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We are excited to share an important enhancement to your investment experience!
We are consistently reviewing our service offering and evaluating how we deliver financial planning and investment management services to clients. Part of this review involves looking at technology solutions that might improve your experience and enhance our ability to serve you more effectively.
After much research and deliberation, we’re excited to share that we partnered with Betterment, a custodial & technology platform, and we will soon begin transitioning your funds from Schwab to our new platform with Betterment.
This technology strengthens how we execute on your behalf.
This platform will help us provide you:
• More efficient portfolio management (i.e. trading)
• Improved tax optimization capabilities
• A more streamlined and intuitive client experience
• Greater integration between your investment strategy and your overall financial plan
This enhancement allows us to deliver a more modern, data driven approach while maintaining personalized advice and service.
As technology changes over time, our focus remains the same: providing detailed and customized advice tailored to you!
Please review this introductory video, next steps and FAQs below. If you have any questions at all, please reach out!
Next Steps
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Between February 25 - 27, you’ll receive an email from Betterment to create a login and approve the opening of your accounts (i.e. IRA, Roth IRA, Brokerage, High Yield Cash Account, etc.).
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For clients with these specialized account types, you will receive a secondary email after the first initial account opening email to open your Trust and/or Inherited IRA account.
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After your accounts at Betterment are opened, you will receive an email to initiate the transfer of your account from Schwab to Betterment.
You will receive a separate email for each account that needs transferred. For example, if you have 3 accounts at Schwab with an account balance, you will receive 3 emails from Betterment to approve to start the transfer process.
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The holdings in your Schwab accounts will transfer in-kind (as is) from Schwab to Betterment. This process typically takes 5-7 business days to complete.
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For those of you making deposits and/or withdrawals from your accounts, Blend Wealth will work with you to easily reconnect your bank account. This process is easy and only takes about 5 minutes to setup.
To connect your bank account to Betterment go to: Settings > Funding Accounts > Connect a funding account.
FAQs
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Betterment is a modern custodian and technology platform that provides Blend Wealth with state of the art portfolio management and tax optimization all within an enhanced digital experience to better serve you!
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A custodian is the financial institution that holds your investment accounts and safeguards your assets. They execute trades, provide statements and ensure regulatory protection of your funds.
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Both firms are custodians that hold and safeguard your invesetments.
Schwab has great brand reconition and support, however due to their size, Schwab’s techology and inovation have fallen behind where the market is with no signs of catching up.
Betterment is both a custodian and a technology platform seemlessly integrated and built around tax optimization and streamlined portfolio management, which allows us to trade with more efficiently and greater precision.
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We are continuously evaluating technology to better serve our clients. For the past year we have used and evaluated Betterment. Their platform allows us to deliver more efficient portfolio management, stronger tax optimization and a more integrated planning experience.
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There is no fee to you for having your accounts at Betterment.
While there is a fee for all the technology Blend Wealth utilizes to manage and trade both Schwab and Betterment accounts, this fee is paid directly by Blend Wealth.
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Betterment’s modern technology provides:
A modern client experience via the web or mobile app
Simplified navigation
Enhanced advisor tools for tax optimization and streamlined portfolio management (i.e. trading)
High Yield savings account with FDIC insurance up to $4M and no fees or minimums.
Optional online checking account with no ATM or foreign transaction fees.
For business owners, the ability sponsor an integration 401(k) plan for yourself and your employees.
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Pairing your spouse's Betterment account with yours provides a combined view of shared goals and projections.
You can pair your spouse’s Betterment account the same as you would connect any other external account:
Ask your spouse to log in to their Betterment account and navigate to “Settings” > “Security” (shortcut)
Under “App Passwords,” click “Generate a new password”
Now, log in to your own Betterment account and navigate to “Settings” > “Connected accounts” (shortcut)
Click the blue “Connect new” button
Follow the prompts and search for “Betterment” in the “Find institution” search bar
Enter the email address and newly-generated app password associated with your spouse’s Betterment account
Click “Submit”
You now have view-only access to your spouse’s Betterment account balance. You can hide duplicate account balances, such as joint accounts, by navigating to Settings > Connected accounts > Edit > Hide.
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No. Aside from electronically approving the account opening and transfer emails, Betterment handles the entire transition for you.
Once the transfers are complete, Blend Wealth will work with you to connect your bank account so you can make future deposits/withdrawals.
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If you currently utlize one of Schwab’s money market funds for your emergency fund, your savings will be transfered to Betterment’s Cash Reserve Account which has similar interest rates to Schwab, plus is FDIC insured.
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No!
IRA Accounts: We will transfer all IRA accounts using the direct trustee-to-trustee method, ensuring no penalties or taxes during the switch.
Taxable Accounts: Your existing accounts will be moved in-kind, so there will not be any tax implications assoicated with the account transfer itself.
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Betterment uses bank level encryption, multi-factor authentication, and strict security protocols to protect your personal and financial information.
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All custodians, including both Schwab and Betterment, are required to keep client accounts and investments separate from the company. This means your ETFs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, cash, etc. are not the property of the custodian. If a custodian fails, the creditors of that custodian cannot claim your accounts.
If any U.S. custodian were to fail, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), an organization created by federal law in 1970, steps in to ensure the transfer of your accounts to another custodian.
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We welcome any questions you may have! You are free to email Tim at tim@blendwealth.com or use the link below to schedule a meeting.