Ellevest Review

Ellevest logo

Ellevest

9.5

Millennial Money rating

Expert Take

Ellevest is an excellent platform for people looking to start investing. With a number of products and services available, as well as access to coaches and planners, Ellevest might very well be the answer you’re looking for when it comes to getting your finances sorted.

Pros

  • No Minimum Requirement
  • Low Fees
  • Goal Oriented Investing

Cons

  • Low Interest Rates on Emergency Funds
  • Limited Accounts Supported

Minimum Investing Requirement

10.0

Fees

10.0

Supported Accounts

9.0

Emergency Fund Rates

9.0

Ellevest logo

When you first hear that Ellevest is an investment platform designed for women, you might think it is feminist boo-hoo, and it is not something that’s really needed.

But once you dig deeper and understand the differences between how men and women invest, it will all start to make a whole lot of sense.

While Ellevest was created for women by women, it is not exclusive to women. Unlike other Robo Advisors, at Ellevest, they take gender into consideration.

Men can successfully invest with Ellevest as much as women, but the personalized investment portfolios on offer will be different.

Choosing the right place to invest can be very personal, and we would like to help you make an informed decision when it comes to your money.

What is Ellevest?

Founded by a woman, Ellevest is a Robo Advisor investing platform which aims its service towards women – but it isn’t exclusively for women.

Men can use it as well, but unlike other robo advisor investing platforms, Ellevest treats men and women differently. Knowing that women live longer than men and earn less, this makes a lot of sense.

Very often, women have different goals, needs, and risk tolerance than men.

You can choose your short term and long term goals. It will create the best possible investment portfolio for you using the Monte Carlo simulation.

They claim to have a 70% likelihood of you reaching those goals, while many other robo advisor platforms offer only 50%.

The platform is easy to use, and you don’t need to have much knowledge of investing. With most of the financial industry tending to prefer complexity, Robo Advisors, which are simple to use, allow more women to invest without getting overwhelmed or frustrated.

Ellevest manages your money, but it is held by Folio Investments. It is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and custodian. This applies to all Elevest Digital and Premium portfolios. The assets of the Ellevest Private Wealth Management portfolio are held by Charles Schwab & Co.

Ellevest Impact Portfolios

Ellevest gives you a choice of changing the world while reaching your financial goals with optional Impact Investing.

You can choose to invest in companies led by women, sustainable companies, and community development companies. Here, you will still get a diverse portfolio with 21 asset classes, but many of them will contain impact funds.

Plans

Ellevest offers its users 3 primary plans to choose from. They all have different costs and features.

Choose one that fits your budget, goals, and needs the best. We looked at all of them closely to help you understand which one is the best fit for you.

These plans come with no minimum deposit to get started (though fund minimums may apply).

Ellevest Essential

This is a basic plan, and it’s great for beginners. There is no minimum amount you need to invest as you can start with as little as $1. The fees are the lowest with this plan.

Features:

  • Personalized investment portfolios
  • Optional investment in Ellevest Impact Portfolios
  • Automated deposits
  • No penalties for withdrawals
  • Automated rebalancing
  • Emergency fund
  • Tax Minimization Methodology
  • Unlimited access to online workshops, email courses, and video resources from their team of financial planners and career coaches
  • On-demand learning to help you with career, money, and investing decisions.
  • One to one access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for personalized guide and strategy (20% discount)
  • One to one access to Executive Coaches for training on career events and salary negotiations (20% discount)
  • Access to an FDIC-insured Ellevest Save account with Unlimited ATM fee reimbursements, and no minimum balance or overdraft fees
  • Support from the Concierge team (financial professionals)

Ellevest Plus

For $5 per month, the Plus plan gives you everything the Plus Plan offers, and some extra features.

Features:

  • Support from the Concierge team (financial professionals)
  • One to one access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for personalized guide and strategy (30% discount)
  • One to one access to Executive Coaches for training on career events and salary negotiations (30% discount)

Ellevest Executive

At $9 per month, Ellevest Executive gives you everything the Plus Plan offers, and some extra features.

Features:

  • Multi-goal investing – Receive up to 6 customized investment accounts for each of your money goals.
  • One to one access to a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for personalized guide and strategy (50% discount)
  • One to one access to Executive Coaches for training on career events and salary negotiations (50% discount)

Private Wealth Management

This option is for those who wish to invest $1 million or more.

Features:

  • Dedicated financial advisor
  • Client service team
  • Customized portfolio construction
  • Customized asset allocation
  • Account transition to minimize capital gains tax
  • Access to Certified Financial Planner
  • Illiquid investments
  • Optional impact investing
  • Donor-advised funds
  • Joint accounts
  • UTMAs (custodial accounts)

Benefits

Having a plan with Ellevest opens up other features that you will have access to:

Ellevest Concierge Team

All clients in the “Plus” plan and up get unlimited support from the Concierge team. They’re there to answer all your questions over phone, text, or email, whichever suits you the best.

They can also help you with a number of issues such as:

  • IRAs and 401(k)s
  • Account and goals customizing
  • Financial professional guidance

Certified Financial Planners

All Ellevest customers can receive one on one CFP guidance for an additional cost. Discounts on these services increase with each plan.

The CFPs (Certified Financial Planners) can help you if you’re:

  • Planning to buy a house or remodel it
  • Planning on growing your family
  • Considering retirement options
  • In need of financial advice or going through a career change
  • In need of help with leveraging employee bonuses and benefits

Executive Coaching

All Ellevest clients get access to Executive Coaching from the Career Team for an additional cost. The team of professional coaches will guide you through work-related changes and challenges. Discounts on these services increase with each plan.

You can receive help with a number of things such as how to:

  • Ask for a raise or get a compensation package
  • Get a good start at your new job, prepare for a new role
  • Prepare for a job interview
  • Start in a new field or industry
  • Go back to work after a break

Fees

Ellevest has very competitive pricing among Robo Advisor investment platforms.

They have four levels of offerings with different pricing:

  • Essential. The most basic offering. It charges only a $1 per month management fee. Essential members can also receive a 20% discount on one-on-one financial planning and coaching sessions.
  • Plus. This upgraded membership charges a $5 per month management fee. Essential members receive a 30% discount on one-on-one financial planning and coaching sessions.
  • Executive. The executive plan charges a $9 per month management fee. Executive members receive a 50% discount on one-on-one financial planning and coaching sessions.
  • Private Wealth Management. This is a service for investors with portfolios worth $1 million or more. The fees range from 0.50% to 0.90%, depending on the total value of your assets.

There are also other fees involved, such as clearing, brokerage, and service provider charges.

There might also be charges from Folio or other entities, such as paper statement fees, wire transfer fees, bounced checks fees, safekeeping fees, margin extension fees, termination fees, and others.

You can find Folio’s pricing on their website for more information.

Ellevest Fee Summary
Plan Management Fee
Essential $1 /mo
Plus $5 / mo
Executive $9 / mo
Private Wealth 0.50% – 0.90% depending on assets managed:
  • 0.90% – $1,000,000 – $1,999,999
  • 0.80% – $2,000,000 – $4,999,999
  • 0.60% – $5,000,000 – $9,999,999
  • 0.50% – $10,000,000+

Getting Started

Ellevest is very simple to use, and this starts with a clean and simple website. Signing up takes less than 10 minutes and is completely free.

How to Get Started:

  1. Before proceeding, you will need to create an account. This process is completely free.
  2. Draft your financial plan and set your goals. These can include emergency savings, retirement, buying a house or a car, savings for a baby, or others. Ellevest will also determine your risk tolerance. You will be asked to answer a number of questions to determine this.
  3. Ellevest will suggest personalized investment portfolios tailored to your goals. You can start investing with as little as $1. You can also link your bank account, brokerage account, as well as transfer your IRA to Ellevest.
  4. Choose one of the plans. Ellevest Essential, Ellevest Plus, Ellevest Executive or Ellevest Private Wealth Management.

You can change and adjust your goals, income, and transfer funds anytime you log in to your Ellevest account as well as get advice from their team.

You can also withdraw your money at any time with no penalties; it is your money after all. Much like many other Robo Advisor platforms, Ellevest offers a Free Emergency Fund.

No fees will be applicable to the assets in your Emergency Fund. You will also receive an interest of 0.01% on the Emergency Fund. You can look at it as an online savings account. Although the interest rate is low, it is FDIC insured, so there is minimal risk involved.

Ellevest App

Ellevest is also available for iOS users. Their mobile app allows you to start investing by setting up financial goals.

You can also review your account and available funds, see the balances, and track your progress towards the goals. You can also opt for investing in Ellevest Impact Portfolios, complete deposits and withdrawals, and browse through Ellevest Magazine, all on your mobile.

Retirement goals, rollover of 401(k) and IRA transfers are currently unavailable within the app. You can complete these functions only on the website, which can also be accessed from your mobile phone or tablet.

The app runs on iOS 10 and newer, which should work on iPhone 5 and later models. The app can be found and downloaded from the App Store. Currently, it doesn’t work on iPads. If you wish to use Ellevest on your iPad or any Android device, you can do so by going on its website using any internet browser.

Promotions

Ellevest periodically announces special promotions for Millennial Money readers. These promos might take up to 90 days to process the credit after your first deposit.

All bonuses are applied to the highest priority goal. You will be able to see it as a deposit in your goal.

The credit cannot be applied to IRA, and if it’s your highest priority goal, you’ll get an Amazon gift card worth the same amount as the promotion.

Ellevest Promotion: Up to $750 Cash Bonus – Expired
Deposit Amount Cash Bonus
$10,000 – $24,999 $25
$25,000 – $49,999 $75
$50,000 – $99,999 $150
$100,000 – $249,999 $300
$250,000+ $750

*We will update this page as new promotions are announced.

Is Ellevest Safe?

Security is one of the main priorities for Ellevest. You are sharing your financial and personal information with them, and it’s in their best interest to keep this as secure as possible. Ellevest has an A+ rating from Qualys.

Once the data is collected, it’s encrypted and stored in a secure data center. They support the strongest encryption suites out there and use 2048-bit RSA certificates.

They will never share or sell your information to a third party who would use it for marketing or advertising. You can find their privacy policy on the website to learn more about how they handle your data.

Your money is safe with Ellevest since it is SIPC insured (The Securities Investor Protection Corporation) up to $500,000. This applies to all their investment plans.

Other steps Ellevest takes to ensure Security:

  • ID verification
  • 2-step linking for deposit and withdrawals
  • Session timeouts
  • Password standards

Customer Support

Ellevest features an extensive FAQ section on their website where you can find a lot of information about their services, how to open an account, and how to handle issues that may arise.

If you don’t find an answer to your question, you can also submit a request. It is also possible to contact their support team via email.

Once you create an account, you get access to financial advice and coaches. This includes the Concierge Team as well as Certified Financial Planners and Executive Coaches, depending on the plan you choose.

Pros and Cons

While there are many pros when it comes to Ellevest, like many other Robo Advisor investment platforms, it is not perfect for everyone.

Before choosing a platform and start investing, do your homework, and look at all the pros and cons of different platforms.

We looked at the pros and cons so you can see the bigger picture.

Pros

  • No minimum requirement for the account
  • Low fees
  • Goal-oriented investment
  • Created primarily with women investors in mind, but offers excellent services for both sexes
  • Personal CFPs with a premium offering
  • 21 diverse asset classes

Cons

  • Low-interest rates on Emergency Fund of only 0.01%
  • Limited accounts supported
  • No automated tax-loss harvesting

FAQs

Is Ellevest a good company?

Ellevest is a good company, and many users trust them. They have also received very good reviews from hundreds of financial sites. Ellevest Essential, Plus and Executives’s broker-dealer is Folio Investments; Schwab is the broker-dealer for Ellevest Private Wealth portfolios.

Is Ellevest a robo advisor?

Ellevest is a Robo Advisor created for women. It can also be used by men, and its algorithms take gender into consideration. It is a goal-oriented investment platform with customizable portfolios and low fees.

Is Ellevest FDIC insured?

Yes, your money in the Emergency Fund is FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) insured. This removes all the risk from this fund. No matter what happens, you will always have access to these funds.

How much money does Ellevest manage?

According to filings in June 2020, Ellevest had $635 million in assets under management.

Alternatives to Ellevest

There are many platforms for investing with Robo Advisors. It is very important to understand your goals and needs and pick one that suits you the best.

Best Alternatives:

Is Ellevest For You?

Ellevest is an excellent platform for people looking to start investing. With a number of products and services available, as well as access to coaches and planners, Ellevest might very well be the answer you’re looking for when it comes to getting your finances sorted.

By having a goal to work towards, you also stand a greater chance of keeping things on track. This is always a good thing. Of course, the low-interest rate on the emergency fund is not ideal.

Having said that, we strongly suggest looking at the bigger picture and see what you ultimately stand to gain or lose.

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