Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Reviews

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They tried Schwab Intelligent Portfolios in two IRAs and a taxable account on the basic tier, then cancelled via an in-kind transfer for a more growth-tilted mix, while praising Schwab customer service.

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They tried Schwab Intelligent Portfolios at its most aggressive allocation and found six months of performance lackluster, so they switched to a self-managed three fund portfolio with Schwab funds.

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They have used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for four years with solid gains and like that it does tax harvesting painlessly, but find it conservative and note their own mutual funds did better.

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They set up a moderately aggressive Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account a few years ago and still keep it. Performance seems reasonable but not stellar, though tax loss harvesting keeps realized gains minimal.

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They switched to Schwab Intelligent Portfolios a month ago after growing tired of market swings and report a modest gain so far, along with much lower stress.

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They moved from stressful day trading to a max-risk Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, are up about 10 percent in three months, accept the cash holding as savings-like, and say they quite like it.

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They closed their Schwab Intelligent Portfolio after a few months because their taxable account, IRA and target date fund matched or beat it with lower fees, and they prefer doing their own transfers.

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They have Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium mainly for unlimited CFP access, which they found worth it, but plan to leave and object to the large cash requirement, calling Schwab reasoning for it weak.

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They set their Schwab Intelligent Portfolio fairly aggressively and found it lost far less than the S&P 500 in a down quarter, calling it working as intended despite lagging in the prior year, and like its cash interest.

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They hold a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio and wish it kept less in cash, though they acknowledge the cash is placed in a money market type fund rather than sitting idle.

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They left Schwab Intelligent Portfolios after the premium tier ended, opening a new self-directed Roth and moving ETFs in kind by phone; the week-long process was smooth and professional with only a mild retention pitch.

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They have held IRA money in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium for years and found the yearly CFP review worthwhile, with minor but useful suggestions, even if the waits for appointments can be long.

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They opened a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio in 2019 aimed at a 2032 retirement and report solid average yearly returns after fees. They note the cash holding but simply set it and forget it.

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They opened IRA accounts for themselves and their young niece in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, find it easy to add funds, and review quarterly or twice a year, seeing set-and-forget as ideal for the niece.

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They had Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for five years and feel they missed a lot of gains versus target date funds. They found it stress free but saw little active management and uninvested cash dragging results.

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They have held a less aggressive Schwab Intelligent Portfolio for nine years with strong yearly returns and a smaller drop in 2022 than the S&P 500, and value the free rebalancing and peace of mind.

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They have used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for years in a taxable account as fire and forget with a moderate aggressive profile; it trails their other account slightly, but the cash sits in a decent money market.

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They hold a managed Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account alongside a self-managed Roth, find it ok with periodic rebalancing, and have no real complaints other than the cash drag.

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Started moving their Roth out of the robo-advisor today, regretting falling for the hype; it is up about 64% since inception versus roughly 150% they estimate low-cost index funds would have returned.

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Opened in December 2020 and rates it just ok, at about a 6.08% annualized return; answering as moderately aggressive gave returns not much better than their husband's more conservative setup, and self-picked accounts did better.

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Calls Schwab's robo account fine: it keeps a large portion in cash but pays decent interest and is free, saving the Betterment fee.

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They closed their Roth Schwab Intelligent Portfolio and rolled it into a self-directed Roth IRA because it underperformed their other accounts despite the most aggressive setting, and they disliked the large cash position.

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They opened a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio in 2024 at the highest risk after leaving other robo-advisors, could not convert those accounts and started over, but see it holding up well in dips and plan to grow it.

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Six years on the highest risk setting still feels overly conservative and forces an 8% cash allocation, delivering underwhelming returns.

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They tried Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Vanguard's robo on aggressive settings for two years, were not impressed with the returns versus an index fund, and plan to move the money.

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They used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for their Roth IRA for a year, found it too busy, and moved to a self-administered three fund portfolio; they would not use it again though others may like set-and-forget.

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They have had Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for about 12 to 13 years; it has done okay with returns below an S&P ETF and about 6 percent cash at the most aggressive setting, but they like the set-and-forget rebalancing.

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They used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios in their Roth for about four years; it rebalances on its own and is workable though clunky, but slightly trails the S&P 500 and holds a cash slice paying monthly interest.

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They used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios in an all-stock aggressive growth setup and noticed some holdings carried higher expense ratios, though the cost gap versus index funds was small and the robo suits moderately hands-on investors.

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They started using Schwab Intelligent Portfolios about 16 months ago with a tiny share of their portfolio, are up over 17 percent, and like the easy diversification into international and fixed income.

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They have been with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios since it launched and say it beats anything they built themselves, with automatic rebalancing and tax loss harvesting.

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They put roughly half of their non-IRA money in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios about five years ago as a test against their regular index account, and say it does quite well and handles taxes.

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They used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for years in taxable accounts and it performed wonderfully, but harvesting stopped working as gains grew, leaving a tax bomb that needed their Schwab advisor to turn it off.

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They have used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for about four years and like it, running several separate buckets each set to its own risk level.

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They hold one of their wife's IRAs in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and are satisfied with the performance, calling it set-and-forget and not world beating but not badly lagging the market.

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They hold a global Schwab Intelligent Portfolios allocation in their IRA at roughly 82 percent stock and report it is up about 60 percent over the last three years.

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They hold three Schwab Intelligent Portfolios (taxable with tax loss harvesting, IRA rollover and Roth), tested several robo brands against each other, and picked Schwab mainly for quick phone support.

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They rolled a 401K into a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio in 2020, report strong growth since, and like that it handles rebalancing; the cash sweep suits them as they take distributions, and they are happy with it.

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They are dissatisfied with how much cash their Schwab Intelligent Portfolio holds, and even after moving to a more risk-accepting strategy the cash share stayed high, leaving them unsure how they feel.

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They put Roth money for themselves and a spouse into very aggressive Schwab Intelligent Portfolios last fall and are surprisingly happy, with gains that beat most of their other investments over the period.

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They hold a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio alongside other ETFs and note that during the recent drop their Intelligent Portfolio is barely down while their other ETFs fell noticeably.

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They are very happy with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, accept the cash held, and like answering risk questions and making a monthly deposit while Schwab handles the investing, since they lack time to manage markets.

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They tried Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for their Roth IRA but left because it always kept 5 to 7 percent in cash, which they felt was too much and limited the money working in ETFs.

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Valued the unlimited access to a certified planner on the Premium tier and is considering moving after Schwab dropped it, also finding the portfolio's cash allocation less than ideal.

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They hold Schwab Intelligent Portfolios with about 11 percent of the account in cash, which currently earns around 3.7 percent interest, noting the cash share depends on portfolio settings.

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They found there is no way to unenroll a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Roth back to self-directed; support said the only route is to liquidate and transfer, and they dislike the high cash allocation that benefits Schwab.

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Started investing through the automated portfolio with small regular additions, and likes that it is automated while still learning about investing.

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Tried Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for almost a year and switched out because even the most aggressive portfolio lagged a broad market ETF.

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Holds Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for retirement; it underperforms the S&P slightly but is more diversified and loses less in bad markets.

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Used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for three years and wishes they had done it themselves earlier.

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They opened two Schwab Intelligent Portfolios on the free tier next to three regular brokerage accounts, and see it as a good option for diversification and tax loss harvesting, warning to check the bond allocation.

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They are quite happy with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: easy once set up, low-fee ETFs, decent cash interest and good tax loss harvesting. Cons they note are forced cash in an IRA, annoying risk questions and no margin.

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They run part of their money in a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account alongside a self-managed one, say it works fine with good reporting and active balancing, and rarely need to check on it.

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They use Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for a large chunk of their IRA on aggressive settings with international stocks. Their main complaint is the large cash balance, which they pushed down to about 6 percent.

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They have used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for about six years in a taxable account plus a Roth robo IRA, at the highest risk setting, and call it a great fit since they do not have to think about it.

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They hold a roughly 70/30 stock and fixed income mix in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, think the net expense beats other robo-advisors, and consider the cash portion fine, calling it a good product for its goals.

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They have used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios since their mid-twenties and call it a stress-free set-and-forget program, valuing tax loss harvesting in down years and the interest on the required cash.

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They are happy using Schwab Intelligent Portfolios in a taxable account with a moderately conservative mix, and like that tax loss harvesting and auto rebalancing remove manual work.

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They use Schwab Intelligent Portfolios with about half in stocks and say it is fine, tracking the market closely for no effort, and later reaffirm it works well for a casual investor.

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They put experimental money into a risk-leaning Schwab Intelligent Portfolio in late 2023 and gained, but noticeably less than a plain S&P 500 fund would have over the same stretch.

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Closed a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account into a brokerage account and found the cost basis data was not carried over, leaving them waiting to plan tax moves.

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They tried a small amount in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios after their broker pushed it, saw it do nothing, and disliked that they cannot control the account or move money out without asking permission.

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They had their wife in a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, found its 2024 return disappointing, and moved it to a regular IRA, calling the product a ripoff despite liking Schwab and its customer service.

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They have a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account and are thinking of dropping it as they move toward dividend income, since adjusting the portfolio toward that goal gave underwhelming performance.

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They ran Schwab Intelligent Portfolios on an aggressive setting and it lagged far behind other accounts they left alone, so they moved everything into an index fund and are doing better.

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They hold Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and call the cash drag real, finding the 6 to 14 percent cash allocation excessive, but are otherwise happy with overall performance.

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They run three Schwab Intelligent Portfolios accounts (Roth, rollover 401k and taxable with tax loss harvesting), like seeing it rebalance itself automatically, and find the underlying fund expense ratios low.

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They put a rollover IRA into Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and found it generated very little compared with the portfolio they managed themselves, advising others not to do it.

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They used Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for almost two years and found it underperformed their own personal portfolio, later conceding it may simply not be for them.

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They gave Schwab Intelligent Portfolios about five years and call it awful, replying bluntly to a question about whether the robo-advisor is any good.

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In a six-way test of platforms with real money, cash drag stood out quickly in a head-to-head comparison and it was the first account to be dropped.

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They are happy with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and tip that setting the retirement horizon far out, such as 50 years, changes how the portfolio rebalances the cash amount.

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They opened a Schwab Intelligent Portfolio in 2018 at the riskiest profile and are dissatisfied with how far it trailed the S&P 500 over seven years. They later closed it and rolled positions into a brokerage account.

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They closed their Schwab Intelligent Portfolio because their other ETF investments were clearly outperforming that account, and advise others in the same position to close it and move on.

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They signed up for a small Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account and say their experience with it so far has been fine, with no complaints to report yet.

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They hold Schwab Intelligent Portfolios at the most aggressive setting; it beat the S&P 500 in the first year but has trailed it since, so they stopped contributing while keeping it for diversification.

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They recommend Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and say that when they and their husband cannot decide what to buy, they just put the money in and let it work.

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They use the Global Aggressive Growth portfolio in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios with a monthly auto deposit, are doing well so far, and enjoy not having to think about rebalancing.

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They have used the aggressive US-focused Schwab Intelligent Portfolios for over four years with regular monthly contributions and recommend it for long term investors wanting a mix of passive and fundamental index ETFs.

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They keep a sizable portion in a fairly aggressive Schwab Intelligent Portfolio, and report a solid overall return so far.