Keeping the Investing Reward after withdrawing funds from your investing accounts depends on how much you’re withdrawing and how much you’ve contributed to your account since receiving the reward.
As long as you’ve held the deposits for at least three years, the reward is yours to keep.
For example, if you originally contributed $200,000 during the offer period and received an Investing Reward of $1,500 on March 15, 2026, you can withdraw all of it (including the $1,500 reward) on or after March 15, 2029 with no penalty.
Alternatively, if you withdraw money from your investing accounts earlier than three years after the deposit date, you’ll keep the reward as long as the amount of your withdrawal is less than or equal to the net amount that you’ve deposited into your investing account after the end of your offer period plus any market gains you’ve earned in that account. If your withdrawal is greater than those deposits plus any market gains earned, we will apply an Early Reward Removal Fee, This fee will adjust your reward based on the remaining net deposit amount in your investing accounts.
For example, on an original Net Qualified Deposit of $200,000, you would receive an Investing Reward of $1,500. If you made a $2,000 withdrawal within the Holding Period, your remaining Net Qualified Deposit is $198,000, and the withdrawal is charged a $750 Early Removal Fee, which represents the difference between $1,500 (the Investing Reward you received) and $750 (the Investing Reward attributable to a $198,000 Net Qualified Deposit).
However, in the event that the Early Removal Fee is greater than or equal to the total amount of the withdrawal, the withdrawal will be charged a fee that is 80% of the value of the total withdrawal (a “Partial Fee”) and such amount will be deducted from the total Early Removal Fee due (such amount, the “Remaining Early Removal Fee”). Any subsequent withdrawals will be charged either the Remaining Early Removal Fee or a Partial Fee in accordance with these terms, up to the total amount of the Early Removal Fee due.
In no event will the aggregate amount of the early reward removal fee exceed the amount of the reward you received from Betterment.
The early reward removal fee will apply to any of the following transactions:
- RMDs
- Withdrawals (+ Recurring withdrawals)
- Internal Transfers to Cash Reserve, Joint/Trust Taxable, self-directed investing, or Checking accounts
- Transfers out (ACATS/Rollovers out)
- ACH Reversals
The early reward removal fee will not apply to any transactions that transfer eligible deposits within your individual managed investing account(s) for three years after receiving the match (i.e., a transfer from your individual taxable investing account to a Betterment IRA), but you must maintain a minimum balance of at least the amount you received in the tiered investing reward in each eligible account. You may be subject to an early reward removal fee on a withdrawal out of any eligible accounts (i.e. Individual taxable, any IRAs).
Your deposits at the end of the offer period - across all eligible investing accounts (existing or opened during the holding period) - must be maintained throughout the 3 year holding period in order to avoid a potential fee. Any subsequent market gains or deposits into any eligible account will increase the amount that you can withdraw without penalty.
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