Retirement savers have a lot of options when it comes to choosing the best Roth IRA for their needs. From Wealthfront and Betterment to Interactive Brokers, Merrill Edge, Wealthfront, M1 Finance, and Fidelity, there are a variety of Roth IRA providers that offer different features and benefits. Each provider has its own advantages and disadvantages, so it's important to understand what each one offers before making a decision. Wealthfront is one of the leading independent robo-advisors, and it brings a lot to the table for investors looking for someone to do the investment work for them. Wealthfront chooses investments based on risk tolerance and time to retirement.
All you need to do is add money to the account. Wealthfront chooses from investments in 11 asset classes, giving you a wide variety of funds and increasing your diversification, which can reduce your risk. In addition to choosing your investments, Wealthfront also offers some important tools, including a robust financial planner that can help you keep track of all your assets in one place. The management fee for Wealthfront is a reasonable 0.25 percent, right in line with the industry standard.
If you want to hold cash out of your IRA (or accumulate cash while waiting to deposit), you can also quickly open a cash management account to “do anything”, with a debit card, competitive interest rates, and early access to your paycheck, with no additional cost or monthly fee. Betterment is another great option for those looking for someone else to handle investment and portfolio management. Betterment is a robo-advisor who does all the heavy lifting, selects the right investments, diversifying the portfolio and allocating funds so you can focus on something else. And it does so at a reasonable cost, too. Betterment Digital manages its investments from a selection of around a dozen exchange-traded funds and collects only 0.25 percent of its assets annually.
You'll get automatic rebalancing to keep your portfolio in line with your target allocation, automated tax loss collection (which only applies to taxable accounts), and access to financial advisors via in-app messaging. Interactive Brokers does everything traders and professionals need, and does it with high quality. It excels in global trading and reach, fast execution and its advanced trading platforms. In short, Interactive Brokers is ideal for advanced traders. Interactive Brokers also does surprisingly well in mutual funds, offering more than 17,000 with no transaction fee (including over $4,000 USD).
In addition, the company offers a “lite” version of its service, which does not charge commissions on stocks or ETFs, effectively competing against Schwab and Fidelity. Charles Schwab offers a robust platform for Roth IRA account holders given the variety of investment options, trading tools, and portfolio management options you will have at your disposal. Schwab is particularly notable for its extensive ETF evaluation capabilities, including more than 150 filtering capabilities that also incorporate socially responsible investing (SRI) selections. If you prefer to have a less practical investment management strategy, portfolios driven by financial advisors and the robo-advisor offer of Smart Portfolios are also available. Merrill Edge has a strong mix of investment tools and educational material focused on retirement planning, highlighting its strength as a Roth IRA provider. The Retirement Evaluator and Portfolio History tools, in particular, combine a long-term planning perspective with a detailed portfolio analysis so you can get a better idea of your retirement readiness.
Since Merrill Edge is under the umbrella of Bank of America, your other accounts within the institution can be added so you can enjoy a more holistic portfolio analysis thanks to this full integration. Merrill Edge also offers you a range of portfolio strategy options that you can use to achieve your retirement goals. Wealthfront stands out among Roth IRA holders due to its superior goal tracking, integration features and digital planning tools. Retirement-driven investors will especially appreciate Wealthfront's use of third-party data and robust account integration features that give you a fuller understanding of your retirement landscape. As a result, the Wealthfront dashboard makes it easy to understand if you're on track to meet your retirement goals.
Wealthfront is also committed to further improving, streamlining and simplifying the financial planning process. Tools such as Path and Self-Driving Money help you assess your financial situation and automate your savings strategy. If you have pre-tax retirement accounts, such as a traditional IRA, Wealthfront makes it easy to convert these assets into a Roth IRA as you can process this request directly on the platform. M1 Finance has created an innovative platform that allows you to manage your money comprehensively making it a natural landing point if you want your finances to be kept in one place. Not only will you have access to save spend and borrow products but you'll also be able to take advantage of a unique investment management solution that supports extensive portfolio customization while also putting management strategy on autopilot.
The ability to adapt and automate allows retirement savers to invest according to their preferences while providing peace of mind. Fidelity is one of the most popular online brokerage firms on the market and is consistently among the favorites of the experts we talk to. Fidelity offers several different Roth IRA options to choose from. With your most basic plan you will choose all your investments and you will not be subject to any account charges. You'll also have access to all of the great features Fidelity has to offer including robust planning tools educational resources and help from Fidelity representatives.
One of the things investors will love about Fidelity is its wide range of investment options; you'll have access to the same standard individual stocks and ETFs as other providers.
