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Wealthramp
Wealthramp
Wealthramp
About Wealthramp
The platform solely offers fiduciary advisors that specialize in a range of wealth-building and investing topics, such as retirement planning, college planning, portfolio management, and much more. After taking a matchmaking survey, Wealthramp will pair you up with an advisor that best fits your financial goals. The company also offers a wealth of educational resources on multiple topics pertaining to financial planning and retirement planning.
But you should look elsewhere, such as at some of the best online brokerages, if you’d rather invest on your own or open up an automated investing account.
You can’t invest through Wealthramp, but it’s a great resource if you’re ready to work with a financial advisor. So it’s not a good fit for folks looking to open a new brokerage account or start investing in assets like stocks, bonds, and ETFs.
Wealthramp: Overall Rating
Wealthramp Pros and Cons
Wealthramp solely provides clients with fee-only fiduciary advisors, which are thoroughly vetted through Wealthramp’s screening process. Clients can also be matched with an advisor that best meets their needs through the platform’s free financial advisor matchmaking service.
Fiduciary advisors are legally obligated to be transparent about the fees they charge for their services. However, you can’t access information about each advisor’s fees unless you schedule a consultation with them. If you have a certain range in mind for advisor fees, you could get blindsided if one of your matches charges a great deal above that desired amount.
Wealthramp also doesn’t have a standard approach among its advisors. So even though the platform doesn’t require a minimum investment to use the service, an individual advisor may still require one. The platform also doesn’t offer many customer support options, only the ability to send an email.
Is Wealthramp Trustworthy?
Personal Finance Insider considers an investment platform’s Better Business Bureau profile when evaluating its overall ethics and trustworthiness. However, Wealthramp doesn’t have a Better Business Bureau profile at this time.
Wealthramp isn’t part of any public lawsuits or controversies.
How to Use Wealthramp
The Wealthramp Process
As mentioned above, Wealthramp best suits individuals who want to work with a financial advisor. The financial advisor/investment firm arena is more expensive than DIY trading or robo-advice, though, so be prepared to pay higher fees for an advisor.
Here’s how the Wealthramp process works:
- Complete a questionnaire about your goals and preferences: Wealthramp will collect information about things like your financial goals, zip code, and advisor preferences when helping you find the right fit.
- Review the list of advisor matches Wealthramp provides: Once the platform has found matches (it’ll offer up to three) that align with your goals, you’ll then be able to sift through those results to determine whether you’d like to move forward.
- Decide whether to move forward with a financial advisor: You’re not obligated to pick the advisors Wealthramp finds. You can keep looking if you don’t find a good match. However, if you do like one (or all) of the advisors, you can schedule a first meeting for free to get a better sense of what that professional’s services would entail.
Advisor Services
Wealthramp’s financial advisors consist solely of fee-only fiduciary advisors who specialize in various areas of wealth planning. Fiduciary advisors are financial advisors that are legally obligated to put the interest of their clients first.
Wealthramp financial advisors who specialize in general financial planning offer advice on:
- General investing and diversification
- Portfolio management
- Retirement planning
- Tax-focused financial planning
Financial advisors that specialize in family planning offer:
- Estate and legacy planning
- College education planning
- Special needs planning
- LGBTQ+ and couples planning
- Divorce planning
- Loss of spouse
- Windfall inheritance
- Holistic family planning
You can also get advice on crypto investing, trustee services, employee stock options, ESG investing, and more.
Since Wealthramp’s advisors are fee-only, you won’t pay commission fees. Instead, advisors charge a set amount for services based on the assets under management (AUM). Moreover, fiduciary advisors must be transparent about any and all fees you’ll be charged.
As for its vetting process, the platform first screens its advisor applicant pool to remove investment brokers and insurance sales agents. It then reviews the regulatory records and registrations of both the advisor candidate and that individual’s investment firm. After this step, Wealthramp looks into the candidate’s work history and reviews their fees and expenses.
Wealthramp Fees
Wealthramp seems to do a great job with vetting financial advisors and making sure their fees are “reasonable,” but it doesn’t really provide a clear picture of what reasonable fees look like, nor does it outline each advisor’s fees. If you’re new to working with an advisor, or you don’t have a grasp on what good investment advisory fees would look like for you, this could become a potential hurdle.
What we do know is that the Wealthramp platform is free to use. You’ll only start start paying fees after getting set up with a financial advisor.
Wealthramp Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You won’t pay a fee for using its platform; Wealthramp only earns compensation when you become a client of an advisor. The advisor then pays Wealthramp a portion of its earnings.
Wealthramp’s advisor base solely contains fee-only, fiduciary advisors. Fee-only advisors’ sole form of compensation comes from the fees their clients pay. These advisors may charge fees as a percentage of client assets under management, or they’ll charge flat fees.
Yes. Wealthramp is an SEC-registered platform. Both Wealthramp and the advisors it selects must act as a fiduciary, placing its clients’ interests above its own.
Methodology: How We Reviewed Wealthramp
Wealthramp is a referral service that we reviewed using Personal Finance Insider’s rating methodology for investing platforms to examine available assets, accounts, pricing, and overall customer experience. Investing platforms are given a rating between 0 to 5.
Platforms generally offer multiple assets, trading tools, fees, and other resources. Usually, robo-advisors are best suited for beginners or passive investors. Wealthramp was evaluated with a focus on how it performed in each category.
How Wealthramp Compares
Wealthramp vs. Merrill Advisor Match
The processes for both Wealthramp and Merrill Lynch’s advisor-matching service, Merrill Advisor Match, are quite similar. Both connect you to advisors after you’ve specified things like your investing goals, location, and preferred methods of communication.
However, you can use Merrill Advisor Match even if you don’t have an account set up with Merrill. After you complete its questionnaire, it’ll direct you to advisor results (primarily Merrill Lynch Wealth Management advisors) that match your preferences. At that point, you can decide who you’d like to work with, and you’ll have to fill out a brief contact form. Plus, you’ll generally be able to choose from several advisors.
Wealthramp, on the other hand, requires you to set up an account to use its service.
Wealthramp vs. Advice Chaser
With both Wealthramp and Advice Chaser, you’ll answer questions about your investing preferences, then each company will match you with an advisor that can help you meet those specific goals. Plus, you’ll pay nothing to use either service.
The difference is that Advice Chaser offers financial advisor matching services for both individuals and businesses. Wealthramp mainly focuses on individuals. Unlike Wealthramp’s exclusively offers fee-only fiduciary advisors, Advice Chaser’s financial advisors are not all fiduciaries and have varying payment methods. Some advisors charge commissions while others may charge an annual flat fee.
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