Ellevest Review: Is It the Best Robo-Advisor for You?

By Cynthia Bowman

March 21, 2022

About Ellevest

Investing has been traditionally known as a man’s world. According to Ellevest, 99% of investment management firms are owned by white males, with women comprising about 8% of investors. Ellevest hopes to change this by providing financial services “built by women, for women.” Ellevest’s investment algorithm takes into account gender-specific factors such as career and pay gaps, as well as longer lifespans.

Ellevest Features

Some of the most unique features of Ellevest include the following:

• Anyone can purchase one-on-one sessions with a career coach or certified financial planner.
• Three plans, which range in price from $1 to $9 per month, that automatically invest your contributions and manage them for you
• FDIC-insured, low-fee banking consists of a spending and savings account plus a debit card.

How Does Ellevest Work?

Ellevest wants to make investing possible for everyone. You don’t need experience — Ellevest’s investment platform uses algorithms to automatically invest and manage your money.

There are no account minimums, although portfolio minimums of $1 to $240 apply. All you need to do is choose a membership level and the type of investment you’re comfortable with. Here’s how to get started:

1. Answer questions about your financial goals and current situation.
2. Pick an investment plan. Your options are:
   • Ellevest Essential, $1 per month: Features include a 20% discount on coaching, group workshops on budgeting/finance and Ellevest Save and Spend accounts with a cash-back debit card
   • Ellevest Plus, $5 per month: Adds an IRA and retirement planning advice and bumps up the coaching discount to 30% off
   • Ellevest Executive, $9 per month: Includes all the features mentioned so far but adds five additional investment accounts you can use for specific financial goals. One-on-one coaching is 50% off.
3. Open an account.
4. Fund the account manually via ACH transfer or set up direct deposit.
5. Decide how much to contribute toward your investment account.
6. Turn Roundup on. Each time you make a debit card purchase, it will automatically round up and the spare change will be sent to your investment account.

Investing Options

Ellevest invests your funds in one of the most diversified portfolios available. Most robo-advisors use a mix of low-cost ETFs and mutual funds. Ellevest does as well, but it also adds alternative funds, global real estate investment trusts, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities and other investments to provide 21 different asset classes. Doing so improves the chances that your money is protected against inflation and volatility.

Goal Setting

What makes Ellevest unique is its female-focused approach to long-term investing. Once you set an investing goal, Ellevest’s algorithm takes over. Here’s a look at the targets you could choose from to help fine-tune your investment plan:

Banking

Once you sign up for Ellevest, you’ll have your own Spend and Save accounts. These accounts feature no minimum balance fees and come with a linked debit card that can help you earn cash back on your purchases at select merchants.

Personalized Investment Advice

Ellevest coaches can give you one-on-one advice on money and career topics such as job hunting, budgeting, career planning, retirement and investing. Coaching comes with a fee to anyone interested, but Ellevest subscribers qualify for a discount of 20% to 50%, depending on your subscription level.

Ellevest Fees

There are no additional monthly fees beyond the subscription fee of $1, $5 or $9 per month.

What Ellevest Is Best For

Ellevest has some unique features that could be ideal for newer investors who want to get started building wealth.

Goal Setting

A good financial plan starts with goals. You may need multiple goals for various important life milestones such as college, buying a home and retirement. Ellevest provides preset goals and allows up to six investment accounts in the highest-tier subscription plan to support saving for several goals at the same time.

Automated Investing

Ellevest’s investment algorithm makes investing a hands-off experience. Once you set it, you can forget it. Ellevest’s portfolios are among the most diversified around, with 21 different asset classes to lower your risk and hedge against inflation.

Low-Cost Banking

Ellevest ties it all together by offering banking with no monthly maintenance or overdraft fees. Your funds are FDIC-insured and it’s easy to move money around from your Spend, Save and investment accounts.

Where Ellevest Falls Short

Although Ellevest sounds ideal so far, investing with the robo-advisor isn’t for everyone. Some things to consider include the following:

• You won’t be able to buy and sell stocks or your own funds of choice. If you’d like to do some trading, you’ll need to open an account with a brokerage.
• You may be able to earn a higher interest rate on your savings elsewhere.
• There is no integrated budgeting or expense tracking.

Ellevest vs. Competitors

Ellevest isn’t the only personal investment app available. There are several worth considering. Here’s a look at how Ellevest and its competitors compare.

Is Ellevest Right for You?

Ellevest is best for investors who are just getting started and don’t have a lot of knowledge about investing. You can set up automated investing for a variety of goals, such as building an emergency fund, saving for a house or setting up a retirement plan. Plus, you can take advantage of its banking accounts without worrying about minimum balance fees.

Advice

The best time to start investing is today. Even if you can only set $5 per month aside, the funds can compound into something significant as long as you commit to regularly contributing to your investment account.

Daria Uhlig contributed to the reporting for this article.

Information is accurate as of March 18, 2022.

Editorial Note: This content is not provided by Ellevest. Any opinions, analyses, reviews, ratings or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author alone and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by Ellevest.

About the Author

Cynthia Bowman

Cynthia Paez Bowman is a personal finance writer with degrees from American University in international business and journalism. Besides writing about personal finance, she writes about real estate, interior design and architecture. Her work has been featured in MSN, Brex, Freshome, MyMove, Emirates’ Open Skies magazine and more.