Questions? We have answers

Betterment helps you manage your money through cash management, guided investing, and retirement planning. We are a fiduciary, which means we act in your best interest.

We'll ask a bit about you when you sign up. We'll also gather information when you sync your outside accounts. Then, we'll help you set financial goals and set you up with investment portfolios for each goal.

For your long-term financial needs (like retirement, next year's vacation, or a down payment), our investment strategy is built on low-cost ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and a risk profile based on how long you plan to invest.

For your daily saving and spending, you can use our cash management products that include Checking (which we partner with nbkc bank to offer) and Cash Reserve, a high-yield cash account.

Cash Reserve is available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are facilitated by Betterment Securities.

Cash Reserve: No fees on your balance. Betterment LLC only receives compensation from our program banks, and we do not charge fees on your account balance.

Checking: No monthly account fees, maintenance fees, or withdrawal fees, and all ATM fees worldwide will be reimbursed, including the Visa 1% transaction fee on foreign transactions, purchases, and ATM transactions‡.

Investing: 0.25% per year on your invested balance, which covers all trading costs. Also, there are no additional transaction fees. Every fund your portfolio invests in charges fund fees that, in total, range from 0.03% to 0.50%.

Retirement: You can access our retirement planning tools without funding an account simply by syncing your existing accounts. Once you transfer retirement assets (like an IRA) to Betterment, Betterment will charge you a 0.25% management fee.

Premium Advice: 0.40% per year on your invested balance for unlimited over-the-phone access to our team of CFP® professionals.

We have no minimum balance requirements across the majority of our accounts—however, if you opt into our Premium plan, there is a $100,000 minimum.

We like to point to three major ways we're focused on the customer, perhaps more so than other financial companies, including other robo-advisors and digital banks.

1. We're a fiduciary—we are required to act in your best interests and we're intentional about avoiding conflicts of interest. For instance, we don't build our own funds and then recommend them to our own customers if it's not in their best interest, the way some other companies do.
2. Our platform combines powerful technology with personalized advice developed by our passionate team of experts. When you have questions, our Customer Support team is ready to help you with account questions and troubleshooting.
3. We help you manage the full spectrum of your money, together in one place for a low, transparent cost. Even if you don't fund, we provide advice on your existing outside accounts, as we help you compile your full financial picture.

Betterment Securities is a member of SIPC, which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). Explanatory brochure available upon request or at www.sipc.org. What you should remember is that the SPIC does not protect against market changes in your account. The risks inherent in investing are tradeoffs you make to pursue investment returns. We design our portfolio to aim for the highest projected returns given your risk level.

With our cash management products, your money is insured by the FDIC.

Individual Cash Reserve accounts have insurance up to † and joint Cash Reserve accounts offer up to $2,000,000 in FDIC insurance once funds are deposited into our program banks. Cash Reserve is available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are facilitated by Betterment Securities.

Checking is insured up to $250,000 through nbkc bank and is provided by Betterment Financial LLC. Explore further details about FDIC insurance.

Betterment makes money in four simple ways:

1. Our flat management fee for investing and advice—0.25% for most customers, 0.40% for our Premium advice plan.
2. Our over-the-phone advice packages, which cost between $199 and $299 per package.
3. Payments from Cash Reserve program banks, which Betterment expects will result in annualized revenue of more than 0% but less than 0.25% of the average, aggregate balance of the daily program deposits at program banks.
4. Finally, for Checking, Betterment Financial LLC receives a portion of interchange fees from merchants whenever you use your debit card (just like any bank or credit union), and a small portion of the net interest margin from deposits in your account.

We don't earn revenue from any funds we've selected for your portfolio. We also don't make money in our trading practices. That's all because we're built to align Betterment's interests with your own.

Checking accounts and the Betterment Visa® Debit Card provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC. Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank.

Our online cash management products are designed to help you save more of your money by removing many of the costs you might find at other financial institutions.

With Cash Reserve, you can earn up to APY*, with FDIC insurance up to for individual accounts and up to $2,000,000 for joint accounts once deposited at our program banks. There are no account minimums or fees on your balance. Cash Reserve is available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are facilitated by Betterment Securities.

Checking has no account fees, monthly maintenance fees, overdraft fees, or minimum balances, and all ATM fees worldwide are reimbursed.

Checking accounts and the Betterment Visa® Debit Card provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC. Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank.

Built into Cash Reserve is our Cash Analysis feature, which analyzes your checking account balance (whether it's with us or another institution), and lets you know how much extra cash you could earn more on by moving into Cash Reserve.

Our Two-Way Sweep feature moves money seamlessly between Cash Reserve and your checking account, helping you keep just the right balance in your checking.

Betterment's cash management products are designed to help you earn more and save better.

Cash Reserve is a high-yield cash account and Checking accounts, along with the Betterment Visa® Debit Card, are provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC. Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank.

Cash Reserve is designed to help you earn up to APY*, with FDIC insurance up to for individual accounts and $2,000,000 for joint accounts once deposited at our program banks. You can typically access your money within 1-2 business days. Cash Reserve is available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are facilitated by Betterment Securities.

Checking will give you a checking experience that's seamlessly integrated with your Cash Reserve and investments. Included:

• The Betterment Visa® Debit Card
• FDIC insurance for up to $250,000 per depositor
  (through nbkc bank, Member FDIC)
• Unlimited ATM fees reimbursed worldwide
• Direct deposit
• Paper check writing
• Access to advice on your full financial life

Checking accounts and the Betterment Visa® Debit Card provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC.Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank.

APY—annual percentage yield—is an important term for your savings. It's the interest you would earn over a year if the interest rate remained set all year long, while also accounting for the interest compounding within the year. Essentially, an APY helps you compare the interest you earn to other annualized rates, like debt.

Most banks' savings account APYs can change within the year, so the interest you earn after one year may not be exactly equal to the APY first advertised.

The APY for Cash Reserve also varies throughout the year, but it's set up to be among one of the highest rates by following the trend of the Federal Funds Rate. Read more about how the rate works.

FDIC insurance is provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which is set up and backed by the U.S. government. Generally, the FDIC provides $250,000 for each account at chartered banks, in case of an institution's insolvency. While Betterment is not a bank, we work with program banks to support your access to FDIC insurance.

For Cash Reserve, you'll get access to up to for individual accounts and $2,000,000 for joint accounts in FDIC insurance once your cash is deposited at our program banks. See the list of program banks. Cash Reserve is available to clients of Betterment LLC, which is not a bank, and cash transfers to program banks are facilitated by Betterment Securities.

For Checking, you'll be eligible for up to $250,000 per depositor in FDIC insurance through nbkc bank, Member FDIC.

Checking accounts and the Betterment Visa® Debit Card provided and issued by nbkc bank, Member FDIC. Checking made available through Betterment Financial LLC. Neither Betterment Financial LLC, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank.

You can start at Betterment by opening Cash Reserve, our high-yield cash account, or you can open an account for investing. In either case, our approach as your financial advisor is to encourage you to set your financial goals. These might be goals you already have in mind, like retirement, a vacation, a house down payment, and more.

You'll set up your goals by telling us your purpose for investing or saving: retirement, major purchases, education, a safety net fund, or just general investing. You can customize the names of your goals and their time horizon (that is, when you need the money), and when you do, we'll recommend a portfolio for each. We'll also help you understand how much you should be depositing over time in order to reach your goal, and we'll help you stay on track as you save.

For each financial goal you set at Betterment, we recommend a specific portfolio for you—an allocation of stock and bonds within our portfolio strategy that suits your needs. This goal-specific portfolio, built of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs), is designed to reflect the global financial market, and is also designed to help maximize expected returns while minimizing risk. Learn about our portfolio strategy.

You can also select from additional portfolio strategies, if you have specific interests, such as socially responsible investing (SRI). We also offer Goldman Sachs Smart Beta, a factor-based portfolio strategy, and a BlackRock Target Income portfolio, which only includes bonds. See portfolio options.

You can move money to Betterment by:

1. Transferring investments from another provider.
2. Linking a bank account to make deposits.

If you wish to transfer investments from a personal brokerage account, you may be eligible for an ACATS transfer, which moves your holdings to Betterment without selling them first.

If you roll over 401(k), 403(b), or IRA assets to Betterment, your previous provider will typically sell the investments with no tax consequences, and transfer the cash value to Betterment. Explore your transfer options.

If you bank elsewhere, you can link your bank account to make deposits and set up recurring automatic deposits.

We offer account types for many different purposes.

For your investments, you can use either a personal taxable account or a joint taxable account with your spouse or partner (sometimes labeled "brokerage accounts" at other providers). You can also invest for your existing trust. For retirement savings, you can save using a traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or a SEP IRA. See account types.

Account types we don't currently offer: 529 accounts, custodial accounts for minors (e.g., UTMA), or "solo 401(k)" plans. We do offer workplace 401(k)s through Betterment for Business. If your employer has a Betterment 401(k), your plan should be integrated in your account. If you're interested in bringing a Betterment 401(k) option to your company, contact us and an associate will reach out to you.

We support you in making withdrawals, while also focusing on keeping you informed about how you may be impacted.

For your investments, we'll let you know of the possible tax impact of a withdrawal before your make it. Then, we sell your investments and transfer the money to your linked bank account. This process generally takes 4-5 business days.

If you want to get on track for retirement, we can help. First, we'll ask a bit about you and your household. You can also sync your existing employer plans and retirement assets (like an IRA) to your Betterment account to give us more context.

Then, we'll make suggestions for how you should save across each of your accounts moving forward. You can get all of this retirement advice free of charge without even funding an account.

Once you get a plan set, you can invest for retirement in an IRA or taxable investment account through Betterment. Our Tax Smart suite is designed to help you save more than you could on your own—an estimated 38% more over 30 years, compared to the typical retirement investor.

Our retirement advice tools give you personalized "how to save" advice. We help you deposit into the right account or employer plan, based on your income, age, and tax situation. We can also take into account your spouse's income.

To get a preview of how we can help with choosing the right account, try our retirement calculator.

Once you let us know that you've reached retirement, our advice changes from helping you reach your savings goal to helping you make safe withdrawals that are unlikely to deplete your retirement funds too quickly. Our withdrawal advice can be automated to help you receive your retirement income like a regular paycheck.

Yes. While retirement is generally the most complex area of financial planning, we can help you set up a plan for other important areas of life, like saving for your or a child's education, managing your trust, or prioritizing your financial goals that could affect your future retirement.

We encourage you to set up a one-time advice package to get set up for success in any of these areas. Our team of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ are happy to help you devise a plan and get your goals set up.

Our team is here to support you, whether you're facing a technical problem, making a complicated financial move, or looking for personalized guidance from a professional.

When you have a question that warrants personal advice, we have a team of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ to support you with one-on-one advice, either in a one-time package or with continuous support in our Premium plan. We also have a Concierge Team who can help advise you if you're working on transitioning a substantial balance from a previous provider. Explore speaking with an advisor

Our team of investing experts make decisions about our portfolio strategies and fund selection with the help of an external committee of economists, PhDs, and industry experts.

More than just a portfolio management team, our experts work to develop improvements to our Tax Smart technology, our cash analysis tools, and other advanced strategies.

Jon Stein founded Betterment after years of advising banks and other financial institutions as a consultant. Jon is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Business School. With a small team, Jon launched Betterment in 2010, and we've since been backed by major investors. Betterment is now a leading independent financial technology company, based in New York City.

Visit our Customer Help Center to get access to FAQs and resources that can help you troubleshoot issues in your account. You can also reach out to our knowledgeable Customer Support Team, available five days a week to assist you with questions about Betterment and your account.