Notes &
At Schwab’s commission rates, you would have to make 100 rebalancing trades a year on a $100,000 account before Betterment’s fee became attractive.
A product only a banker could love by This is the Green Room
I’m going to eat my words on my “high hopes” for Betterment, which was aptly beaten down by a wiser man than I at This is the Green Room (should be on your must read list if it isn’t already).
I’d imagine the folks at Betterment would justify what essentially amounts to their “commission premium” by suggesting that’s the marketing cost of creating something that’s even simpler / has broader appeal than Schwab. Still, that’s still a bit of a leap given the discrepancies described in the Green Room’s breakdown.
I’d love to hear from Betterment…
and, for what it’s worth, I’m still insanely bullish on the prospects of startups taking aim at Wall Street.
