Horsetooth Falls & Rock - AllTrails Link
Gear: GoPro Hero3Gregory Canyon & Flagstaff Trail - AllTrails Link
Gear: GoPro Hero3 + GoPro QuickClip
Enchanted Mesa - AllTrails Link
Gear: GoPro Hero3 + Black Pro Chest Strap
2016/09/21
Time Lapses of Hikes
With this post, I'm going to start sharing all the time lapses of the hikes I've created. I'll start sharing more and more as time goes on, but I thought I'd start with the two I've done most recently. I hope you enjoy!
+ GoPro Head Strap
2016/08/31
Wealthfront vs Betterment - A Plebian's Perspecitve - Six Month Update
I'm well past due for an update on the progress of my accounts. Here's the update so far. I am really loving the set and forget attitude of not having to follow my accounts daily. I still check up on them weekly, but the impact of dips in the market seem lower. People complain about huge hits and it doesn't seem nearly as bad.
Wealthfront Progress
Betterment Progress
Thoughts
I'm extremely satisfied with the progress in both accounts. However, it's clear thus far that Wealthfront has performed better. I've managed to get one additional friend to sign up with Wealthfront (and contribute to their account), netting me an extra $5,000 of free advisory fees. So far, so good. I'll probably update again in another 3 months and keep a close watch on how things go.
2016/05/08
2016 PC Build
New Gaming Rig
After several years of not building a new computer, I've gone ahead and invested time in money into a quality computer. In the past, I've spent most my focus on the CPU and budgeted against the GPU. This time around, I did contribute greatly to the CPU, but I decided it was time to buy a almost-current generation GPU instead of a few generations behind in cost savings. Already I've seen it pay off playing Overwatch which has jumped from low HD graphics settings to ultra settings.
Rig Details
CPU: Intel i7-6700K
CPU Cooling: Corsair H50
MOBO: ASUS Z170-A
Keyboard: Razer BlackWidow Chroma
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Chroma
The Build
2016/05/06
Wealthfront vs Betterment - A Plebian's Perspecitve - Three Month Update
It's now been about 3 months since I started down the path of testing both Wealthfront and Betterment. We're two months into adding the recurring deposits of 100$/month into both accounts.
Notable Change
Originally, my betterment account was set at 70/30 with a less aggressive portfolio, where as my Wealthfront account was created with a 8.5 risk tolerance. With the assumption that 8.5 in Wealthfront equates to a 85/15 split on Betterment, I have modified so that they are both sitting at the same risk level for apples-to-apples comparison.
Wealthfront Progress
As you can see, progress is good. I attribute a good portion of this to the market recovery that has taken place over the last 2-3 months. I look forward to seeing how this progresses over the next 3, 6, 9, 12 months. I'm still hoping to get some referrals and I do plan to actually move my Roth IRA over from Scottrade to Wealthfront. I've been impressed enough to move more assets.
Betterment Progress
Again, you can see that Betterment has made solid progress over the last three months. It hasn't been quite as strong as Wealthfront, but still solid gains. I attribute this (at this point) to the difference in being allocated at 70/30 to start instead of 85/15. I don't know that that accounts for all differences, but I will let time determine the real outcomes.
3 Month Impressions
I'm 3 months deep now and my biggest pleasure is that I haven't had to do all that much. In fact, I've found myself checking the websites checking balances less and less. This is exactly what I was hoping for. I was trying to explain the differences between Wealthfront and Betterment to a friend who was interested in getting more information. Both are solid choices, and, as described in other places, it's clear that Wealthfront has lower advisory fees if you are holding below $100,000 and Betterment is lower once you break the $100,000 barrier. That being said. I would currently describe Wealthfront as the iPhone and Betterment as the Android. Both are full featured, both provide similar services and outcomes. Wealthfront has less to get you distracted and focuses on the purpose. I'll continue to post my reactions as time progresses.
Again, I would greatly appreciate your referral if you decide to use either service and find my experiences helpful.
2016/03/14
Wealthfront vs. Betterment - A Plebian's Perspective - First Experiences
First Experiences
I've now been enrolled in Betterment and Wealthfront for just over two weeks. Each account was funded with $7,500 and no additional investments were added at this time. Here's how we stand.
At this point, neither account has provided any tax loss harvesting. I'm not sure why, probably due to the short duration, so I'm interested to keep an eye on that. As you can see, both have had positive movement. Partially because the time of creation the market was in a dip, so I will keep an eye on this over time. Starting today, I will add $100 per account every month.
Again, I would greatly appreciate your referral if you decide to use either service.
Betterment
Wealthfront
At this point, neither account has provided any tax loss harvesting. I'm not sure why, probably due to the short duration, so I'm interested to keep an eye on that. As you can see, both have had positive movement. Partially because the time of creation the market was in a dip, so I will keep an eye on this over time. Starting today, I will add $100 per account every month.
Again, I would greatly appreciate your referral if you decide to use either service.
Wealthfront Referral | Betterment Referral
First Glance Pros and Cons
Betterment Pro
External Account Linking - I haven't explored this feature fully just yet, but it claims it can give better advice.
Wealthfront Pro
The Landing Page - I find this landing page to be the most appealing of the two sites. Right up front it contains everything I'm looking for in a clean format. Current Balance, Performance Chart and Holdings Distribution. It's to the point and provides value.
Betterment Con
Email Volume - I'm not sure if I have the ability quite yet to unsubscribe, but I feel like I'm getting a lot more communications from Betterment than I am from Wealthfront. A few of them I've read, but it's starting to get the the point of deleting without reading. I signed up for a "set and forget" robo-advisor for a reason, I don't want to be overwhelmed by communication.
Wealthfront Con
Quite Frankly, none. I find this service appealing. Right now, because I'm under the $15,000 threshold it will remain free. If, some day, I had $100,000+ invested, then the cost ratio of Betterment takes over, but right now Wealthfront is my clear favorite.
2016/03/04
Wealthfront vs. Betterment - A Plebian's Perspective - Signing Up
Signing Up for Wealthfront and Betterment
Day 1
I've now signed up for both Betterment and Wealthfront robo-advisor services. I setup both accounts to be a joint account with my wife. There were a few hurdles along the way, mostly with one company over another, I'll point those out as I outline the process.
Sign Up - Wealthfront
The process was incredibly easy. I signed up via a referral link to get the additional $5,000 in freely managed assets. (Feel free to use mine) Put in the essential information, set my risk tolerance and funded the account and I was on my way. In both cases, the thing that disappointed me most was the lack of "instant" funding. I use an ally.com account, but neither company supported instant account linking and fell back to the traditional wait-two-days method of placing and removing two deposits.
Biggest A+ on this sign up process was the joint account setup. I just had to add my wife critical details and we were on our way. Once the account was funded we hit the ground running. In my case, I went for a risk tolerance of 8.5.
This seems to translate to about 85% stock related investments and 15% fixed income investments. Seems pretty good, I look forward to seeing the performance over the next few months.
Sign Up - Betterment
Betterment's process for signing up was very similar to that of Wealthfront. They ask for the core details, have you set a goal (or goals) and have you fund your account. Again, no support for instant account linking or funding for ally.com which was a little disappointing. Again, I signed up, set my target/risk tolerance, and you'll see that the summary page view of this looks very similar.
Two complaints here, maybe I signed up wrong, but when I setup my betterment account, there was no option to fluently setup a joint account with my wife. I first had to setup an account individually, then invite my wife to create her own Betterment account, then setup a joint account together. After that, I had to re-link the bank account I had started to link. Not only that but the joint account didn't receive my sign up benefits of the free 90 days as they were "applied" to the individual account during the sign up process. This could stand to be cleaned up, but, after some conversations with customer service I was able to get to the end goal.
Two complaints here, maybe I signed up wrong, but when I setup my betterment account, there was no option to fluently setup a joint account with my wife. I first had to setup an account individually, then invite my wife to create her own Betterment account, then setup a joint account together. After that, I had to re-link the bank account I had started to link. Not only that but the joint account didn't receive my sign up benefits of the free 90 days as they were "applied" to the individual account during the sign up process. This could stand to be cleaned up, but, after some conversations with customer service I was able to get to the end goal.
Next Steps
Now that the accounts are funded, my intent is to start taking advantage of some of the additional features that each company provides. To start, I plan to setup a recurring deposit of 100$ a month into each account just to get the most out of the experiment. I'll post about performance, ease of use and other features.
2016/03/02
Wealthfront vs. Betterment - A Plebian's Perspective - Getting Started
I've recently left the trading industry which opens up my ability to try other providers other than my previous employer. In the past, I managed my portfolio by myself with great attentiveness and spending a good deal of time following my investments. I'm looking forward to exploring the robo-investor world of automatic management.
If you find my assessments helpful, here are the links to benefit us both in using Wealthfront and/or Betterment.
Wealthfront | Betterment
When you sign up for Wealthfront, we each receive $5,000 additionally free assets.
When you sign up for Betterment, we each receive free management time.
When you sign up for Wealthfront, we each receive $5,000 additionally free assets.
When you sign up for Betterment, we each receive free management time.
The Baseline
$7,500.00 in each account initially. Adding $100/month thereafter.
The Objective
Spend 1 year with each account, monitoring success of the accounts with similar distribution settings. Comparing and contrasting the experience with each system.
Head-to-Head Comparison
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|---|---|---|
| Account Highlights |
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| Automatic rebalancing | Yes | Yes |
| Tax-loss harvesting | Yes | Yes |
| Direct indexing | Yes, for balances above $100,000 | No |
| Fractional shares | No | Yes |
| Goal-based savings | No | Yes |
| Investments | ETFs | ETFs |
| Expense ratios | 0.12% average | 0.09% – 0.17% |
| Account minimum | $500 | $0 |
| Promotion | Manages the first $10,000 for free. | Get up to six months free, depending on initial deposit amount:
|
| Referral program | Invite a friend and Wealthfront will waive fees on an additional $5,000 for both of you. My link to help us both. |
Investors who get three people to sign up using their referral link get one year of free management. Plus, for each friend who joins, you both get 30 days for free. My link to help us both. |
| Management Fees |
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| Asset classes |
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