Empower Personal Strategy Review 2026: Pros, Cons and How It Compares
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Our Take
4.0
Reviewed in: Oct. 2025
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2025
Empower Personal Strategy has fees that are on the higher end. All clients have access to a team of financial advisors; those with at least $250,000 invested get two dedicated financial advisors.
Fees
0.49%-0.89%
management fee
Account minimum
$100,000
Fees
0.49%-0.89%
management fee
Account minimum
$100,000
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Show details
Pros & Cons
Individual securities available.
Comprehensive investment management tools.
Dedicated financial advisors for balances $250,000 or more.
Advanced tax optimization strategy.
$100,000 account minimum.
High management fee.
Compare to Similar Brokers
0.49%-0.89%
$100,000
None
$2,600 and up per year
$0
None
Varies by Advisor (free initial consultation)
$150,000
3-Month Satisfaction Guarantee
NerdWallet doesn't invest its money with this provider, but they are our referral partner – so we get paid only if you click through and take a qualifying action (such as open an account with or provide your contact information to the provider). Most importantly, our reviews and ratings are objective and are never impacted by our partnerships. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
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Full Review
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In our review of Empower Personal Strategy
- Where Empower Personal Strategy shines
- Where Empower Personal Strategy falls short
- Who should choose Empower Personal Strategy?
- What the Nerds think 🤓
- Empower Personal Strategy at a glance
- What to know about Empower Personal Strategy's account minimum and fees
- Empower Personal Strategy's advisor access
- Empower Personal Strategy's financial planning services
- Other key Empower Personal Strategy features
- Good to know about Empower Personal Strategy
- Is Empower Personal Strategy right for you?
Advisor access: Empower Personal Strategy gives you access to either a team of advisors or two dedicated advisors depending on your account balance. All advisors are fiduciaries, and certified financial planners (CFPs) are available upon request.
Where Empower Personal Strategy falls short
High minimums: Empower requires new clients to have at least $100,000 in assets under management. This is high considering the minimal financial planning services the firm offers to investors at that level. You could get similar service for a cheaper fee elsewhere.
Tax and estate planning help: Tax planning is only available to wealth management clients with at least $250,000 and estate planning is only available to private clients with at least $1 million.
Alternatives to consider:
For low minimums and fees: Vanguard Personal Advisor
For tax planning and estate guidance: Facet
Who should choose Empower Personal Strategy?
High-net-worth investors: If you meet Empower Personal Strategy's fairly steep minimum, and don't mind the somewhat-high management fee, you can get a lot out of your money with Empower, including CFP access upon request and very cost-efficient portfolio management.
People with estate and tax planning needs: Empower Personal Strategy is one of the few financial planning services we review that offers estate planning services and personalized tax help — if you meet the account minimums.
What the Nerds think 🤓
Arielle O'Shea, lead investing editor"Empower Personal Strategy is the result of Empower's acquisition of Personal Capital, one of the first companies to combine robo-advisor technology with human financial advisors.
"Empower Personal Strategy has stayed true to its roots — the service monitors your investment portfolio with computer algorithms, and offers tax-loss harvesting and automatically rebalancing. But investors also get access to financial advisors, making Empower a full-service alternative to your standard robo-advisor. The fees and account minimum reflect that — and there are similar services that charge less or require a small minimum investment — but we think Empower is worth a look if you're in or near retirement or need estate planning expertise."
Empower Personal Strategy at a glance
Costs and minimums | To compare fees across pricing models, this category rates all providers based on what a client actually pays at two portfolio benchmarks: $250,000 and $1 million in assets under management. Flat fees are converted into an effective AUM percentage using the fee for their entry-level tier. For firms that charge AUM-based fees on a tiered schedule, we calculate a blended rate across the tiers that apply at each benchmark. Empower's client minimum is $100,000. Fees are based on assets under management and the client's needs. For each tier, the specified fee rate is applied only to the portion of the client’s assets that falls within that tier: First $1 million: 0.89%. Up to $3 million: 0.79%. Next $2 million ($3 million to $5 million): 0.69%. Next $5 million ($5 million to $10 million): 0.59%. Amount over $10 million: 0.49%. |
Advisor expertise | Advisors aren't always certified financial planners, but CFPs are available upon request. Clients also have access to financial planning specialists, tax, estate, insurance, Social Security and equity compensation specialists, plus dedicated operations teams. |
Scope of advice offered | Clients with $100,000 to $250,000 in investment assets receive advice and retirement planning help, as well as tools for tax optimization, rebalancing, allocation and education planning. Clients with $250,000 to $1 million get dedicated advice, access to specialists and a customized portfolio. Those with over $1 million get one-on-one Private Client status, with customized investment plans, two dedicated advisors, in-depth tax specialists, legacy and estate planning, and access to private equity and banking options. Tax planning is only available to wealth management clients ($250K,000+ in assets under management). |
Advisor accessibility | Clients with $100,000 up to $250,000 work with an advisory team. Those with $250,000 or more have two dedicated advisors. All advisors are held to the fiduciary standard. Clients are given a direct phone line to their advisors. |
Transparency | This category rates whether the firm's fee structure reflects a commitment to avoiding conflicts of interest and acting in the client's best interest, as well as how accessible the advisor's fees are, with the highest rating awarded to advisors who clearly list their full fee structure on their website in addition to their ADV filing. Empower is a fee-only RIA. |
Portfolio construction | The firm says its core asset allocation approach is tailored to each client’s retirement plan. Portfolios are primarily stocks, ETFs and fixed income but may also include real estate and commodities. Clients with at least $1 million can get into a diversified private equity fund. Crypto is available on a customized basis through ETFs. Empower also offers ESG portfolios. |
What to know about Empower Personal Strategy's account minimum and fees
Empower Personal Strategy has a $100,000 minimum, which feels mismatched with the services it offers to clients with that level of assets. Similar services typically have lower minimums. Whereas financial advisors we review that set higher minimums tend to offer more comprehensive services, similar to what Empower offers to clients with at least $250,000 in AUM.
Empower Personal Strategy investors pay 0.89% of their assets managed on their first $1 million. Managing your investments with a traditional financial advisor can cost significantly more than working with Empower; the average advisor charges more than 1% of assets managed. At higher balances with its private client service, Empower drops its fee further, ranging from 0.79% on your first $3 million to as low as 0.49% for over $10 million.
Empower Personal Strategy’s annual fee is all-inclusive, meaning there is no setup or onboarding fee.
Like with most financial advisors, clients have to pay the expense ratios of the exchange-traded funds included in the portfolio in addition to the management fee. At Empower those fees are fairly low, averaging only 0.07%. These fees are charged by the investment funds, not Empower.
Empower Personal Strategy's advisor access
Clients with $100,000 up to $250,000 invested have access to a team of advisors. These advisors are available via phone, email or video chat.
Those with balances of $250,000 or more get access to two dedicated financial advisors who can answer questions about a wide range of issues, including retirement planning, estate planning, taxes and home financing.
Advisors aren't always certified financial planners, but CFPs are available upon request. All clients have a direct phone number for their assigned advisor.
Empower Personal Strategy's financial planning services
Empower offers a variety of comprehensive tools, including an investment checkup, a 401(k) fee analyzer and a spending tracker. The Empower dashboard lets you view your entire financial picture in one place.
Empower Personal Strategy also offers estate planning services and personalized tax help for accounts with more than $1 million in assets.
Other key Empower Personal Strategy features
Portfolio construction
Clients with $100,000 to $250,000 in assets are invested in a portfolio of ETFs that carry that weighted average expense ratio of 0.06% and are designed to be tax-efficient.
Clients with at least $250,000 in assets receive all the benefits above, as well as the ability to customize a portfolio that includes individual stocks and ETFs.
Empower Personal Strategy's approach takes a holistic view of a client's financial picture — not just the assets it manages. Empower also has a socially responsible strategy, which screens U.S. equities based on environmental, social and governance factors.
Accounts supported
Empower Personal Strategy manages nonretirement accounts, Roth, traditional, rollover and SEP IRAs and trusts. Empower will advise on health savings account (HSA) and 529 plan allocations, but does not directly manage those accounts.
Some financial advisors allow you to keep your money at any major brokerage, which can save you money if your past or future broker charges any kind of transfer fees. Empower only manages money at its custodian, Pershing LLC. However, Empower Personal Strategy can provide investment reviews and recommendations for 401(k) and IRA accounts and can also directly manage active 401(k) plans.
Customer support
Customer service is available through the app and by phone Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mountain time. Questions can be submitted after hours through the Dashboard or support portal. Some of Empower's competitors offer more comprehensive customer support, such as 24/7 phone support, holiday hours or video chat support.
Tax strategy
Empower Personal Strategy utilizes asset location (putting investments into the most tax-efficient accounts), tax-loss harvesting (a strategy where you sell investments at a loss to offset capital gains tax) and tax efficiency (investing with stocks and ETFs over mutual funds) to help you minimize your tax bill. Bespoke tax planning services are available to accounts with at least $1 million in assets.
Good to know about Empower Personal Strategy
Higher minimums for many services
Even if you meet Empower Personal Strategy's $100,000 account minimum, it's worth double checking if you meet the minimums for the specific services you want. For example:
$200,000 minimum for a portfolio that includes both ETFs and individual stocks.
$250,000 minimum for dedicated advisors (lower balances get access to a team of advisors).
$1 million minimum for estate planning, personalized tax planning and lower management fees.
$10 million minimum for the lowest management fee (0.49%).
Is Empower Personal Strategy right for you?
Empower Personal Strategy should appeal to high-net-worth investors who can deposit enough with the service to gain access to dedicated financial advisors and the services you'd get from working with a traditional human advisor.
Investors who fall in that $100,000 up to $250,000 range, which only offers access to a team of financial advisors and minimal financial planning services, can find a similar level of service elsewhere for less.
» Want to compare more options? View our picks for the best financial advisors