Harness Wealth Review 2024: Pros, Cons and How It Compares
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Our Take
5.0
Reviewed in: Oct. 2024
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024
The bottom line:
on Harness Wealth's website
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Pros & Cons
Pros
Advisors offer free initial consultations.
Access to a range of services, including investment management and financial, tax and estate planning.
No fee for using Harness Wealth to find an advisor.
Cons
Difficult to know financial advisor fees upfront.
Firms require a $250,000 investment minimum for investment management. (No minimum for a one-time financial plan.)
Compare to Other Advisors
Fees Up to 1% per year | Fees $1,000 and up per year (free initial consultation) | Fees 0.30% management fee |
Account minimum $250,000 | Account minimum $0 | Account minimum $50,000 |
Promotion $250 off one year of financial or tax planning | Promotion Limited time $550 kick-start offer!* Get $300 into your brokerage account if you invest & maintain $5k within your first 90 days, plus the $250 enrollment fee will be waived for new annual members. Expires Dec 31, 2024 | Promotion None no promotion available at this time |
Learn more on Harness Wealth's website | Learn more on Facet's website | Learn more on Vanguard's website |
AD Paid non-client promotion | AD Paid non-client promotion | AD Paid non-client promotion |
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
In this review of Harness Wealth
Where Harness Wealth shines
Free consultations: Harness advisors offer complimentary consultations so you can get to know a potential firm before committing to them.
Makes finding an advisor easy: Harness Wealth’s combination of a proprietary search algorithm and dedicated concierge takes a lot of the uncertainty out of the process of finding a financial advisor.
Where Harness Wealth falls short
High fee: While 1% may be standard for a traditional financial advisor, there are online options that offer similar services for less.
High minimum: Harness has a $250,000 asset minimum for investment management. (No minimum for one-time financial planning or tax help.)
Who should choose Harness Wealth?
High-net-worth individuals: Harness Wealth is the complete package, and the $250,000 minimum demands a pretty high account balance to get your foot in the door.
Individuals with complex financial or tax situations: The integration with Harness Tax can be a one-stop-shop for those who have a complicated financial life.
Those unsure how to find or vet a financial advisor: It can be daunting to search for an advisor who has your best interests at heart. Harness Wealth vets all its advisors through a rigorous process
Harness Wealth at a glance
Reviewed on: Oct. 2024.
Period considered: Aug. - Oct. 2024.
Account minimum | $250,000 for investment management. No minimum for 1:1, hour-long financial planning sessions or tax help. Some firms on the Harness platform also offer flat-fee financial planning starting at $2,000 for a comprehensive plan. |
Account management, planning or subscription fee |
Note: Fees typically increase with added complexity. Harness Wealth does not charge clients additional fees for using the service. |
Setup or onboarding fee | None. |
Advisor access and credentials | To be eligible to work with Harness, firms’ advisors must have or be working toward any of the following industry-specific designations: CFP, CFA, CIMA, JD, CPA. Clients typically work with a team of advisors (but speak with a single point of contact) with expertise across financial, tax, trust and estate. The frequency of meetings can be personalized to client preference (monthly, quarterly, annual) and based on the recommendation of the advisor as to what's needed. Advisor firms set their own hours but are generally flexible and offer weekend access when necessary. All firms must offer phone, email, chat, videoconferencing and in-person meetings. |
Financial planning services | The full range of financial planning services is available through both firms that offer ongoing advisory relationships and those offering one-time, stand-alone financial plans. |
Investment expense ratios | Not rated. Investments used and portfolio costs vary by firm. |
Portfolio construction | Highly tailored to meet the needs of each client. |
Brokerage options | Firms must custody with Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, Bank of New York Mellon, Raymond James, or Pershing. Clients do not have to transfer assets if they’re only receiving financial planning services. |
Accounts supported | Firms can directly manage:
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Tax strategy | Harness offers free online tools to support financial and tax planning. Wealth management firms on the Harness platform incorporate several tax efficiency strategies into their investment management services including tax-efficient investments as part of asset allocation, tax-deferred accounts for high yield investments, tax-efficient managers, tax loss harvesting, minimizing holdings turn over and integration with charitable giving plans. Harness Tax and other tax advisory firms on the Harness platform also offer strategic tax planning services with a focus on private company equity and crypto assets. |
Customer support options (includes how easy it is to find key details on the website) | Phone, chat, video call and email support Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. |
What to know about Harness Wealth's account minimum and fees
Harness has a $250,000 minimum for ongoing investment management through one of the advisory firms in its network. Some firms on the Harness platform also offer flat-fee financial planning starting at $2,000 for a comprehensive plan.
There is no minimum to use Harness’s free tax and financial planning tools or for one-on-one, hour-long financial planning or tax planning sessions.
If you’re looking for a traditional human advisor, that minimum is pretty typical. If you only want investment management and your portfolio is relatively straightforward, a robo-advisor may be a better option. Robo-advisors offer automated portfolio management, so they charge lower fees than human advisors and require lower minimum investments.
» See our picks for the best robo-advisors
The matching services offered by Harness Wealth are free. For ongoing financial services like investment management, fees vary by advisor, but typically are 1% or less for the first $1 million of investable assets. Fees typically fall at higher asset balances.
Individuals who don’t meet the minimum investable assets threshold can still benefit from Harness Wealth’s services. For a one-time fee between $2,000 and $10,000, clients receive a detailed financial plan from a certified financial planner that will help them manage expensive purchases and plan for long-term goals. For $1,000, clients can get tax preparation and filing.
Because Harness partners with a large number of firms across the country, and those firms vary in terms of their investment expense ratios, we have not rated Harness on these fees.
If you’re interested in using Harness to match with an advisor, be sure to ask any potential advisors about their average expense ratios before agreeing to work with them.
Harness Wealth's advisor access
The advisory firms on the Harness Wealth platform are tailored to your profile, but before they are ever presented to you, these firms pass an extensive evaluation process. To be considered for a Harness referral, financial advisory firms must be registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and act as fiduciaries, meaning the client’s best interest must always come first.
Firms must be fee-only, and any firm that charges fees above 1.5% of assets under management must at least include tax, estate planning and family office services with its offering. Moreover, firms must have up-to-date technology, defined cybersecurity policies and no significant data breaches in the last five years.
Once you match with one of Harness’s advisory firms, you and your advisor can connect on your schedule, over the phone, over video or in-person if you opt for a local advisor. Advisor firms set their own hours but are generally flexible and offer weekend access when necessary.
Harness Wealth financial planning services
A Harness advisor can help you with anything a traditional firm could, including retirement planning, starting a business, getting married, having a child, managing company equity and crypto assets.
And while this review focuses mainly on Harness Wealth’s financial advisory firms, the company also offers its service for tax and estate-planning firms. This means clients can build and manage an entire wealth management team through a single portal. The team will work together through Harness Wealth to maximize a client’s financial situation, no matter how complex.
That said, clients can also opt to use Harness to find only the expert advisor they need, whether that’s for financial, tax or estate planning (though each firm will come with its own fee structure).
Harness also offers free tax and financial planning tools that can help you see all your financial accounts as well as real estate, equity and crypto investments in one place.
Other key Harness Wealth features
Portfolio construction
As for the investment portfolios built by the firms, you’ll find just about anything you’re looking for, from straightforward long-term investment options to strategies specific to unique situations. Some of the speciality strategies used at some of Harness’s partner firms include:
Staggered exercise and sell schedules for stock options based on IPO or SPAC dates.
ESG (environment, social, and governance) portfolios.
Portfolios specific to those who work in the technology industry.
Cryptocurrency investment management and tax planning.
Bond program that invests in high-quality individual bonds.
Private placements and alternative investments (for qualified individuals).
Donor-advised funds.
Shariah-compliant investments.
Accounts supported
Harness firms can directly manage pretty much any type of account, from IRAs and 401(k)s to digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs to business accounts and nonprofit endowments. Many of the financial advisors we review cannot directly manage this many different types of accounts.
Harness firms must hold their assets at Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, Fidelity, Bank of New York Mellon, Raymond James or Pershing. Clients do not have to transfer assets if they’re only receiving financial planning services, but they do if they are receiving investment management.
Customer support
You can contact Harness Wealth’s customer service team by phone, chat, video call and email support Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time.
Good to know about Harness Wealth
Tax strategy
Harness Tax integrates your tax strategy into your financial plan and lets you communicate with your CPA and manage your tax documents online. Some tax specialists can also help you with topics like crypto, so you can explore your options while understanding their potential tax implications.
Clients begin by registering for an account on Harness Wealth and completing a brief quiz. Based on their responses, they can receive recommendations for financial or tax advisors that best suit their needs and preferences.
Harness Tax offers several pricing structures, which we detail in the table below. The first tier is a virtual one-hour equity tax planning session, ideal for early employees, those evaluating equity grants as part of job offers, and those planning for a liquidity event. The second is annual tax preparation and filing, and tax planning. This may be useful to people with more complex tax situations, crypto owners and small-business owners. The third tier is comprehensive tax planning. This may be suitable for those who want longer-term tax planning.
Service | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
One-hour equity tax planning session | $250 | Expert review of your equity and tax documents, answers to your equity questions and projections of potential equity decisions, such as the tax implications of exercising or selling your company stock. |
Tax preparation and filing | Starts at $1,000 | Annual tax filing with a CPA. You can work with a CPA with expertise in niche tax fields, such as equity compensation, crypto taxes, small businesses and residential rental real estate. |
Tax planning | Starts at $250 per hour | Ongoing tax guidance from an accountant on tax-related issues, including your income, investments, deductions, major purchases, relocations, estate and gifts. Insights into the industry and state-specific tax issues that affect you, and quarterly estimated tax payments. |
Is Harness Wealth right for you?
Harness Wealth is an appealing option for individuals who have already established some level of wealth and have so far managed it on their own but are now looking for more tailored wealth management. The service would also be beneficial to anyone whose financial situation has grown so complex and sophisticated it requires unique expertise. Often, this may come in the form of an inheritance, marriage, divorce or other milestone event.
To vet on your own as many financial advisory firms as Harness does — and then on top of that, find one that fits your specific needs — would require a significant time investment. Harness Wealth does the work for you for no fee, and fees of the partner firms are on par with traditional financial advisors. Harness’s $250,000 minimum is pretty typical for traditional investment management and financial planning.
on Harness Wealth's website
