Vanguard vs. Betterment

[savingintexas]

Hi All,

I am a new investor and have learned so much from this group. From what I've read, it seems like a solid recommendation for long-term savings is a combination of U.S. and international Vanguard index funds. I've seen MMM recommend investing through Vanguard and Betterment. I'm confused about which of these to use, or if there is a reason to use both.

It looks like Betterment charges a fee of .25% justified by automatic rebalancing and "tax efficiency," and a few other things. I just put 6,000 in Betterment to start a Roth IRA, and an additional 25,000 in Betterment, which is also invested in (mostly) Vanguard funds. I did this basically because the process of making a deposit and starting a Roth IRA is faster at Betterment than at Vanguard and I wanted to get my 6,000 in before the end of the year.

Is it a better choice to have my funds, at least the Roth IRA, at Vanguard? I'm not sure what information I need to make that decision.

Thank you!

[Ichabod]

Vanguard has lower fees, but not automatic re-balancing or tax-loss harvesting. Re-balancing is pretty easy. You can search the forums or elsewhere for tax-loss harvesting. It's also possible to DIY, but I'm not convinced the juice is worth the squeeze.

You don't have to make IRA contributions by EOY, only before the deadline for filing your 2020 taxes.