfront to be the best and most fully featured.

[nedsaid]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

Early on, there were two Robo-Advisors that drew a lot of attention early on: Betterment and Wealthfront. I did a search and found that Wealthfront had been acquired by UBS in January 2022. Betterment is still independent.

I would agree that Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are much less likely to be purchased than Wealthfront.

The Wealthfront- UBS deal fell through. Wealthfront is still independent.

Either way, the risk of a buyout is low because you can always ACATS out.

Personally I find Wealthfront to be the best and most fully featured.

Thank you for the update.

[abuss368]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

Early on, there were two Robo-Advisors that drew a lot of attention early on: Betterment and Wealthfront. I did a search and found that Wealthfront had been acquired by UBS in January 2022. Betterment is still independent.

I would agree that Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are much less likely to be purchased than Wealthfront.

Hi nedsaid -

Was Burton Malkiel involved with one of those firms?

Best.
Tony

[arcticpineapplecorp.]

Hi nedsaid -

Was Burton Malkiel involved with one of those firms?

Best.
Tony

not nedsaid here, but Malkiel's involved with wealthfront: https://moneywise.com/investing/robo-ad ... ealthfront.

Taylor, thanks for posting.

[bradinsky]

Good evening Mr. Larimore,
I guess I’ll be the first to confess. DW & I have about 22% of our portfolio invested in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It is U.S. focused & moderately conservative and we are up 6.06% year to date. A couple of years ago, I was curious as to how they would preform, so I made the commitment to invest, with the intent to stay with it 3 to 5 years. I will stick it out another year & make a decision as to whether to continue or not at that time.

[abuss368]

Hi nedsaid -

Was Burton Malkiel involved with one of those firms?

Best.
Tony

not nedsaid here, but Malkiel's involved with wealthfront: https://moneywise.com/investing/robo-ad ... ealthfront.

Taylor, thanks for posting.

That was it!

Thanks!
Tony

[the_wiki]

Wealthfront simplified their portfolios a couple years ago. Now they just typically do a 5 fund portfolio. Total us market, Intl developed, emerging market, bond, and a small portion in dividend growth fund. They use all cheap index funds. It’s a solid, simple portfolio. No large cash portion or 12 fund portfolio like some other robos.

[tj]

Wealthfront simplified their portfolios a couple years ago. Now they just typically do a 5 fund portfolio. Total us market, Intl developed, emerging market, bond, and a small portion in dividend growth fund. They use all cheap index funds. It’s a solid, simple portfolio. No large cash portion or 12 fund portfolio like some other robos.

They don't force the Risk Parity fund anymore?

[LadyGeek]

This thread is now in the Investing - Theory, News & General forum (general investing).

[Harmanic]

Good evening Mr. Larimore,
I guess I’ll be the first to confess. DW & I have about 22% of our portfolio invested in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It is U.S. focused & moderately conservative and we are up 6.06% year to date. A couple of years ago, I was curious as to how they would preform, so I made the commitment to invest, with the intent to stay with it 3 to 5 years. I will stick it out another year & make a decision as to whether to continue or not at that time.

Schwab uses the RAFI index with a value tilt similar to DFA and Avantis.

[Cheyenne]

...Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It is U.S. focused & moderately conservative and we are up 6.06% year to date.

That's interesting because we opened a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio account in March (6 months ago) with a U.S. focused "Moderate" allocation (50% stocks), and Schwab reports our performance over that period to be 3.24%. It seems like it should be higher than that. Maybe I'm reading it wrong or something.

[nedsaid]

One problem with these, and indeed it is a problem with any kind of service, is that the Robo-Advisor can be sold.

Hi nedsaid -

Interesting point. I would suspect this may be a risk for the smaller and more independent advisors. The Vanguard, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab’s should be stable and growing.

Best.
Tony

Early on, there were two Robo-Advisors that drew a lot of attention early on: Betterment and Wealthfront. I did a search and found that Wealthfront had been acquired by UBS in January 2022. Betterment is still independent.

I would agree that Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab are much less likely to be purchased than Wealthfront.

Hi nedsaid -

Was Burton Malkiel involved with one of those firms?

Best.
Tony

He is involved with Wealthfront.

[bradinsky]

Good evening Mr. Larimore,
I guess I’ll be the first to confess. DW & I have about 22% of our portfolio invested in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It is U.S. focused & moderately conservative and we are up 6.06% year to date. A couple of years ago, I was curious as to how they would preform, so I made the commitment to invest, with the intent to stay with it 3 to 5 years. I will stick it out another year & make a decision as to whether to continue or not at that time.

Schwab uses the RAFI index with a value tilt similar to DFA and Avantis.

What makes you say that?

[CyclingDuo]

Bogleheads:

I have never used a Robo-Advisor, but the more I learn about them the more I am convinced that they are worthwhile for many investors.

Morningstar has researched several of the best known Robo-Advisors and recommends Vanguards' Robo-Advisor. Bogleheads can read the Morningstar report here:

https://www.morningstar.com/financial-a ... ne-worst-2

It would be informative to learn the experience of Bogleheads who have used a Robo-Advisor.

Best wishes
Taylor

Personally, I welcome your post since you mention you are learning about them and are getting more convinced that they may be worthwhile for some investors. Once we move beyond our workplace retirement plans (401k/403b/457b) and venture out into tIRA/Roth IRA, UTMA/UGMA, taxable account, etc. investing there are a variety of options available to make it passive, automatic, and rather simple to do thanks to the advent of mobile app technology, competition, and marketing. Low initial investment amounts, pre-chosen lazy portfolios, and the ability to quickly set it up and have it all run on automatic pilot with minimal fuss, out of sight - out of mind all adds up to winning combinations for many investors.

I am not so concerned with which three robo-advisors are the best, or which one is the worst. Rather, which ones match and fit the needs of the actual investor who is signing up for the service.

I use two robo-advisors for a portion of our investments. All of our workplace plans have been on automatic pilot for decades, but our brokerage accounts were not. That led me to seek out alternative solutions.

Our family has been using Acorns for the past 7 years. I also wanted to get my young adult children who were about to finish college involved in saving/investing in a passive manner, so the Acorns robo-advisor platform was a sensible option for recurring investments as I challenged them to set aside a daily recurring amount, out of sight - out of mind. The portfolios at Acorns were designed by Harry Markowitz (RIP) and use Vanguard and BlackRock ETFs. I opted to join in with my kids and opened up an account for myself to give it a test run, and have stuck with it.

I use their Aggressive Portfolio (80/20) which is automatically rebalanced and completely passive for me. It is as close to the Three Fund Portfolio (using total US approximation like most of us do in our workplace plans) that I could find at the time when I opened the account(s):

Approximated Total US Stock Market Index

47% - VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 Index)
6% - IJH (Blackrock Mid Cap S&P Index)
3% - IJR (Blackrock Small Cap S&P 600 Index)

International

24% - IXUS (Blackrock MCSI Total International Stock Index)

Bonds

14% - AGG (Blackrock Core Total US Bond Index)
6% - ISTB (Blackrock Core 1-5 Year US Bond Index)

I also use the passive robo-advisor M1 Finance where I hold your Three Fund Portfolio at a 70/30 AA, Paul Merriman's Ultimate Buy & Hold Portfolio at a 70/30 AA and a few other investments.

Compared to workplace plans where the majority of our investing goes out of each paycheck, the robo-advisor investing is an excellent vehicle to have it all run on automatic pilot into taxable and or IRA, UTMA/UGMA accounts.

M1 has no fees which I enjoy and have been using for six years. Acorns does have a $3 per month fee on top of the ETF ER fees. When the account was opened, the fee was only $1 per month. Regardless, the balance is high enough now that the $36 per year is rather insignificant. In 99% of the robot-advisor platforms, there is no free lunch as fees are part of it.

CyclingDuo

[stan1]

For many people who primarily have tax advantaged accounts I would recommend index Target Date funds over a robovisor.

This is a case where new may not be better.

[bd7]

I have a small-ish MS Access account from Morgan Stanley (that you can't get anymore) that has a Robovisor setup and charges 0.35%. It gives you 5 general options that are something like wealth preservation, income, balanced growth, market growth and go-for-broke (IDR what they actually call the last one) and then within those they offer you 3 options--low cost investing, high-cost investing (pay high fund fees and try to beat the market) and middle-of-the-road. Well, at least they ask.

So to begin with I chose wealth preservation (don't lose my money) and low-cost (don't steal my money) and they put my money in rather complex 10-fund arrangement with things like MINT ( which I expected) and an iShares international stock fund (???) but in fact it all worked out and over a relatively turbulent period, I didn't lose anything and actually gained few percent. I've now ramped it up to "income", they seem to use the same set of funds (which have changed since the beginning, MINT is now JPST) just in different proportions.

The funds include 2 Vanguard ETFs (VTV and VCIT), 5 i-Shares funds, two SPDR funds and JPST. Seems legit enough to me--the fund expense ratios are all low enough. The account offers tax loss harvesting as an option but not too much else. I have not analyzed this account for tax efficiency, but that is one thing that would worry me a bit.

[bradinsky]

Now I don’t feel totally alone!

[passive101]

I've been using Betterment since 2016 (7 years) and don't have any complaints. They use low cost vanguard ETFs and charge .25% AUM fee.

I have modified their suggested portfolio to better match what I like. I like the charts and graphs along with motivational emails, and then guiding me when the markets get crazy with their support and education on the importance of staying the course. I have 3 different goals and it's great to keep them separate and completely passive.

I tried using a regular account at M1 Finance and I can't stop tinkering and second guessing which ETFs to use. The great thing is at Betterment is I don't have to think about the difference between small cap funds, because I can't change them anyways. I only need to know what percentage of my portfolio is set to that asset class.

I just wish the .25% was cheaper because I do see the monthly fees keep getting higher as my account gets bigger. It however is saving me from my own self destructive behavior if I didn't have these guide rails.

[Harmanic]

Good evening Mr. Larimore,
I guess I’ll be the first to confess. DW & I have about 22% of our portfolio invested in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. It is U.S. focused & moderately conservative and we are up 6.06% year to date. A couple of years ago, I was curious as to how they would preform, so I made the commitment to invest, with the intent to stay with it 3 to 5 years. I will stick it out another year & make a decision as to whether to continue or not at that time.

Schwab uses the RAFI index with a value tilt similar to DFA and Avantis.

What makes you say that?

It's in the prospectus.

[Tdubs]

Not used these services, but I find it interesting that these reviewers think Vanguard--the gang that can't shoot straight when it comes to web design--has flat out the best robo advisory service.

I guess that is just how VG prioritizes.

[gavinsiu]

The only review that I remember about Robo Advisor was the one from Rob Berger about Vanguard's robo service. I recall that he did not like it due to its limitations. I have never used one. How different is this from a paper or online questionaire that then tell you your allocation of stocks? Will it automatically rebalance my portfolio? Even if it did, 25 basis point seemed a bit steep for this feature since it's the same cost to rebalance a $10,000 portfolio as a $1 M portfolio. Does the advisor do more advantage queries like figure out if yiou should do RMD early to avoid IRMMA?

[nasrullah]

Wealthfront simplified their portfolios a couple years ago. Now they just typically do a 5 fund portfolio. Total us market, Intl developed, emerging market, bond, and a small portion in dividend growth fund. They use all cheap index funds. It’s a solid, simple portfolio. No large cash portion or 12 fund portfolio like some other robos.

They don't force the Risk Parity fund anymore?

Wealthfront pushing their alternative funds is what finally motivated me to learn how to self manage.

Vanguard PAS was amazing for the transition and today I maintain my own 4 fund portfolio.

[vnatale]

Not used these services, but I find it interesting that these reviewers think Vanguard--the gang that can't shoot straight when it comes to web design--has flat out the best robo advisory service.

I guess that is just how VG prioritizes.

Same reaction here!

[passive101]

Not used these services, but I find it interesting that these reviewers think Vanguard--the gang that can't shoot straight when it comes to web design--has flat out the best robo advisory service.

I guess that is just how VG prioritizes.

Same reaction here!

Their web and so design is horrible but their prices for index funds with TLH and undercutting the market by 5 basis points I think is what does it. Or they pay them

[loghound]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

[bradinsky]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

Effective 9/1/23 Schwab is paying 4.94% on your cash.

[tj]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

Effective 9/1/23 Schwab is paying 4.94% on your cash.

For everyone in their auto sweep? I doubt it

[bradinsky]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

Effective 9/1/23 Schwab is paying 4.94% on your cash.

For everyone in their auto sweep? I doubt it

From Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/legal/sip-sweep- ... rest-rates

[tj]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

Effective 9/1/23 Schwab is paying 4.94% on your cash.

For everyone in their auto sweep? I doubt it

From Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/legal/sip-sweep- ... rest-rates

I assume that's only for SIP, not for everyone.

[CyclingDuo]

Robo-Advisor minimum amounts to open the account and "get going"...

The 4 covered in the Morningstar interview:

Schwab Intelligent Invest: $5000
Vanguard Digital Advisor: $3000
Titan Invest: $500
Fidelity Go: $0 to open, $10 to invest

Some other well known Robo-Advisors:

Wealthfront: $500
M1 Finance: $100
Betterment: $0 to open, $10 to invest
Acorns: $0 to open, $5 to invest
SoFi: $0

CyclingDuo

[bradinsky]

I've been using the Schwab version (Intelligent Portfolios) in a taxable account for about 4 years now. It started out as a modest amount of money but over time I've tended to just shovel any extra money I had into that account and it's now about 5% of my NW.

It's done a very good job at tax loss harvesting that has allowed me to realize short-term losses to offset gains (and some income) and the results have been consistent with what you would expect from a globally diverse allocation. As has been noted (a lot!) they don't charge a fee but do carry a high amount of cash (I selected the most aggressive portfolio I could and I think it's about 7% cash!) which has been a bit of a drag on returns (but was sort of handy last year!)

Schwab has good tools to show you your allocation & performance and they rebalance in what seems like a tax-efficient manner. It's "good enough" for probably most people.

You can read their white paper on how it buys & sells in taxable accounts here.

Effective 9/1/23 Schwab is paying 4.94% on your cash.

For everyone in their auto sweep? I doubt it

From Schwab: https://www.schwab.com/legal/sip-sweep- ... rest-rates

I assume that's only for SIP, not for everyone.

I believe so. Since this was Taylor’s post about Robo investments, I posted it here. Schwab’s “cash drag” criticisms probably incentivized them to start paying a somewhat competitive interest rate. February of this year I believed I saw a rate of about 3.84%.

[bradinsky]

Schwab is making money off of the cash balance in the Intelligent Portfolios, but the current interest rate they are paying makes them very competitive with the supposed leading Robo-advisors.

[tj]

Schwab is making money off of the cash balance in the Intelligent Portfolios, but the current interest rate they are paying makes them very competitive with the supposed leading Robo-advisors.

If anything It's a cash boost rather than a cash drag because of the inverted yield curve where money markets are outperforming all other gov bonds.

[loghound]

It is true that after the SEC fined schwab they went from effectively 0% on cash to a reasonable return of SWGXX that is based on short term rates.

I ran a backtest to compare a SIP with a 60/33/7 (stock/bonds/short term treasuries) vs. a 60/40 (stock/bond)

The results are very similar with the account holding "cash" at 7% being 7 basis points worse but not having as big of a drawdown.

[YangtzeCruiser]

Looking at our Schwab robo, it's done 6.14% annualized from Jan 1, 2017 - Sep 20, 2023. Breakdown is as follows:

• 34.50% International
• 21.00% US Large Cap
• 18.57% Fixed Income
• 14.88% US Small Cap
• 8.87% Cash and Cash Investments
• 2.17% Uncategorized

The overweight in international was a deliberate choice on our part - the high cash holding is a Schwab thing. I consider the performance good enough,

[tj]

Looking at our Schwab robo, it's done 6.14% annualized from Jan 1, 2017 - Sep 20, 2023. Breakdown is as follows:

• 34.50% International
• 21.00% US Large Cap
• 18.57% Fixed Income
• 14.88% US Small Cap
• 8.87% Cash and Cash Investments
• 2.17% Uncategorized

The overweight in international was a deliberate choice on our part - the high cash holding is a Schwab thing. I consider the performance good enough,

I didn't think that Schwab allowed youto manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

[YangtzeCruiser]

I didn't think that Schwab allowed youto manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

Options were, "I would like a globally diversified portfolio" and "I would like more exposure to U.S. investments". We selected the former.

[bradinsky]

guy

Looking at our Schwab robo, it's done 6.14% annualized from Jan 1, 2017 - Sep 20, 2023. Breakdown is as follows:

• 34.50% International
• 21.00% US Large Cap
• 18.57% Fixed Income
• 14.88% US Small Cap
• 8.87% Cash and Cash Investments
• 2.17% Uncategorized

The overweight in international was a deliberate choice on our part - the high cash holding is a Schwab thing. I consider the performance good enough,

I didn't think that Schwab allowed youto manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

You have a choice of U.S. with a very small amount of international, U.S. focused, globally diversified or income focused.

[bradinsky]

I didn't think that Schwab allowed youto manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

Options were, "I would like a globally diversified portfolio" and "I would like more exposure to U.S. investments". We selected the former.

Yangtze,
Did you select an aggressive, moderate or conservative portfolio. Ours is moderate & it has almost 12% cash. No complaints here, just curious.

[loghound]

I picked (at the time) the most aggressive portfolio I could -- I don't remember them offering me a US focused vs. international (so I think that was added later?) but regardless I wouldn't have chosen US focused (I have a lot of US exposure already)

Here is how Empower breaks this portfolio down as of today:

1. International Stocks: 42%
2. US Stocks: 39%
3. Alternatives (mostly Reits and a little gold): 6%
4. US Bonds: 4.5%
5. Intl bonds: 0.46%
6. Cash: 8%

It has, I believe, a factor tilt towards value......

[YangtzeCruiser]

I didn't think that Schwab allowed you to manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

Options were, "I would like a globally diversified portfolio" and "I would like more exposure to U.S. investments". We selected the former.

Yangtze,
Did you select an aggressive, moderate or conservative portfolio. Ours is moderate & it has almost 12% cash. No complaints here, just curious.

I think it came out moderate aggressive. I reworked my answers to the questionnaire a bit to get an AA I liked.

[bradinsky]

I didn't think that Schwab allowed you to manipulate how much was in domestic vs international.

Options were, "I would like a globally diversified portfolio" and "I would like more exposure to U.S. investments". We selected the former.

Yangtze,
Did you select an aggressive, moderate or conservative portfolio. Ours is moderate & it has almost 12% cash. No complaints here, just curious.

I think it came out moderate aggressive. I reworked my answers to the questionnaire a bit to get an AA I liked.

Thank you!

[the_wiki]

The high Schwab cash allocation seems fine NOW when cash is paying 5% and stocks are up and down.

Was a real bummer a few years ago when stocks were doing 20% and cash 1%.

[ekid]

Did we ever get a reply on "The Worst?"

If so I missed it.

[vnatale]

Did we ever get a reply on "The Worst?"

If so I missed it.

You are reminding me that I had wondered the same thing.