August 5th, 2011 
Vijaianand We have stocks, bonds, options, commodities and so much more vehicle to invest for our future financial goals. But we need time to analyze, research to invest in them and more time needed to even get diversifed portfolio. Then came mutual funds which carry tons of pre-packed securities and funds which is already diversified to cater various consumer needs. Still that takes time, knowledge and effort to anlayze, compare and find which one is better than other one for different goals. Nothing is easy and straightforward.
Now there are companies like Funds.com, Betterment.com which takes investment to different level using technology and making things easier than ever to help ordinary consumers. I came across Betterment.com from mymoneyblog.com and just signed up. Being an IT guy, I was totally attracted by their user friendly website which makes investing like walk in the park.
As I can tell from their tool, they cater to day to day people. Most people acknowledge that they want to be doing something smarter with their savings, but selecting investments and maintaining investment accounts is a hassle. People are paralyzed by the complexity of making the right decisions with their money. With easy tools like Betterment.com, it really helps them make decision faster and grow their money without worrying to know lot about investing.
What’s the difference between Betterment and other companies?
This is what they claim as per their website. There are plenty of investment products out there for active traders, the super-wealthy, and institutions, but not anything built for the doctors, lawyers, teachers, and so on who we know in our everyday lives. Betterment is the first investment product built for people: it’s like wealth management for the rest of us.
Betterment was created to make investing as easy and straightforward as it ought to be. We’ve done a lot of work in order to develop the best investing platform possible, and we want our research and analysis to be readily available to our customers as well as anyone interested in developing a more robust understanding of investing today.
How do you decide what investment allocation is right for you?
Like how the SEC puts it:
The answer depends on when you will need the money, your goals, and if you will be able to sleep at night if you purchase a risky investment where you could lose your principal.
That is, there are three important things to think about. First, when do you need your money? Second, how do you plan to spend the money? And Third, how comfortable are you with the possibility that you might not be able to afford your goal?
With Betterment.com, it is simple to sign up and set up your allocation. They have neat Advisor tool which helps to quickly select your Horizon, Goal and Risk tolerance levels ane help make the decision to allocate your funds. It is totally insured by SIPC like any other investment company. You can put your account into auto mode which auto-withdraw from your bank like other investment companies and purchases securites as per you portfolio allocation. They only deal with Treasury bonds and Stock ETF’s and don’t hassle with individual stocks and risky funds.
Charges
Betterment’s fee is a straightforward 0.3% to 0.9%, depending on your balance. For balances under $25,000 the fee is just 0.9% annually. The portion of balances over $25,000 will be charged 0.7% annually, the portion of balances over $100,000 will be charged just 0.5% annually, and the portion of balances over $500,000 will be charged at 0.3% annually.
$25 Free Bonus
Currently they are offering $25 free bonus for anyone who opens an account with $250 minimum. Give it a try and let me know your experience.
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