Wealthfront Review: Automated Saving for Every Risk Tolerance
Written by
Kellan Jansen
Edited by
Melanie Grafil
Commitment to Our Readers
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by Experts
Trusted by
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GOBankingRates Score
Wealthfront
-
Customer Experience
4.8
-
Automated Bond Portfolio.
4.8
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Automated Investing
4.8
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Banking Experience
3.3
Pros
- Offers its highest APY to all savers
- Up to $8 million in FDIC insurance
- Creates personalized bond portfolios automatically
- Performs automated tax loss harvesting, dividend reinvesting and bond portfolio rebalancing
Cons
- No checking account
- Missing common customer service features
- No human financial advisors
Wealthfront Overview
Wealthfront is a neobank that was founded in 2011 and is based out of Palo Alto, Calif. It currently manages over $50 billion in consumer funds across the following products:
- High-yield savings
- Bonds
- Automated investing
- Individual stock accounts
The company stands out for its use of robo-advisers. These automated robots help savers work toward investment goals like saving money for an upcoming purchase or growing a retirement account over a long time frame. Wealthfront’s robo-advisors can also help users choose stocks, index funds and bonds.
Given its variety of saving options, consumers can use Wealthfront as a single platform for building short and long-term wealth. This is a major reason why GOBankingRates has ranked Wealthfront among the best neobanks and high-yield savings accounts of 2024.
However, keep in mind that Wealthfront doesn’t offer assistance from human financial advisors, nor does it have any physical branches. This means it’s probably not a fit for people who value human interaction or oversight when making financial decisions.
Wealthfront Review: Key Features
Wealthfront’s biggest selling point may be its variety of savings options. These make it a potential fit for people with many different savings timelines and risk tolerance levels. We take a closer look at the company’s core offerings below.
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Savings Accounts
Wealthfront currently offers APY on pure cash savings accounts. Notably, the company provides up to $8 million FDIC insurance through its network of partner banks. This is considerably more than the standard $250,000 FDIC insurance offered by many competitors. It makes Wealthfront a more attractive option to high net-worth cash savers.
Savings accounts at Wealthfront also feature:
- No account fees
- Unlimited transfers and free same-day withdrawals
- No minimum or maximum balance requirements
Wealthfront doesn’t offer standard checking accounts. But these cash savings accounts can integrate with common payment apps like Apple Pay, Venmo and PayPal. You can also pay bills with your savings account.
Automated Bond Portfolio
Wealthfront also offers automated bond ETFs. These are blended portfolios made up of different types of bonds, such as corporate bonds, short-term treasuries, floating-rate bonds and more.
What makes Wealthfront stand out here is its automated features for bond investing. The company’s robo-advisors can build you a personalized blended bond portfolio from scratch and then rebalance it automatically over time to help you maximize after-tax yield.
Some of the factors that Wealthfront’s robo-advisors use to choose your bond blend include your location, how much you earn and your savings goals. The company can also build liquidity into your automated bond ETF to make sure you have enough financial flexibility to tackle whatever the future brings.
These automated bond ETFs give you a higher yield than what you would earn from cash savings alone. They’re also diversified to keep you protected from black swan events that could otherwise eat into your savings.
Automated Investing
Investing in financial markets is riskier than saving your money through cash or bonds. But it also opens the door to larger returns on your capital – especially if you have a longer time horizon and are okay with periodic dips as long as your money goes up over time.
Wealthfront offers automated investing powered by robo-advisors. These can build a customized portfolio of market index funds from around the world based on your risk tolerance, tax situation and other investing preferences–including social responsibility.
The company will also help you invest in individual stocks with a variety of robo-advisor tools. Just keep in mind that investing in individual stocks is riskier than investing in index funds, which is itself riskier than saving cash and buying bonds.
But the good news is that Wealthfront helps you work through decisions like this with questionnaires. As long as you answer truthfully, it’ll help you create an ideal savings strategy with cash, bonds and stock components, if that’s what works best for your goals.
Banking Experience
There are positives and negatives when it comes to Wealthfront’s banking experience. This means your level of happiness with the bank can depend on how you prefer to manage your money.
For example, Wealthfront’s mobile app is highly rated on the Apple Store, with 4.8 stars out of 5, and Google Play, with 4.8 out of 5 stars. Users report a smooth mobile banking experience with helpful tools for entry-level investors.
However, Wealthfront’s customer service could be better. The company doesn’t publish an easy phone number anyone can contact when they need help. You also won’t find any live chat support on Wealthfront’s website. It’s for reasons like this that the company has received some poor reviews on websites like ConsumerAffairs.
Ultimately, it seems like most people who bank primarily through Wealthfront’s mobile app are happy with their experience. But if you prefer to bank on a computer or like to go into physical branches, Wealthfront’s banking experience is unlikely to live up to your expectations.
Comparable Banking Options
No bank is a perfect fit for everyone. If you want to explore other options that are similar to Wealthfront, we recommend the following two choices.
Milli
Milli Bank is currently paying APY on cash deposits and charges no fees. It also includes helpful features like spending round-ups to make saving easier and can act as a checking account.
BMO Alto
BMO Alto offers online savings accounts that currently pay . Unlike Wealthfront and Milli Bank, BMO Alto also offers CDs with lengths ranging from six to 60 months. This could make it a better fit for your needs if you’re interested in locking in a high savings rate long-term through a certificate of deposit account.
Final Take
Wealthfront’s high-yield savings accounts can be a good fit for mobile-first savers who want help optimizing for taxes. The company’s automated bond portfolios and robo-advisor investment accounts also make it a viable option for people who want to put some of their savings into the market.
However, Wealthfront may not be right for you if you’re looking for a pure checking account alongside your savings account. The company also doesn’t have physical branches or provide any financial advice from humans, which may not fit with your preferences.
Wealthfront FAQ
Here are some answers to commonly asked questions about Wealthfront.- How trustworthy is Wealthfront?
- Wealthfront is a trustworthy financial institution. It manages $50 billion in assets, offers up to $8 million in FDIC insurance, and has experienced no major breaches in its history.
- What are the cons of using Wealthfront?
- The biggest cons to using Wealthfront are its lack of human advisors and non-existent branch network. But it can be an excellent option if you’re okay with only getting advice from robo-advisors and prefer banking on your phone.
- Does Wealthfront outperform the S&P 500?
- Yes, Wealthfront’s robo-advisors outperformed the S&P 500 in 2022. The company’s results were among the best in the robo-advisor industry, alongside Fidelity Go and Ellevest.
Kelli Francis contributed to the reporting for this article.
Rates are subject to change; unless otherwise noted, rates are updated periodically. All other information on accounts is accurate as of Dec. 18, 2023.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided by any entity covered in this article. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any entity named in this article.
To determine rankings for the Best High-Yield Savings Accounts, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors from all banks: (1) minimum deposit to open an account; (2) monthly savings fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (3) minimum needed to earn APY; (4) savings APY; and (5) the average mobile app rating between the Google Play (Android) and Apple app stores. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (2) and (3) were weighted 1.5 times; factor (4) was weighted 4 times; and factor (5) was weighted 0.5 times. To be considered for the high-yield savings account, the product offered had to have an APY above 0.45%.
To determine rankings for the Best Neobanks, GOBankingRates looked at the following factors: (1) monthly checking fee ratio (percentage based on the minimum to avoid the fee compared to the monthly fee itself); (2) minimum needed to earn APY; (3) savings APY; (4) products/services offered (credit cards and investment services); (5) the average mobile app rating between the Android and Apple app stores; and (6) number of extra benefits and perks unique to neobanks. All factors were then scored and combined, with the lowest score being the best. Factors (1) and (2) were weighted 0.5 times, and factors (3) and (6) were weighted 2 times.
Our in-house research team and on-site financial experts work together to create content that’s accurate, impartial, and up to date. We fact-check every single statistic, quote and fact using trusted primary resources to make sure the information we provide is correct. You can learn more about GOBankingRates’ processes and standards in our editorial policy.
- Investment News. 2023. "Over a difficult year, these robo-advisors performed the best."
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