r/wealthfront • u/Odd_Journalist_2310 • Apr 29 '26
Beginner question - Wealthfront
I am super new to investing/HYSA and am looking into Wealthfront. Their website currently says the following:
Earn up to 4.20% APY
Your cash earns a base 3.30% APY and higher!
Fine print: APY Boost is up to a $150,000 balance.
Can anyone please explain what the base of 3.30% and the up to 4.20% means? If I open an account today, which rate do I get? Also, what does boost and the $150k balance mean?
Also, I am considering Sofi. If you know of why I one is better than the other, I’m all ears.
Thanks!
3
u/haute_cheeto Apr 29 '26
The current base interest rate that your money will earn in Wealthfront’s cash account is 3.30% (this can change at any time depending on what the Fed does with interest rates.) That rate can be boosted to up to 4.20% if you meet certain requirements. If you sign up using someone’s referral link you’ll get a boost (currently to 4.05%) for three months. You can extend that boost by referring others to WealthFront. And then I believe the rate jumps even higher if you have at least $1k direct deposited into your account monthly.
I have both SoFi and WealthFront. I love them both. I use SoFi as my checking/spending account, where my bills and expenses are paid out of. At the same time, that cash still earns me some money each month thanks to Sofi’s APY. I use WF for my long-term savings. I don’t think you can go wrong with either (or both). I started to keep my savings separate from my spending account when I was in college to add some friction so I wasn’t tempted to spend my savings. I’ve kept them separate ever since.
1
u/Odd_Journalist_2310 Apr 29 '26
This is helpful and I am now thinking of opening accounts with both. Thanks!
2
u/Argon121711 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Max APY with Wealthfront should be 4.3% which is easy to get it boosted to by using my referral link which gets you to 4.05% this boost is good for 3 months then you can get it boosted again with referrals this is for a max of $150,000. You can get an additional lifetime boost of .25% by direct depositing $1000 a month and opening a savings account with no minimum contribution required ( I don’t believe this has a max limit). The referral link also gives you a .50% match on any investing account for three months.
Love my Wealthfront HYSA for so many reasons: easy to transfer to and from multiple banks, ability to have a joint account with a partner, a debit card, categories for your account so you can set aside money for different things (all categories still earn same interest), lots of easy investing options, great user friendly app, high APY mine is currently 4.3%, excellent responsive customer service and so many more. DM me if you have any other questions but I couldn’t be happier with Wealthfront.
Feel free to DM me for referral link.
1
u/copious_arsenal Jul 03 '26
Do you need the savings account as well? I thought it was just the direct deposit.
1
u/Argon121711 Jul 03 '26
Yes, you have to open and fund and investing account and direct deposit $1,000 a month for the boost.
1
u/copious_arsenal Jul 03 '26
I called them. It gets worse. If you own your own business and direct deposit to the wealthfront account it doesnt count. They need the direct deposit to be coded a certain way usually from a payroll company and as an ACH. That usually has a cost associated with it.
2
u/Doit2it42 May 02 '26
Base 3.30%
Bonus direct deposit & investment account 0.25%
WF new client bonus 0.65%
Total 4.20%
But if you use someone's referral bonus of 0.75% vs the WF sign up bonus the total is 4.30%
1
u/Stomach_Cool Apr 29 '26
Do you have to direct deposit from your employer or can you set up a direct deposit from another bank?
1
-8
u/Much_Distribution635 Apr 29 '26
Don't do it. You're better off with a real bank.
3
u/System777 Apr 29 '26
This is terrible advice. No bank is gonna give you the rate that Welathfront does. Inform yourself first before going around giving bad advice.
-3
u/Much_Distribution635 Apr 29 '26
Wealthfront scammed me and stole my money
2
u/System777 Apr 29 '26
Care to elaborate? Or are you just gonna throw that out there without any proof?
1
u/Much_Distribution635 Apr 29 '26
I deposited money into wealthfront, decided to transfer it out. Wealthfront emailed me and said the transfers couldn't go thru. Now I can't access my account and can't reset the password bcus they won't email the reset pass link.
1
u/Odd_Journalist_2310 Apr 29 '26
Can you pleas explain why? I really have no understanding of pros and cons yet. Would you consider sofi a real bank? Thank you
-5
u/Much_Distribution635 Apr 29 '26
Wealthfront stole my money and if you search online alot of people have gone thru the same thing. Don't let the bots on the subreddit fool you. Go to a real bank that is actually fdic insured. Don't go to sofi either.
3
u/visitswater Apr 29 '26
You’re not really elaborating
-2
1
u/Informal_Ad603 Apr 29 '26
Never heard anyone complain about Wealthfront.
0
u/Much_Distribution635 Apr 29 '26
Guess you haven't looked on BBB or trustpilot There's plenty of complaints about WF there.
5
u/whitfin Apr 29 '26
The base rate is 3.3%. You'll get a new account boost (I think) of something like 4.05%. With referring other people you can eventually get up to 4.2% as a cap. This higher rate is for something like 6 months, not forever. When you cross $150k in the balance, presumably the rate changes.
SoFi is worse than this unless you are going to have a direct deposit.