What We Offer

TIPS on Inflation and Safe Investing

When it comes to low risk investments, its hard to improve upon treasuries, bonds that are fully backed by the U.S. Government. But TIPS, short for Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, do one better in the safety department than normal treasuries because they also offer a hedge against inflation. The value of TIPS fluctuate in correlation with the Consumer

By Eli Broverman
Co-Founder, Betterment | Published: December 18, 2009

Price Index to ensure returns always keep up with inflation. And while a TIPS principal will appreciate with inflation, TIPS also offer a measure deflation protection because the price at maturity is guaranteed to be at least equal to the original principal.

These advantages rank high among the variety of reasons that the Treasury Bond portion of Betterment Accounts is comprised of TIPS. For a full break down of TIPS, check out Phillip Moeller’s article in U.S. News.

And what exactly is the Consumer Price Index? The Consumer Price Index is just one of a multitude of ways to measure inflation, in this case by comparing prices for over 84,000 various goods and services ranging from gasoline and real estate to ham. 84,000 data points is awfully abstract, so check out this interactive graphic to help make sense of things.

Inflation Price Points — Reproduced from nytimes.com

Do More With Our Redesigned Mobile App

Manage your financial life with our completely redesigned mobile app. We took feedback from customers like you and turned our app into a hub for your financial life.

What is Tax Coordination? How Asset Location Works at Betterment

What is Betterment's approach to asset location? It's called Tax Coordination, and it's a built-in tax optimization strategy for retirement goals at Betterment.

How We Use Your Dividends To Keep Your Tax Bill Low

Every penny that comes into your account is used to rebalance dynamically—and in a tax-savvy way.

Explore your first goal

Safety Net

This is a great place to start—an emergency fund for life's unplanned hiccups. A safety net is a conservative portfolio.

Retirement

Whether it's a long way off or just around the corner, we'll help you save for the retirement you deserve.

General Investing

If you want to invest and build wealth over time, then this is the goal for you. This is an excellent goal type for unknown future needs or money you plan to pass to future generations.

Smart Saver

You could earn 20X more than a typical savings account with our low-risk investing account for your extra cash.