Betterment vs. Guideline
Compare 401(k) providers by investments, fees, employee experience, service and support.
| Betterment | Guideline | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fees | |||||||||
| Ongoing Administrative (Employer pays) | $42/mo + $4/participant/month (Standard)⁴ |
$49/month + $8/participant/month (Core) $79/month + $8/participant/month (Flex) $129/month + $8/participant/month (Max) |
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| Estimated fund fees (Employees pay) | 0.06%³ |
0.07%⁴ |
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| Investment management (Employees pay) | 0.25% on assets annually ($2.50 for every $1,000) |
0.08% on assets annually ($0.80 for every $1,000) |
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| Terminated participant fee | None |
$4/month (after 90 days) |
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| Investments | |||||||||
| Funds | Indexed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) |
Indexed Mutual Funds |
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| Portfolios | 509 (across 6 strategies, plus Flexible Portfolio Strategy) |
6 (1 strategy, plus customized participant strategies) |
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| Automatic allocation adjustments | |||||||||
| Flexibility | Participants may choose their own allocation |
Participants may choose their own allocation | |||||||
| Socially responsible investments | 3 managed portfolio strategies: Broad Impact, Social Impact, Climate Impact |
2 large cap equity funds | |||||||
| Additional investment strategies | Socially Responsible (3), Goldman Sachs Smart Beta, BlackRock Income |
None | |||||||
| Number of individuals involved in investment advisory services¹ | 17 |
3 | |||||||
| Employee Experience | |||||||||
| Platform scope | Holistic advice across all saving and investing goals |
401(k) only | |||||||
| External account syncing | |||||||||
| Personalized retirement planning tools | |||||||||
| Tax coordination strategies to help maximize returns | |||||||||
| Mobile app | |||||||||
| Access to human advisors² | |||||||||
| Service and support | |||||||||
| 3(38) Investment Fiduciary | Standard |
Standard | |||||||
| 3(16) Administrative Fiduciary | Standard |
Standard | |||||||
| Online signup process | |||||||||
| Automated compliance support | |||||||||
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