Personal Capital may be many things, depending on how you use it. Founded in 2008 by a former CEO of PayPal and Intuit — the creators of Quicken software — Personal Capital is a free financial planning and investment tracking app. Similar to Mint.com, the app focuses on investing rather than bill paying, allowing users to consolidate investment accounts, track spending, forecast retirement progress and gain insight into asset allocation and investment fees.

The other part of Personal Capital’s business is a hybrid of algorithm-driven, robo-advisor services and traditional financial planning for which investors are charged an annual portfolio percentage. The company offers tiered services depending on the total assets invested. For users with $100,000 to $200,000 in assets, Personal Capital offers investment services through the help of an advisory team. Managed investment portfolios include exchange traded funds (ETFs), which are managed for tax efficiency with equal weighting in each sector. They also offer advice on 401(k) investments, budgeting and spending, along with regular access to an advisor.

Personal Capital also offers wealth management services for those with $200,000 to $1 million in investments. This includes investment management of a portfolio of ETFs and Stocks, along with the help of two advisors, a full financial plan that considers college savings and other financial decisions, as well as tax loss harvesting. For customers with more than $1 million in assets, Personal Capital’s private client services include all wealth management services, plus estate planning, private banking and access to things like deferred compensation strategy and donor-advised funds.

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The Bottom Line: Personal Capital offers a whole new way to manage your money with the help of a free advisor consultation, free planning and free investing tools make it appealing to investors of all types.

• Free investing tools provide insights for the average investor.
• Retirement, college and estate planning services are available to investors with a higher net worth.
• Investment management favors equal-weighted indexing, following a modern portfolio theory.

Who should consider Personal Capital

Anyone can use the free account aggregation and monitoring tools, which lets you play around with retirement assumptions and see what today’s savings might yield for a future return. You can also view your investment portfolio holdings by sector, asset class, expense ratio and more, which can provide a perspective on your portfolio.

The other services Personal Capital offers may be a solid option for hands-off investors who have amassed some savings and would like professional help. If you have at least $100,000 in investable assets, when you sign up for the free tools you will be prompted to set an appointment for a phone consultation with a live advisor. This person evaluates your portfolio holdings and shares recommendations for professional management. The specifics of that management will depend on the level of assets you decide to invest. Even if you don’t decide to invest with Personal Capital, going through the process of gathering assets and discussing your financial picture with someone can be an eye-opener.

If you are a socially conscious investor, Personal Capital can help you create an investment strategy to restrict certain businesses or industries according to your preferences.

Strengths of Personal Capital

• Award-winning dashboard offers a complete financial picture. The free tools are fairly robust, offering a high-level view in terms of your net worth. Linking all your accounts will provide the most accurate overview of your financial state.
• Money management that grows with your wealth. As your assets grow, you get increased access to Personal Capital’s sophisticated wealth management services, which means more help in making important financial decisions.
• Options for education and estate planning. At every wealth management service level, there is a focus on big-picture financial planning. Personal Capital advisors will professionally review your 401(k) and other retirement assets, and offer advice on college savings plans and estate planning strategies.

Drawbacks of Personal Capital

• High management fees. Personal Capital charges an asset management fee of 0.89% for portfolios between $100,000 and $1 million, which is higher than fees charged by low-cost robo-advisors.
• High minimum balance. To gain access to financial advice through Personal Capital, you’ll need at least $100,000 in invested assets. Comparatively, Schwab’s Intelligent Advisory offers similar robo-advisor services for account balances of at least $25,000.
• Upselling. Once you sign up for the free tools, you may be contacted about paid services. If you meet the minimum asset requirements for other service tiers, Personal Capital will try to win more business.

Is Personal Capital safe?

More than a decade after Mint’s launch, most fintech users are comfortable linking financial accounts to another platform. Personal Capital’s safeguards are safely in line with contemporary standards. The company imports data from your financial accounts through Yodlee, which connects with financial institutions using modern security protocols. Personal Capital’s website does not store your account credentials and no transactions are made through the company’s platform. Data shared with Personal Capital is protected through a highly rated encryption standard, a multi-layer process involving “keys” only users would know.

For your protection, all investment securities are held by an SIPC member broker custodian, protecting your securities up to $500,000. You can check their brokers credentials by searching for Personal Capital Advisors Corporation at brokercheck.org.

Additionally, the startup has solid leadership and financial technology experience behind it. Company executives have done stints at Intuit, Yodlee and E-LOAN, and there are a handful of certified financial planners on the wealth management side. The board of advisors includes Nobel Prize-winning economist Harry Markowitz, behavioral finance expert Shlomo Benartzi and former Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner Luis Aguilar.

Final thoughts on Personal Capital

With many free features designed to attract users, Personal Capital is worth consideration. Its asset allocation models are fairly rigid, but they seem to outperform comparative benchmarks over time. Investors should carefully consider the asset management strategy before signing up for investment advisory or wealth management services. In the meantime, the financial planning tools and initial consultation will give the average investor insights into their current state and where they would like to go.

With a whopping $6.9 trillion in assets under management, Fidelity is one of the country’s largest broker-dealers. That kind of size and power may seem like a detriment to some, but Fidelity’s focus on investor value, long-term planning, and fair and transparent pricing makes the Boston-based giant one of the industry’s more likable brands.

Fidelity offers an extensive array of investment products, including hundreds of proprietary Mutual funds , index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and access to thousands of competitor fund investments. Its brokerage platform lets you trade international stocks, stock options and shares of initial public offerings. The firm also offers margin accounts and short selling capabilities for sophisticated investors. There is investing guidance available when you need it as well as 24-hour support. The best part? Lately, Fidelity has been on a mission to reduce the fees and expenses associated with being an investor.

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The bottom line: It’s not an overstatement to say Fidelity has something for every investor, with trading costs and account minimums that can’t be beat.

• Full-service broker with a strong brand reputation
• Extensive options for all investor types
• Low or no fees and commissions on most products

Who should consider Fidelity

With much to offer, Fidelity is a great fit for many investor types. Beginner investors will appreciate the amount of guidance Fidelity offers to help you set a goal, create an investment strategy, and understand the benefits and risks of different asset classes. Once you’re ready to invest, Fidelity offers Mutual funds with no minimum investment and no fees as well as no-fee brokerage accounts.

For index fund investors, Fidelity has four funds with 0% expense ratios and a roster of offerings that beat even low-fee giant Vanguard on price. Trading Stocks or ETFs on the regular? Fidelity has low-cost trades, access to tons of research and a great platform for active traders. One company study found that even Fidelity’s bond prices are more competitive, saving investors an average of $14.55 per bond.

Strengths of Fidelity

• Low-cost trading. Considering its size and infrastructure, you might not expect Fidelity to offer a competitive commission rate of $4.95 per trade as well as no-commission trades on select ETFs. E-Trade and TD Ameritrade will cost you $6.95 per trade. Charles Schwab also offers $4.95 trades, but Fidelity edges ahead with lower margin rates for traders with large debt balances.
• No-fee investing. The company made a bold move in 2018 by offering a handful of index funds with 0% expense ratios, no fees and no minimums.
• Mutual funds . Fidelity offers more than 200 proprietary Mutual funds , representing a diversity of asset classes and investment strategies. More than 100 of the firm’s funds currently have four- or five-star ratings (out of five) by Morningstar based on risk-adjusted returns. You also can access more than 10,000 competitor Mutual funds , along with tools to help you screen funds according to features, ratings, returns, expenses and more.
• Research and planning. When it comes to research, Fidelity hits the mark in multiple ways. As an asset manager, Fidelity’s global research is extensive. More than 400 analysts around the globe cover over 2,600 companies and generate tons of research. For the average investor, Fidelity offers information to help make stock trading decisions, build a fund portfolio and learn about IPOs. There are lots of tools and calculators for everyday financial planning as well.

Drawbacks of Fidelity

• High minimums for new investor promotions. Fidelity offers between 300 and 500 free trades for two years when you open a new account with a minimum of $50,000 to $100,000. To be fair, these minimums are lower than those required for similar promotions from competitors such as Charles Schwab, E-Trade and TD Ameritrade, but it’s a hurdle for the average new investor.
• Slow customer service. Overall, Fidelity gets fairly high marks for customer service, with its focus on investment guidance and education. But with a company this size, there are bound to be a few negative reviews. Fidelity’s tend to focus on the customer service and speed. Service representatives can be slow to respond to complaints, money transfers can take weeks, and many customer communications are sent through the mail, according to some customers’ comments.

Is Fidelity safe?

Fidelity uses sophisticated technology to safeguard client accounts and transactions. Accounts at Fidelity are encrypted with two-factor identification, requiring an extra step of replying to a text message when it comes to sensitive transactions. Voice recognition technology is used to authenticate your identity over the phone. Fidelity’s systems are under 24/7 surveillance, from security at local branches to monitoring transactions for identity theft and protecting Fidelity’s website with the industry’s strongest firewalls.

Fidelity accounts also are FDIC-insured for up to $250,000 and SIPC-insured for up to $500,000 per account.

Final thoughts

To be a successful investor, it helps to have the right tools. It also helps to understand exactly what you’re paying for so you don’t lose too much of your investment earnings to commissions and fees. Fidelity provides both to investors, which is meaningful for a company that’s been around for more than 70 years.