When it comes to the robo-advisor industry, only a few are known for free management, access to financial advisors, and career counselors, one of those is called SoFi Automated Investing. This company targets both young and beginner investors. While their benefit offering is good, SoFi has only been around for a few years, so you may be wondering if it’s worth your time, money, and effort. Let’s find out together!
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SoFi is a lender that is a fairly new name in the robo-advisor industry, but in terms of the competition, it competes against the very best companies in the industry. Formerly known as SoFi Wealth, SoFi Automated Investing doesn’t charge any advisory or administrative fees. The platform offers users access to low-cost exchange-traded funds. This specific service gives you immediate unlimited access to a certified financial planner team, as well as complimentary career coaching.
SoFi Active Investing Could Be For
- Young, beginner investors
- Investors who need help with financial planning
- Investors that are hands-off
- Cost-conscious investors
- Users with low balances
SoFi Investing Review (Account)
There’s a lot of benefits using Sofi Robo Advisor, let’s take a look at some of the key metrics from the platform.
Account Management Fee: $0
Account Minimum Balance: $0
Account Fees (Annual, Transfer, Closing): $75 full outgoing transfer fee
Investment Expense Ratios: Average 0.05%
Portfolio: ETFs are from 13 asset classes; choice of 10 strategies with allocations representing different risk levels for taxable and tax-deferred accounts.
Accounts Supported: Roth, traditional IRAs, individual and joint non-retirement accounts, Keogh
Savings/Cash Management: SoFi Money is a cash management account with competitive rates
Human Advisor Option: Free, unlimited access
SoFi Robo Advisor Review
SoFi’s popularity has grown over the last few years and it has become well known for charging no management fees, something they’ve been offering since 2018. If you compare other best robo advisor platforms like Betterment, or Wealthfront, both of these companies charge 0.25% annually. While that may not seem like a lot, if your investment portfolio has a fair amount of assets, that 0.25 percent annual rate can add up to a lot of money.
Learn more about SoFi Robo Advisor.
What Else Does SoFi Robo Advisor Have To Offer?
Financial Planning – One of the biggest perks for SoFi is their financial planning. In fact, it could be one of the things they do best. All clients get unlimited access to the company’s financial advisors at no additional charge. These advisors are CFPs with the Series 65 designation (or similar), which holds them to a fiduciary standard that binds them to operate in your best interest. They’re also noncommissioned advisors, meaning they don’t make money off of specific trades or actions they recommend. Think about that, where else could you find such positioning?
Premium Support – If that wasn’t enough, advisors are available at a wide range of hours and they can be contacted through various means. For phone or video appointments, these can be scheduled between 7:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. EST Monday through Thursday, and 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST on Fridays. For brand new investors, this is an awesome feature, especially for those of you that need professional guidance. Customer support for tech issues are available Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST; Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST.
Low Cost Investments – SoFi clients have a wide range of low-cost investments to choose from, each will have a choice of 10 portfolios. These portfolios are based on different factors, such as risk tolerance and investment objectives, emerging markets, diversified selections of low-cost ETFs, developed international stocks, as well as high-yield and Treasury bonds too. If you’re not familiar with these, you’ll be able to get support to understand these factors confidently.
Portfolio costs average around 0.05%, this is competitive with some of the most affordable robo-advisor portfolios on the market, such as TD Ameritrade Essential Portfolios or Vanguard Digital Advisor.
Another feature we want to mention is SoFi Automated Investing, which provides automatic rebalancing. When money enters or leaves your account (such as a deposit), SoFi checks your portfolio against the target allocation and will rebalance it as close as possible. Also, your portfolio is monitored daily by the advisor to see if it’s more than 5 percentage points off-target. If that should be the case, the advisor will adjust the portfolio to reach the assigned target.
If you’re interested in private student loans, check this: SoFi Private Student Loan Review
High-interest savings – Like other well known brands in the space, SoFi offers a high-interest savings account, they call it SoFi Money. It functions just like a checking and savings account, but it pays 0.25% interest annually and carries up to $1.5 million in FDIC coverage. That’s nearly X6 more insurance than the average bank account. SoFi Money does not charge any account fees and it offers unlimited reimbursement for ATM fees each month. You won’t get that with your regular checking and savings account.
Special Bonuses – One more cool perk we want to mention is bonuses. SoFi offers bonuses to clients who invest at least $20 per month. These “members” can receive complimentary career coaching as well as members-only events such as dinners and talks. This alone is worth the price you’ll pay for SoFi.
SoFi members are eligible for reduced interest rates on SoFi loans, lower interest rates are always better. Remember though, your credit score is going to play a big role in the amount of interest you end up paying.
Who Benefits The Most From SoFi Robo Advisor
If you want a safe way to get started investing, SoFi Robo Advisor is a great place to start. SoFi’s free management is certainly attractive, especially when you consider other robo-advisors charging a management fee of 0.25% or higher.
With a good batch of low-cost ETFs, SoFi provides solid features for cost-conscious investors, especially for those that are just getting started with investments. With member bonuses that include career coaching and interest discounts on student loans, we do feel it’s worth taking the time to look at what SoFi Robo Advisor offers in more detail.
