When you hear the word “investing,” you might think you need thousands of dollars to start. In the past, traditional brokerage accounts did have high minimums.
But today, technology has changed the landscape. With Robo-Advisors, you can start investing with as little as $100—or even $5.
Here is our honest, beginner-friendly review of Betterment, the leading robo-advisor platform.
What is Betterment?
Betterment is an automated investing service (often called a robo-advisor). Instead of paying an expensive human advisor to manage your portfolio, Betterment uses algorithms to automatically invest your money in low-cost index funds matching your personal goals.
\xf0\x9f\xa4\x96
Betterment
Our Review Summary: Betterment is our favorite platform for beginners because of its simplicity, low fees (0.25% annually), and lack of minimum deposit requirements.
How Betterment Works for Beginners
When you sign up, Betterment asks about your goals (e.g., “Build wealth,” “Retirement,” or “Safety Net”). They recommend a custom portfolio consisting of a mix of stock and bond ETFs.
You don’t need to select which individual companies to buy. Betterment handles purchase execution, automated dividend reinvestment, and rebalancing for you.
Save your first investment seed
Take the 30 Day Savings Challenge and save $500 to fund your first investing portfolio.