Fidelity Go® Review: A Top Robo-Advisor for Low Costs and New Investors

Fidelity Go® is a low-cost robo-advisor that doesn't water down its features along with its fees. It may be a great fit for beginner investors, since the robo-advisor is free for balances under $25,000 and there is a low account minimum. In this Fidelity Go® review, we'll take a close look at how the platform works, its features and drawbacks, and how to know if it's a good fit for you.

This robo-advisor is a good fit for: Beginner, hands-off investors may be best for Fidelity Go® due to its low account minimums and some of the lowest fees we've seen.

Top perks

Competitive fees

Fidelity Go® has a simple pricing structure that's free for balances under $25,000, and 0.35% each year for balances above $25,000.

Easy to start

It is incredibly easy to get started on the Fidelity Go® platform. Fidelity will ask you a short series of questions to determine your risk tolerance and ideal asset allocation. You can also try the questionnaire and see an example portfolio without actually applying. You can accept the recommended allocation or modify it to fit your preferences. Then you fund your account and Fidelity does the rest.

Automatic rebalancing

Virtually all robo-advisors offer automatic rebalancing. Many do it at set intervals, like twice a year. Fidelity Go® continually monitors your account, and rebalances your asset allocation whenever it's needed.

No account minimum

Fidelity Go® has no minimum investment requirement. You can start an account with just a few cents if you want. Fidelity will start investing your money with as little as $10 in your account, significantly lower than many of its competitors.

Customer support

Fidelity Go® customer support is available by phone 24/7 or through live chat from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.

Investor resources

Fidelity's platform is highly regarded for its financial planning tools and educational resources, and Fidelity Go® clients have full access to them. Fidelity Go® integrates with the rest of Fidelity's platform, which can be valuable if you have other accounts with the firm.

What could be improved

Tax strategies

Unlike some of its competitors, Fidelity doesn't offer tax-loss harvesting, a valuable strategy that can dramatically reduce investors' capital gains. This is most significant for investors who have large account balances or are otherwise in high tax brackets, but if you're in one of those categories and plan to invest in a standard brokerage account, this is worth taking into consideration.

Human financial advisors

Most major brokerages with robo-advisor platforms don't offer access to human financial advisors, and for investors with balances below $25,000, Fidelity Go® is no exception. Fidelity Go® does offer unlimited one-on-one coaching with a human advisor for customers with balances above $25,000, though.

Few account types

Fidelity Go® offers the standard account types that pretty much every robo-advisor has, including standard brokerage accounts (individual or joint), and individual retirement accounts, or IRAs. If you want to open a specialized account type, such as a UGMA/UTMA account or solo 401(k), you can't do it through Fidelity Go®.

For the most part, robo-advisors are very user-friendly, especially when it comes to getting started. After all, the whole point of using a robo-advisor is to make investing as easy as possible.

Fidelity Go® is one of the easiest robo-advisors to use. You answer a series of basic questions, such as your age, income, and financial goals, and Fidelity recommends an investment strategy. You can accept the initial recommendation or modify it. You fund the account and you're all done.

Services offered

Fidelity Go® offers standard robo-advisor services such as automatic portfolio construction and automatic rebalancing (although it rebalances as needed, not at specified intervals like some competitors.

In addition, Fidelity Go® offers access to the full range of educational tools and financial planning resources offered with any Fidelity brokerage account, a nice value-adding differentiator. This isn't quite as valuable as getting financial advice from a human being -- which only kicks in at Fidelity Go® for balances above $25,000 -- but it's certainly a useful perk.

Pricing and fees

Fidelity Go® isn't the cheapest robo-advisor, but it has the easiest-to-understand cost structure of any of our favorites. Instead of charging a management fee and investing client assets in funds that have their own fees, Fidelity has a tiered-fee structure.

There are two types of support that clients of a robo-advisor might need -- investment advice from a human being and help with technical issues.

Fidelity Go® provides unlimited access to financial advisors, but only for customers with balances above $25,000. However, Fidelity Go® shines when it comes to customer support. The firm provides phone support 24 hours a day and has online chat available 8a.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays.

• You want a simple, easy-to-understand pricing structure.
• You don't have a lot to invest.
• You want access to financial planning tools and educational resources.
• You want to open a standard brokerage account or an IRA.

At The Motley Fool Ascent, brokerages are rated on a scale of one to five stars. We primarily focus on fees, available assets, and account types; however, we also take into account features like research, education, tax-loss harvesting, and highly rated mobile apps. Our highest-rated brokerages generally include low fees, a diverse range of assets and account types, and useful platform features.

See our full methodology here: Ratings Methodology