Anyone have experience with Schwab Intelligent Advisory?

[wcs6071]

I have an appointment to discuss strategies with them. Very low cost at $30.00 per month. Want to know if anyone has had experience with them.
Thanks

[SevenUp]

Yes, their website and local office work fine for us, at $0/month.

[braumeister]

No direct knowledge, but I've read that they want you to have quite a sizable percentage of your account in cash, because they make money on that. So it's a question you might ask when you talk with them.

[wcs6071]

You're maybe thinking of Intelligent portfolio.
This is the advisory part of that but you don't have to have all your money in the
IP. They give you advise on allocation run your "plan" etc and you have access to CFP at anytime.

[rodi]

Hmmm. Haven't heard it called that but if you have above a certain level you get a free advisor. My advisor knows I'm a DIYer, but she also helped when I was brainstorming whether I could retire, what AA, etc. She's always available for me to ask questions or discuss things with. But mostly she calls a few times a year to check in.

My sister has the same advisor and uses the managed portfolio... It's a relatively low cost managed portfolio. Sis also needs/prefers a little more hand holding. The advisor is fine with that too.

As I said - same advisor, two different investor styles.

[rodi]

Just checked the website... It looks like intelligent advisor and intelligent portfolio are the same thing - just a rebranding effort.

[kevink]

Good review of this service here:

https://investorjunkie.com/reviews/s...nt-portfolios/

My personal take: OK for what it is but limited investment choices, too much in cash and I'm allergic to paying ANY percentage of assets under management - especially in this low-return environment. Love Schwab though - have most of our investments with them - but if I needed a financial advisor I'd hire someone like Evanson Asset Management or FPL that works on a fixed fee rather than AUM basis.

At the end of the day the problem with Schwab and Fido vs. Vanguard is structural: unlike Vanguard which is a truly mutual mutual fund company that is owned by its funds the other guys have a parent company they have to make money for, meaning their interests can never be fully aligned with their clients. Schwab makes most of its money on cash held in MM accounts so the excessive cash holdings in their robo service are just part and parcel of the way they do business. Love their customer service and worldwide ATM fee reimbursement from Schwab Bank is great for travel. Combine that with a self-managed portfolio of mostly Vanguard ETF's held there and you're golden.

[teej1985]

Despite the Vanguard structure being what it is, I don't know that it's necessarily that much more consumer-friendly than it's competitors. Vanguard is privately owned by the funds, but executive pay isn't disclosed among other things. Schwab is publicly traded, which you would think makes it's operation a lot more transparent. As far as Intelligent Advisory goes, my understanding is you can just enroll the minimum required in the plan and they'll still talk to you about all your assets. You can increase the stock allocation to something like 92%-94% to minimize the "cash drag", and with today's rate you're not missing on much vs. other cash equivalents.