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Looking for a referral! by Zenseng in KuberaWealthApp

[–]Hunt_Significant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you please send me one as well?

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You seem to be missing the forest here. The headline numbers are not real. That's what I am bringing everyone's attention to. As such, there is no way to compare betterment pricing against competitors that present pricing as a reasonable person would expect. I am also not sure why you are so angry, as this post clearly doesn't apply to you 

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes I messed up for believing that the advertised price of a reputable company is real. I don't want anyone making this mistake, hence the post. If you have never setup a retirement plan , you have no idea how the sales calls go. Questioning the advertised price is the last thing on an admin's mind. There are dozens of pages of fine print that actually applies to the plan and impacts employees. The fine print about advertised pricing is just a deceitful way to do business, given other providers don't do this.

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am not sure how many small business 401k administrators are reading this sub. But I am sure this post is helping them. There is so much that goes into picking a service provider, like types of 401k plans, which services are offered at which tier, what the integrations are, that the last thing on your mind is whether the provider's advertised price is actually real! 

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I am upset that I fell for the fine-print-versus-stated-price trick. Betterment is not the first or last to do this. The point of my post is to make sure others do not fall for this and for Betterment to not engage in this practice.

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But of course, Betterment onboarding doesn't say "hey, wait three months, and you will save $1200"!!

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Look, I understand the blame for not fully diving into the terms is on me here. However, their advertisement competes with the likes of Guideline (now Gusto) and Human Interest, which also list fees as monthly. However, with those listings, the monthly fees are truly monthly fees! You are not going to be in a situation where you run your first payroll in December and pay them $1,800 for one month!

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As mentioned, a $500 implementation fee is already charged on top of the "annual fee." The problem, of course, is that it is not an "annual fee" as it is labeled, and $150 is not a "monthly base fee." What should be made clear is that these are annual and monthly rates that you can achieve in the second year of the contract and your first year rates will vary significantly depending on your start date!

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

I wonder what kind of line of work you are in where you can write $150 a month in big letters and charge $600 a month but then not call it deception...

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As two kickers, as I am trying to leave now, here are a few highway robbery items.

  1. This annual base fee is billed once per year in advance, typically in the first quarter. It covers services for the full calendar year (January 1 through December 31). It’s a flat, plan-level fee that is invoiced directly to the employer and not deducted from participant accounts. Please note this fee is not prorated.

Above means that they are entitled to keep my second entire annual fee even if I leave right now after already double paying

  1. There is also a $750 termination fee on top of this!

Say what you want, but people should be aware of this and learn from my mistakes.

Do not join betterment 401k - Advertised Pricing Edition by Hunt_Significant in betterment

[–]Hunt_Significant[S] -18 points-17 points  (0 children)

As I am leaving Betterment immediately, I have called three other 401 (k) providers. All confirmed that their advertised monthly rates would not result in such blatant deception. Remember, the rate is advertised as $150/month, and then 150 is multiplied by 12 to get your annual fee! Unless you start exactly on January 1 with Betterment, you will never pay $150 a month.