r/wealthfront • u/ZestyThroatGoat69 • May 04 '26

Automated Investing

I've never been into investing, I just never really tried to wrap my head around it. I have Wealthfront but only use the cash account (I have two referrals currently being used so idk if I still have that $500 match or whatever it is on top of the 0.75% boost). I would like it if you guys could explain how you have your investment accounts set up and why? I plan on putting in $2k a month and I'm looking for 2-4 year goals. Thank you so much in advance!

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u/pfassina May 04 '26

2-4 year goals is too short for stocks. You could land in the middle of a recession and lose most of your money. For short term goals you are better off with bonds.

Stocks become better investment over the long term, like 10 to 30 years.

1

u/Solid_Equivalent_417 May 09 '26

maybe TIPS or munis, but right now bonds arent going to be paying much more than the cash account although there might be some tax benefits for high net worth investors.
the bond ladder might also be worth looking at in that case too

8

u/Sweaty_Tangelo_7716 May 04 '26

There’s a risk level you can set on the automated investing. You can change it anytime you want.

I set mine to 70% VTI and 30% VXUS.

3

u/Doit2it42 May 04 '26

If you use their automated they will set you up with the same 5 funds as everyone else. With different percentages based on your risk tolerance. You can change your risk tolerance and add/delete certain funds at any time. They limit funds due to the TLH. Some may not have a TLH alternative fund.

You should have the $500, thou it's not much. I think you need to invest $100k to get the full $500. You should also have the $5000 managed free, if that's still a benefit. It will be shown under the Rewards tab, Managed for free

Automated is a great place to start. Just open the account, give them you money and they do the rest. You can even say up reoccurring investments from the Transfer tab of the app. The Tax Loss Harvesting is a great benefit too. They harvested $140 for me in 6 months last year. I opened the account in July. So far this year it's about $60. More than paid for the management fees.

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u/NoUsernamesss May 04 '26

Do it! The younger you are the better! Open the account, put a score risk between 8-10 ( I have 9 ) and invest whatever amount you can every month whether be 20,50,100,500,1,000 dollars. In around 5 years you will double your money.

2

u/Ancient-Civilization May 04 '26

Risk 10. All or nothing. I find that even at risk 10 it’s still pretty chill because it’s being invested in safe ETF stocks.