Fidelity Go Review 2021: Pros, Cons and How It Compares
Fidelity Go’s fees and $0 account minimum are appealing, but investors with taxable accounts won’t get tax-loss harvesting.
Our Take
4.0
The bottom line: Fidelity Go is a strong, low-cost choice for investors who want an all-digital robo-advisor. The service is free for balances below $10,000.
Full Review

Fidelity Go
Fees
Up to 0.35%
management fee
Account Minimum
$0
Promotion
None
no promotion available at this time
Pros & Cons
Pros
Free management on balances under $10,000.
No investment-expense ratios.
Human portfolio oversight.
Integration with other Fidelity accounts.
Cons
No tax-optimization assistance.
Compare to Similar Brokers
Fees0.25% management fee | Fees0.25% management fee | Fees0% management fee |
Account Minimum$0 | Account Minimum$500 | Account Minimum$0 |
PromotionUp to 1 year of free management with a qualifying deposit | Promotion$5,000 amount of assets managed for free | PromotionFree career counseling plus loan discounts with qualifying deposit |
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Full Review
Fidelity Go, the robo-advisor from online broker Fidelity Investments, brings a different pricing model to the market. The platform charges no management fee for accounts with balances of less than $10,000, and a flat $3 monthly fee for accounts with balances between $10,000 and $49,999. Users with higher account balances are charged the all-in fee of 0.35% with no added investment expenses.
Fidelity Go uses its own Fidelity Flex mutual funds to build portfolios that a human investment management team monitors and rebalances. Investors are not charged expense ratios by those funds. The service has a $0 minimum for opening an account, but requires $10 to begin investing.
Fidelity Go is best for:
Current Fidelity customers.
Hands-off investors.
Low-cost investment management.
Human portfolio oversight.
Where Fidelity Go shines
Low costs
Account minimum | $0 to open, $10 to start investing. |
Account management fee | Fidelity Go offers a tiered system based on account balance:
|
Investment expense ratios | 0% expense ratios, included in management fee. |
Account fees (annual, transfer, closing) | None. |
Takeaway: Fidelity Go's fee structure is clear: It charges no fees for accounts below $10,000; a flat monthly fee of $3 for account balances between $10,000 and $49,999; and a 0.35% management fee, with no additional investment expenses, for accounts $50,000 and higher. And portfolios use Fidelity Flex funds, which cover seven asset classes and are generally well-diversified.
All of this means you know exactly what you’re paying when you sign up for this service — and in many cases, the cost is lower than you'd pay at other robo-advisors when you consider both management fees and fund expenses.
Portfolio mix and oversight
Portfolio mix |
|
Automatic rebalancing | Free on all accounts. Accounts monitored daily and rebalanced by investment managers as needed rather than automatically. |
Takeaway: It’s common among broker-launched online advisors to pair computer algorithms with dedicated financial advisors. Fidelity Go takes a different approach: The day‐to‐day investment and trading decisions for portfolios are handled by a team of humans from Strategic Advisors, a registered investment advisor and Fidelity company. The advisors also rebalance portfolios when a customer’s portfolio moves outside of the asset allocation or risk tolerance preferences they specified.
That oversight makes Fidelity Go a good choice for those who are reluctant to hand off all of the control to a robot — though it’s worth noting that those advisors aren’t there to answer your phone calls. Fidelity Go has live chat and phone support staffed by customer service representatives, but they are there to answer account questions, not offer financial planning guidance.
Like other advisors, Fidelity Go uses a questionnaire — designed to gauge your risk tolerance and financial goals — and computer algorithms to match investors to a portfolio. We especially like that without signing up or sharing any personal information, users can take that questionnaire and view a portfolio recommendation and sample investments.
Fidelity integration
Fidelity Go customers are integrated in the company's existing retail managed business. Customers who already have an IRA or taxable account with Fidelity can easily take advantage of the company's robo offering. Fidelity Go is not available for 401(k)s held at the company, but you can roll over your old 401(k) into a Fidelity Go account.
Online advisory clients also get access to Fidelity’s financial planning tools and apps, as well as the company’s customer support and educational resources, both of which are strong. And investors can fund their accounts with the 2% cash-back rewards earned from the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature card.
Higher interest rate on cash
Bank account/cash management account option | Fidelity Investments offers a cash management account. Also, Fidelity automatically directs investors' cash in brokerage and retirement accounts into the highest earning cash sweep choice, typically a government money market fund, so customers can benefit from higher rates. |
Takeaway: Idle cash in Fidelity Go portfolios is automatically swept into the Fidelity Government Cash Reserves fund, so customers can benefit from higher rates since many competitors sweep into bank deposits instead.
Where Fidelity Go falls short
Tax strategy
Tax strategy | No tax-loss harvesting available. Municipal bonds are used in taxable brokerage accounts. |
Takeaway: The company does not offer tax-loss harvesting, one of the features that makes robo-advisors stand out for taxable accounts. In taxable accounts, tax-loss harvesting involves selling losing investments to offset the gains from winners. Fidelity does use tax-advantaged municipal bond funds in taxable accounts, which can help minimize your taxes.
No human advisor guidance
Human advisor option | Not offered with Fidelity Go. Clients desiring financial planning guidance with human advisors can check out Fidelity's Personalized Planning & Advice (PPA) platform, which provides coaching from trained advisors. |
Takeaway: As mentioned above, though Fidelity Go has investment advisors managing and rebalancing portfolios, these advisors do not give financial planning guidance or answer other investment questions. For those customers who desire additional human advice, look toward Fidelity's Personalized Planning & Advice (PPA) platform, which has a $25,000 account minimum and 0.50% management fee. With PPA, trained advisors coach customers by producing financial plans and outlining concrete steps to reach their goals.
Cash funding only
The company doesn't allow transfers of securities in kind, even by existing Fidelity customers. Only Fidelity Flex funds can be held in Fidelity Go portfolios, and since they are unique to managed solutions like Fidelity Go, you must sell securities equaling the desired transfer amount and use the cash generated to enroll in the service.
More information
Accounts supported | • Individual and joint non-retirement accounts • Roth, traditional and rollover IRAs |
Customer support options (includes website transparency) | Phone support 24/7; live chat Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. |
Is Fidelity Go right for you?
If you’ve been wanting to test the robo-advisor waters but you feel more comfortable with an established broker, Fidelity Go has a lot to offer. The fees are competitive, and the portfolios are well-diversified and closely monitored by real live humans. There’s also a low account minimum to help you get in the door, especially compared with other broker-owned online advisors.
Investors with taxable accounts, however, will miss the tax-loss harvesting offered by other robo-advisors. Although use of municipal bonds in taxable accounts can help reduce your tax burden.
Anna-Louise Jackson and Tiffany Lam-Balfour contributed to this review.