Betterment, Wealthfront and other robot investment tools

[Rasec]

Hi everyone, 

I didn't know exactly where in the forum to insert this question as it's not particularly DGI, but I'm curious on your opinions on these automated tools / robot advisors.

My company has a protocol with these two companies and I could get up to $50k managed for free in either one but I'm not sure it's better than just going with a Vanguard mutual fund or any large cap ETF via my broker for example.

[ExDripper]

(11-29-2015, 01:47 PM)Rasec Wrote: Hi everyone, 

I didn't know exactly where in the forum to insert this question as it's not particularly DGI, but I'm curious on your opinions on these automated tools / robot advisors.

My company has a protocol with these two companies and I could get up to $50k managed for free in either one but I'm not sure it's better than just going with a Vanguard mutual fund or any large cap ETF via my broker for example.

From what I've read about robo services their advantages are automated balancing and tax loss harvesting.

However, it seems to me that one needs to be "all in" to safely take advantage of either, especially the tax loss harvesting, otherwise it's possible there would be wash sales due to the robo advisor not aware of outside holdings which may mirror or overlap it's holdings. 

The other issue for me would be little or no control over which ETFs are utilized. For example, is one forced to take international or emerging market? Forced to take long term corporate or treasury holdings? Commodities? Etc.

The idea is interesting and if my broker offered one that allowed me to select from a smorgasbord of ETFs and allocation percentages it sure would be tempting. Really tempting!