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Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Review (2025)
Does Charles Schwab have a robo-advisor service? Is Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
good and worth it?
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Does Charles Schwab Offer a Robo-Advisor?
Besides a myriad of self-directed trading resources for brokerage accounts, Schwab also offers robo accounts. These are, of course, a reasonable way to invest for people who would rather let the professionals make all trading decisions for them.
Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Overview
Schwab calls its automated-trading service Intelligent Portfolios®. It is an investment-advisory program. Instead of human investment management, as is the traditional setup, the service uses a software program to make all trading decisions. Robo customers answer questions to an online questionnaire, and the software uses the answers to make investment decisions. These decisions are limited to a small selection of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
More conservative answers on the questionnaire will lead to more bond ETFs and fewer stock funds. The opposite is true for answers that suggest a higher risk tolerance. A portion of a robo account’s balance is kept as a cash position with Schwab Bank.
Hybrid Program
Robo customers who feel they need a little more assistance than a robo program can offer have a second option at Schwab. Called Intelligent Portfolios Premium®, this setup comes with an actual human financial advisor who is a Certified Financial Planner™. This hybrid program uses the computer program to make trading decisions and perform rebalancing, while the financial planner delivers one-on-one guidance and a personalized financial plan. Premium customers can meet with their financial advisors through phone or video chat. Potential services the financial advisor can provide include:
- Goal setting
- College saving
- Retirement planning
- Portfolio recommendations
- Saving for a house
Premium clients also get some additional digital tools that regular robo customers don’t have. For example, Play Zone® is an online tool that can do some stress testing by looking at a variety of “what-if” scenarios. Variables that can be adjusted include retirement age, long-term care costs, and savings rates.
Charles Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Features
Automated accounts at Schwab are divided into three portfolio themes. They are global, U.S. focused, and income. The last category will include a lot of bond and dividend funds. Obviously, the global division includes some international ETFs. Whichever investment theme an account uses, it will have a risk profile. Schwab has six of these. They range from conservative to aggressive growth.
Taxable automated accounts with at least $50,000 in assets qualify for tax-loss harvesting. The service must be activated online. Accounts with less than $50,000 cannot use it. Although this policy is rather restrictive, all robo accounts receive automatic rebalancing at no charge.
Then there is Intelligent Income®, a service to help robo customers make tax-smart withdrawals from their accounts. Schwab’s computer algorithm decides what assets to sell to generate cash to fund a withdrawal request. There’s no fee for this one, either.
Charles Schwab Website
Visit Schwab Website
Available Funds
Schwab uses a variety of fund families for its robo ETFs. Some of the funds are Schwab funds, which does create a conflict of interest. Other fund families include Invesco, Vanguard, and iShares.
Here are some example funds and the investment categories they represent:
| Fund | Category |
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| Schwab U.S. Small-Cap ETF (SCHA) | U.S. Small Company |
| Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA) | International Developed Large Company |
| SPDR Portfolio TIPS ETF (SPIP) | U.S. Inflation Protected Bonds |
| iShares Gold Trust (IAU) | Gold and Other Precious Metals |
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Fees
The straight robo program is free. There is a $5,000 minimum investment amount. The hybrid program is not free. It costs $30 per month and has a $300 one-time planning fee. It also has a $25,000 minimum deposit requirement. In either program, there are no commissions on trades.
Opening an Intelligent Portfolios Account
An automated account at Schwab
can be opened on either the company’s mobile app or website. On the former platform, simply head to the top-left corner where the head-and-shoulders icon is located. Under this menu, there is a link to open a new account. Scroll down to “Automated Investing.” For whatever reason, the hybrid program doesn’t have an application on the mobile app.
On the website, it’s possible to open either an Intelligent Portfolios or Intelligent Portfolios Premium account. Look for the orange-brown button to open an account. It exists on many pages throughout the site, usually at the top of the page. The required robo questionnaire is taken during the application process.
Many account types can be enrolled in Schwab’s robo program. These include joint, individual, custodial, trust, and IRA.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Judgement
Schwab has a decent automated-investing service with some nice features. We do like the hybrid alternative, although it comes at a steep price and minimum. The required cash balance and $50,000 requirement for tax-loss harvesting are also disappointments. Nonetheless, Intelligent Portfolios customers can get a good value here with a 0.00% management fee.
Open Charles Schwab Account
Visit Schwab Website
Updated on 9/9/2025.
Chad Morris is a financial writer with more than 20 years experience
as both an English teacher and an avid trader. When he isn’t writing
expert content for Brokerage-Review.com, Chad can usually be found
managing his portfolio or building a new home computer.
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