Vanguard Vanguard Digital Advisor is a powerful automated trading platform for comprehensive portfolio management and retirement planning guidance. Vanguard's ETFs offer some of the lowest expense ratios compared with competitor platforms.
Business Insider compared Vanguard Digital advisor to the best robo-advisors and found it an industry leader for retirement products.
Pros and Cons
Vanguard Digital Advisor Pros
- Comprehensive financial planning and portfolio construction
- Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds available
- Retirement-specific financial planning tools and debt payoff calculators
- Tax-loss harvesting available
- Can connect to non-Vanguard accounts
Vanguard Digital Advisor Cons
- Can't hand-pick individual stocks or bonds
- Education savings accounts are not available
Open an Account
$100
0.11% - 0.20%
- Low annual fees
- Account is compatible with individual or joint accounts, traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, and rollover IRAs
- Portfolio in 4 Vanguard ETFs allocated according to your goals and risk tolerance
- Retirement-focused support and financial planning tools like retirement and debt payoff calculators
- Offers tax-loss harvesting
- Platform is still expanding its account options to support other investing goals like college planning, emergency-fund saving, and homebuying
Vanguard Digital Advisor is one of the best robo-advisors and one of the best retirement plans for passive investors looking for personalized, automated investment portfolios. It now offers an automated tax-loss harvesting feature.
- Promotion: No advisory fee for first 90 days after enrollment.
Compare Vanguard Digital Advisor
$0
0.25% annual advisory fee
- No account minimum or management fees to invest
- Goal planning and automatic portfolio rebalancing
- Range of other account options across SoFi website
- SoFi offers complimentary CFP access across all accounts
- No tax-loss harvesting
- No socially responsible portfolio options
SoFi Invest is one of the best investment apps and the best investment apps for beginners. It's a great platform for US investors who are looking for an intuitive online trading experience or an open active or automated investing account.
SoFi Robo Investing- Promotion: None at this time.
- Consider it if: You're new to investing and want to leave the trading decisions to professionals.
$0 ($1 for fractional shares; $2,000 for margin trading)
0% ($5/month for Robinhood Gold)
- Free stock, option, ETF, and cryptocurrency trades; 0.01% APY on uninvested cash for non-Gold users and 4.00% for Gold members
- IPO investing available
- Cash management accounts available
- Website is easy to navigate; advanced charts for all users
- Lack of investing research and trading tools; can only take advantage of professional research if you're a Robinhood Gold member
- No joint accounts, education savings accounts, or mutual funds
- App store rating: 4.2 iOS/4.0 Android
- Consider it if: You want to trade crypto and invest in a wide range of stocks and ETFs.
$1 ($500 for automated investing)
$0 for stock trades. 0.25% for automated investing (0.06% to 0.13% for fund fees)
- Low annual fee for investment accounts; crypto trust investments available
- Tax-loss harvesting, portfolio lines of credit, 529 college savings plans available
- Cash account
- Mobile app and investing and retirement tools
- You need at least $100,000 to utilize additional investment strategies
- No human advisor access
Wealthfront is one of the best robo-advisor options if you're in search of low-cost automated portfolio management, and one of the best socially responsible investing apps for features like tax-loss harvesting, US direct indexing, and crypto trusts.
Wealthfront- Consider it if: You're balancing several goals and want to streamline your finances.
- Promotion: Fund your first taxable investment account with at least $500 in the first 30 days of account opening and earn a $50 bonus.
Vanguard Digital Advisor Overview
Vanguard Vanguard Digital Advisor has long been a behemoth in the online brokerage and trading arena, providing holistic retirement planning solutions for all kinds of investors.
Automated Investing with Vanguard Digital Advisor provides traders with a diversified portfolio of Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds.
Some standout tools and features include ongoing account maintenance, automatic rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, debt payoff features, and a goal optimizer tool. Digital Advisor can also connect to non-Vanguard accounts.
Vanguard Digital Advisor is best for retirement-focused investors who like having their portfolios managed for them. Although non-retirement accounts may benefit from the platform's suite of robust trading tools and financial planning resources, most of Vanguard's most notable features are centered on retirement planning.
If you're a beginner or passive investor looking to open a regular individual or joint brokerage account for non-retirement purposes, a different automated trading platform with a lower account balance — such as SoFi®or Fidelity — is a better option.
Ways to Invest with Vanguard Digital Advisor
When it comes to account types, Vanguard Digital Advisor manages the following:
- Individual or joint tenants with rights of survivorship (JTWROS)
- Traditional IRAs
- Roth IRAs
- Rollover IRAs
- SEP & SIMPLE IRAs
- Trusts
- Vanguard-record-kept 401k plans
Though Vanguard Digital Advisor only manages these accounts, the automated advisor lets you connect other Vanguard and external accounts to generate more accurate goal growth projections.
Vanguard Investment Options
You can choose your preferred Vanguard ETFs and mutual funds to include in your Digital Advisor portfolio. Here are your investment options:
- All index investment options: Low-cost Vanguard ETFs that track the broad US and international stock and bond markets. Includes VTI, BND, BNDX, and VXUS.
- Active/index investment option: Active ETFs and mutual funds with increased risk and advisory for the possibility of a higher return. Includes VTI, VHCAX, VZICX, BNDX, VAIGX, and more.
- ESG investment option: Pre-screened ESG stock and bond funds defined by third-party index providers that encourage a risk and reward balance. It includes VCEB, ESGV, VSGX, and BNDX.
Vanguard Fees
Vanguard Digital Advisor has a $100 minimum balance requirement, with advisory fees ranging from 0.11% - 0.20%, depending on the assets in your account.
You'll also pay $25 for each Vanguard Brokerage account and each Vanguard mutual fund and this is only applicable for clients who do not opt-in for e-delivery.
Vanguard ETFs offer some of the lowest expense ratios in the industry. Mutual funds generally have higher expense ratios. The following Vanguard funds are eligible to be added to your Vanguard Digital Advisor account:
- Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI): 0.03% expense ratio
- Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS): 0.08% expense ratio
- Vanguard Total International Bond ETF (BNDX): 0.07% expense ratio
- Vanguard Advice Select Dividend Growth Fund (VADGX): 0.46% expense ratio
- Vanguard International Core Stock Fund Admiral Shares (VZICX): 0.38% expense ratio
- Vanguard ESG U.S. Stock ETF (ESGV): 0.09% expense ratio
Keep in mind that separate from Vanguard Digital Advisors required account minimum, certain mutual funds require their own investment minimum. For example, VZICX has a minimum of $50,000 to invest.
Note: Expense ratios above accurate as of 12/18/2024.
Vanguard Digital Advisor Trustworthiness
Vanguard has a F rating with the Better Business Bureau, the lowest possible rating. The rating is due to multiple unresolved complaints filed against the business. But as mentioned on the BBB website, the bureau's ratings don't ensure a company will be reliable or perform well.
In November 2023, an investor lawsuit was allowed to continue against Vanguard regarding allegations against the company's handling of target-date funds and a potential breach of fiduciary duty. The plaintiffs filed the original lawsuit in March 2022. Vanguard associates attempted to dismiss the lawsuit, but a federal judge in Philadelphia threw out that petition.
In April 2023, a former Vanguard employee filed a lawsuit against the firm for alleged gender, age, and religious discrimination that led to the eventual firing of the ex-employee. Joseph Rothman was aged 57 at the time of firing, and believes his age and Jewish faith to be part of the reason for his sudden termination. Vanguard has so far denied these allegations.
In 2022, Vanguard agreed to pay a $6.25 million settlement with Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin for allegedly failing to inform target-date fund investors of big tax bills.
Vanguard Digital Advisor Account Setup and User Interface
When determining how to design your portfolio, Vanguard uses its assessment tool to measure your risk profile (the amount of risk you're willing to take on with your portfolio).
Its risk tolerance measurement falls into five different risk attitudes: Very conservative, conservative, moderate, aggressive, and very aggressive.
Regarding navigability, the Vanguard Digital Advisor interface is quite simple to use. It lets you view progress toward financial goals (e.g., retirement) and offers a financial outlook feature that shows you how much you'll need to invest to meet those goals.
Vanguard Digital Advisor Alternatives
Let's see how Vanguard Digital Advisor compares to other top robo-advisors
Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Fidelity Go
Vanguard Digital Advisor and Fidelity Go create and manage personalized portfolios for you. The two differ, however, in minimum account requirements, fees, and investment choices.
Fidelity Go has no minimum requirement, and you won't have to pay any advisory fees if you have a balance below $25,000 (a 0.35% fee for balances over $25,000).
With Vanguard Digital Advisor, you'll run into a $100 minimum and annual advisory fee between 0.11% to 0.20%. In addition, Vanguard provides both low-cost ETFs and mutual funds, while Fidelity Go invests only in mutual funds. So, Fidelity Go may be the better option for mutual fund investing as it does not charge expense ratios, rebalancing fees, trading fees, or transaction fees.
In contrast, Vanguard Digital Advisor best suits retirement investors interested in the buy-and-hold strategy. Moreover, Vanguard is the way to go if you're looking to invest in ETFs.
Vanguard Digital Advisor vs. Wealthfront
Wealthfront Investingis another powerful robo-advisor offering low-cost portfolio management and ESG funds that are great for passive and retirement-focused investors..
Wealthfront could be a good option if you're primarily searching for automated advice across hundreds of investment fund options, including crypto trusts.
Vanguard Digital Advisors offers robust retirement planning resources and investment strategies. Investors specifically focused on retirement savings may prefer Vanguard Digital Advisor's holistic and low-cost planning solutions for meeting long-term goals.
Vanguard Digital Advisor FAQs
Vanguard Digital Advisor personalizes your investment portfolio by assessing your responses to the introductory questionnaire about your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon.
You can get comprehensive, personalized retirement planning with Vanguard Digital Advisor. Many of the best tools and features — including Vanguard ETF portfolios and rebalancing mechanics — center on retirement planning and goal-building.
Like all Vanguard services, Vanguard Digital Advisor adheres to strict security protocols to ensure that clients' investments and personal information are secure. Security and protection measures include two-factor authentication, advanced encryption technologies, and fraud monitoring. Investments are covered by SIPC insurance.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Vanguard Digital Advisor
We examined Vanguard Digital Advisor using Business Insider's rating methodology for investing platforms to compare pricing, account flexibility, ethics, security, and overall customer experience when reviewing investing platforms. Platforms are given a rating between 1 and 5.
Investing platforms offer multiple assets, trading tools, fees, and other resources. Some platforms are better for more advanced or active investors, while others may better suit beginners and passive investors. Vanguard Digital Advisor was evaluated, focusing on how it performed in each category.
Business Insider's Overall Vanguard Digital Advisor Rating
| Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Fees | 4.25 |
| Investment selection | 4.50 |
| Access | 4.16 |
| Ethics | 4.50 |
| Customer service | 4.75 |
| Overall score | 4.43 |
