Author Topic: Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?  (Read 3313 times)

catccc

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Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?
« on: December 01, 2014, 11:43:22 AM »
I'm a YNAB and Yodlee user that recently started an account with Personal Capital, just to see what it was like.  I like using an account aggregator/dashboard type tool (Yodlee) along with my daily budgeting software (YNAB).  I was just curious to see what the Personal Capital interface was like, and see if it offered anything unique that I might value.

So I got a call today from an unrecognized number and they did leave a message, it's someone from Personal Capital and they want to schedule a one-on-one complimentary financial consultation.  Oh.  I thought this was just another dashboard type tool.  No doubt they are trying to sell me some services, so I looked into it:

We have one simple fee based on a percentage of assets managed. We bill monthly, in arrears. Wealth management, trade costs and custody are included – you do not pay trade commissions. We routinely help clients with financial planning and 401k allocations at no charge. Here is our fee schedule:

First $1 Million:   0.89%...


Okay, probably won't go for their fee based product, but what's this about routinely helping with financial planning and 401K allocations?  I suppose I've been doing just fine on my own, but I've been kind of excited about leveraging Vanguard's Voyager Select CFP services, when I reach that level, which hopefully will be in the next couple years.  So a consult could be fun.

I did find a blog review of the complimentary planning session at retired by 40.  Anyone else here try it?  Feedback? 

Also, I'm boggled that they would call up every person that signs up to offer this.  Has anyone signed up for personal capital and not gotten a call?  Curious what the threshold is, if any.  I linked 2-3 accounts for a total portfolio of $452K.

NinetyFour

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Re: Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2014, 11:45:58 AM »
Yes--I got a call.  They left me a message.  I did not call them back.  That's all.  IIRC, when MMM first wrote about PC, he said the same thing happened to him.  I think it is their standard practice.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/11/personal-capital-the-investors-version-of-mint/

Quote from MMM:  The only sales pitch is a call or email one of their advisers will send to you after you first set up your account and link in your various funds. And this call only comes if you have over $100,000 of assets available to manage.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2014, 11:47:32 AM by NinetyFour »

rubybeth

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Re: Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2014, 11:46:51 AM »
Net worth is around $125k in linked accounts on Personal Capital and they called me. Not really interested in their advice, though.

Travis

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Re: Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2014, 11:57:02 AM »
You can ignore the calls since the software is a lead-in for them to try to sell you their management services.  I use the software to get a snapshot of how my total portfolio looks and it does a pretty good job of that.  It's biggest benefit was to show me in detail how much I was losing to fees to my previous stock allocations (pre-Vanguard).

catccc

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Re: Personal Capital. Or, what did I sign up for?
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2014, 12:15:15 PM »
Yes--I got a call.  They left me a message.  I did not call them back.  That's all.  IIRC, when MMM first wrote about PC, he said the same thing happened to him.  I think it is their standard practice.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/10/11/personal-capital-the-investors-version-of-mint/

Quote from MMM:  The only sales pitch is a call or email one of their advisers will send to you after you first set up your account and link in your various funds. And this call only comes if you have over $100,000 of assets available to manage.

Thanks for this info.  I'm surprised this didn't float to the top of a google search.  I am interested to hear what they have to say, but I'm confident I'll be declining any additional services.