It harvested $2500 in losses for me in a largely up year for the market. I didn't have to pay attention to anything. Two thumbs up.
Thank you for sharing an actual number. But what was your total amount invested?
Happy to help.. At the time, between $58-68k in my taxable account with them.
For any newbies following along:
- A $68,000 account at Betterment will pay a fee of: $280 a year.
- The benefit from the $2,500 deduction depends on your tax bracket, but for most of us will likely be about: $750
- $68,000 invested in the Vanguard fully automatic fund equivalent would cost: $108 a year.
- $68,000 invested in a 3 fund portfolio at Vanguard would cost: $47 a year.
- History shows that on average, a deposit will no longer receive any Tax Loss Harvesting activity, past the first year.
Let's see what this looks like moving forward, assuming an 11.5% growth rate:
Year 1 Account Balance: $68,000 + $750 from TLH = $68,750
Total Fees Paid So Far: $280
Total Benefit So Far: $750
Year 2 Account Balance: $75,894
Total Fees Paid So Far: $591
Total Benefit So Far: $750
Year 3 Account Balance: $84,275
Total Fees Paid So Far: $937
Total Benefit So Far: $750
Year 4 Account Balance: $93,581
Total Fees Paid So Far: $1,321
Total Benefit So Far: $750
Assuming identical gains, how much total over these 4 years would you have paid in fees to Vanguard's fully automatic fund? $517
Assuming identical gains, how much total over these 4 years would you have paid in fees using a Vanguard
3 fund portfolio? $226
Not only does it get worse as time goes on, it gets worse
faster.
P.S. The maintenance on a 3 fund portfolio is literally 5-10 minutes a year, assuming you actually have to rebalance that year (
most years you won't, especially if you're making automatic contributions). I walk through the process here:
http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/a-slightly-different-way-to-compare-betterment-and-vanguard/msg493423/#msg493423