Our Take

Launched in 2016, Fidelity Go provides a user-friendly automated investment management experience catered towards hands-off investors, beginners, and existing Fidelity clients. The platform keeps the focus on a streamlined portfolio decision-making process to provide a straightforward investment solution. Fidelity Go investors are able to leverage the broad resources of Fidelity, one of the top brokerages in the world.  In 2024, Fidelity Go has continued to benefit from the overall expansion of Fidelity's fund universe as well as specific upgrades to the robo-advisor interface and dashboard. Fidelity Go has also added a financial wellness section to its dashboard that points customers to available tools and allows users with over $25,000 in assets to access unlimited one-on-one coaching with an advisor. For the fee-free accounts under $25,000, Fidelity Go’s all-digital approach allows you to easily set goals and start investing quickly by choosing from a short menu of portfolio allocations once you’ve filled out the onboarding questionnaire. We’ll take a closer look at Fidelity Go’s robo-advisory service to see if this platform is right for your portfolio needs.

Account Overview

Account Minimum	$0 ($10 to invest)
Fees	Less than $25,000: No fee Over $25,000: 0.35% annual fee
Goal Planning	Retirement, home
Available Assets	Proprietary Fidelity Flex mutual funds
Interest Paid on Cash Balances	Swept into money market funds, current 7-day yield 4.96%
Customizable Portfolio	Yes, 14 different risk levels
View Portfolio Before Funding	Yes
Customer Service	Phone lines open 24/7, live chat weekdays 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET and weekends 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET
Financial Advisor Available	Yes, after $25,000
Cash Management	Sweep account
Tax-Loss Harvesting	No
External Account Sync/Consolidation	No
Mobile App	Android, iOS

Account Setup

Fidelity Go has a straightforward guided onboarding process to help you get started. The sign-up process kicks off by prompting you to select a savings goal of either retirement or “something else." Next, you’ll answer a short series of questions about your investment timeline, risk tolerance, and personal financial data. Once this is complete, you’ll find a proposed portfolio that best matches the information you’ve provided so far. There is also an option to select a different portfolio risk level if desired. 

From here, you’ll choose which type of investment account to open. Fidelity Go has a limited number of options; you’ll choose from taxable accounts, traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Roth IRAs, rollover IRAs, and health savings accounts (HSAs). You’ll also be prompted to choose a funding method, which includes linking your bank account, transferring cash or securities, or making a deposit via check. There is no minimum deposit needed to open your account, although there is a $10 minimum before your funds will be invested.

Goal Planning

Fidelity Go allows you to set up savings goals when you create your account. While each account can only have a single goal assigned to it, you can set up multiple accounts with different goals depending on your situation. The initial investment goals are centered around retirement, large purchases, and general investing, but other goal-setting options are available through Fidelity’s larger platform integrations. 

This is one of the major benefits Fidelity Go offers: access to the larger Fidelity suite of financial tools and goal-setting options. Fidelity has a Full View tool as a separate offering that can be integrated with Fidelity Go. It offers more extensive financial planning options, including the ability to connect external financial accounts, like 401(k) workplace retirement plans, for more holistic goal planning. This is helpful as you can potentially view all your financial accounts in one place to evaluate financial wellness.

If you’re looking for goal planning combined with human guidance, Fidelity offers a personalized planning and advice platform that provides a true hybrid money management experience. For a minimum of $25,000 invested at a 0.35% annual fee, you’ll have access to financial coaching, professional money management, and more dynamic financial planning.

Fidelity Go also has in-platform challenges to help nudge users to achieve their goals faster. A current one is a 52-week challenge where customers incrementally increase their contributions over a 52-week period to build momentum in their investment portfolio. Investors can set up the challenge so that Fidelity Go will automatically increase a weekly transfer by $1 a week until it reaches $52 in the final week.

Account Services

Fidelity Go’s focus is to help you achieve your investment goals in your taxable accounts, IRAs, and HSA accounts. To that end, the deposit process includes a decisioning tool that helps you determine how to balance contributions to multiple accounts while staying on track to reach your goals. These deposits are automatically invested based on the portfolio best aligned with your timeline without placing individual trades, choosing stocks, or timing the market. 

These features emphasize Fidelity Go’s platform being geared towards a streamlined portfolio and planning solution to save for common, straightforward goals. As a result, there are limited investment account features on the platform. Margin, loan, credit, spend, and banking options are not available through Fidelity Go but are accessible through other platforms within Fidelity.

Cash Management

There is a cash management option available through Fidelity Go. Cash that is not invested in your account is automatically swept into the Fidelity Government Cash Reserves fund. This has the potential to offer a higher return compared to being swept into a bank deposit account. In the current interest rate environment, the yield is 4.96%. While there isn’t a spend option through Fidelity Go, all Fidelity users have access to the Fidelity Rewards Visa Signature card, which offers 2.0% cashback rewards. Even though this card isn’t uniquely integrated with Fidelity Go, it highlights the platform’s benefit of being associated with the larger suite of Fidelity products.

Portfolio Construction

Fidelity Go portfolios are built solely through proprietary Fidelity Flex mutual funds. These zero-fee funds help ensure more of your dollars are invested on your behalf and combine to make up 14 different pre-built portfolio allocations based on your situation, goals, and timeline. Using these funds, you’ll invest in bonds, short-term, domestic, and foreign asset classes. The most conservative allocation is 20% equity and 80% bonds while the most aggressive portfolio has been upgraded in 2024 from 85% equity and 15% bonds to an all-equity portfolio. 

The portfolio strategy is generally passive, attempting to match overall market growth adjusted for your investment risk preference. This approach is a solid starting point. However, the lack of other asset classes or funds outside of Fidelity misses an opportunity to build a stronger investment selection. These same portfolio constraints also impact investors seeking a socially conscious option, as there is no portfolio dedicated to this strategy.

Fidelity doesn't offer access to cryptocurrency or anything outside of its Fidelity Flex funds.

Available Assets

Individual Stocks	No
Mutual Funds	Yes
Fixed Income	No
REITs	No
Socially Responsible or ESG Options	No
ETFs	No
Non-Proprietary ETFs	No
Private Equity	No
Crypto, Forex	No

Portfolio Management

The main strategy Fidelity Go uses to ensure your portfolio stays within its desired risk level is rebalancing, which is important as the market changes over time. This is done at a threshold level based on your assigned portfolio. Once the investment allocation drifts outside certain parameters, a rebalance is triggered to reallocate your money back to the initial portfolio risk level. This is all managed by Fidelity Go; there isn’t an option to request a rebalance, although you can adjust your portfolio risk level at any time.

Alongside rebalancing, tax optimization is another key component when investing. Fidelity Go doesn’t offer tax-loss harvesting but places tax-advantaged funds (such as municipal bonds) in taxable accounts. This helps enhance your tax situation over time. 

A nice feature that complements these strategies is monthly and annual updates on your goal progress so you can ensure that you're on track as your situation changes. You also have the option to link external investment accounts for a more holistic view of your financial situation. Keep in mind that Fidelity Go’s goal tools do not factor these accounts into any planning calculations.

Another key area where Fidelity Go has improved is in controlling risk as your goal's target date approaches. Fidelity Go has added Smart Shift as a feature. Smart Shift moves your portfolio to a more conservative allocation as the target date approaches. You currently have to opt into Smart Shift.

Key Portfolio Management Features
Automatic Rebalancing	Threshold
Reporting Features	Tax; transaction; goal updates; daily, monthly, quarterly, and yearly performance
Tax Loss Harvesting	No
External Account Syncing/Consolidation	No; this is available through Fidelity, but does not inform Fidelity Go processes

User Experience

Desktop

Existing Fidelity investors will find the Fidelity Go desktop experience very familiar. The main difference is fewer tabs and tool options compared to other Fidelity platforms. The onboarding, account management, performance, and money movement screens are relatively easy to understand. Investors new to Fidelity may take a bit longer getting ramped up, as the site can feel like it is built on top of the original Fidelity brokerage offering. Overall, though, Fidelity Go provides an intuitive experience.

Mobile

Fidelity Go is built into the main Fidelity app available on both iOS and Android, with very similar functionality to the desktop experience. You’ll have the option to turn on push notifications and prompts depending on your desired level of engagement with the app. For investors new to Fidelity, be mindful of the services available in the app as it can take a little while to get comfortable if using multiple Fidelity platforms in tandem. As an example, Fidelity Go is available through the main Fidelity app, but Fidelity Bloom has its own app.

Customer Service

• Phone line available 24/7
• Live chat available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET, and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET
• Virtual assistant and email available 24/7
• High-level FAQ page
• Human financial planners available for unlimited 30-minute calls for clients with account balances over $25,000

Fidelity Go’s platform is geared towards digital-first users and the support structure is built with this in mind. There is a high-level FAQ page and virtual assistant function that answers many initial questions. For more in-depth support, live chat and phone lines are available with human support. Keep in mind that human financial planners are only available once your balance is over $25,000.

Security

• Two-factor authentication
• Biometric entry (fingerprint and face recognition)
• Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC) coverage and excess SIPC coverage

Security is another important factor for investors, and Fidelity Go benefits its users by drawing on features available on the larger Fidelity platform. You’ll have the option to enable two-factor authentication and biometric entry, which adds an additional layer of security to your account. The platform is also covered by the SIPC, which protects your funds should the brokerage become financially troubled.

Education

A major benefit to Fidelity Go users is access to Fidelity’s extensive educational content library. This content spans all ranges of investment topics, experience levels, and consumable formats such as articles, videos, podcasts, commentary, and classes. This information is constantly refreshed to ensure it continues to be relevant as the financial landscape evolves. Fidelity Go users will not only get a good understanding of how robo-advisors work but can also build their overall investment knowledge at their leisure.

Commissions and Fees

Fidelity Go uses a tiered pricing structure when determining fees. Your first $25,000 is managed without a fee and the Fidelity Flex funds also lack fees, making the service free for users with small balances. Accounts with more than $25,000 will be charged an annual fee of 0.35%. This is a competitive pricing structure, especially when you consider that there are no ongoing mutual fund fees which helps you keep more money in your pocket.

Category	Fee
Up to $25,000	None
$25,000 and up	0.35% annual fee
Expense ratios	None
Mutual funds	Fee-free

The Bottom Line

Fidelity Go provides a strong offering overall that clearly stands out for existing Fidelity customers, hands-off investors, and new robo-advisor users looking for a company that has a well-established track record. As one of the largest financial services companies in the industry, Fidelity flexes its muscles by offering competitive fees, access to a suite of financial tools, and extensive education content. Fidelity Go is free up to a balance of $25,000 and then just 0.35% annually with no-fee mutual funds making up the portfolios. This makes Fidelity Go cost-competitive and very compelling for investors with lower balances. Once your balance goes above the $25,000 mark, Fidelity Go gives you access to a financial advisor at no extra cost. Investors who are looking for more extensive customization, investment options, and socially conscious offerings may not find this platform to be their ideal financial home. The lack of tax-loss harvesting may also give pause to investors with larger taxable accounts. On the whole, however, Fidelity Go gives many investors a great option to manage their money. It is also important to note that some resources, like Fidelity Bloom, are outside the Fidelity Go program, but are excellent offerings that Fidelity Go customers will also benefit from.

How Does Fidelity Go Help You Save Money on Taxes?

Fidelity Go doesn't provide tax-loss harvesting, where its algorithm searches for opportunities to realize losses to offset gains elsewhere in the portfolio. In terms of saving money on taxes, Fidelity Go's approach prioritizes tax-advantaged investments in taxable accounts. An example of this is choosing municipal bond funds to provide the bond allocation rather than corporate bonds.

What Does Fidelity Go Cost?

Fidelity Go is, in real terms, a very good deal. Not only is its 0.35% management fee waived for accounts with under $25,000, but the underlying Fidelity Flex Funds do not have a management fee or expense ratio. This is an important point as most robo-advisors have a management fee and then the ETFs they use to construct the portfolios have underlying expense ratios. Although these are small for the most part, they do have a small drag on overall returns. Fidelity Go, in contrast, only costs the headline 0.35% once the $25,000 under management mark is exceeded in an account. That is the only percentage Fidelity Go takes.

How We Review Robo-Advisors

Providing readers with unbiased, comprehensive reviews of digital wealth management companies, more commonly known as robo-advisors, is a top priority of Investopedia. We used our 2023 consumer survey to guide the research and weightings for our 2024 robo-advisor awards. To collect the data, we sent a digital survey with 64 questions to each of the 21 companies we included in our rubric. Additionally, our team of researchers verified the survey responses and collected any missing data points through online research and conversations with each company directly. The data collection process spanned from Jan. 8, to Feb. 9, 2024.

We then developed a quantitative model that scored each company to rate its performance across nine major categories and 59 criteria to find the best robo-advisors. The score for each company’s overall star rating is a weighted average of the criteria:

• Account Services: 10.00%
• Account Setup: 5.00%
• Customer Service: 5.00%
• Fees: 15.00%
• Goal Planning: 21.00%
• Portfolio Contents: 17.00%
• Portfolio Management: 17.00%
• Security & Education: 5.00%
• User Experience: 5.00%

Additionally, during our 2023 research, many of the companies we reviewed granted our team of expert writers and editors access to live accounts so they could perform hands-on testing. Through this all-encompassing data collection and review process, Investopedia has provided you with an unbiased and thorough review of the top robo-advisors.

Read more about how we research and review robo-advisors.

Separately, our research team conducted a survey of 205 U.S. adults aged 18 to 72 who are current clients of one of 18 robo-advisors. While the information collected did not influence the development of our ratings model, it was instrumental in gathering the valuable insights published in Investopedia's 2023 Robo-Advisor Consumer Survey.

Participants in our 2023 Robo-Advisor Survey opted into an online, self-administered questionnaire from a market research vendor. Data collection took place between Aug. 30 and Sept. 15, 2023, with 11 video interviews conducted with volunteer respondents from Sept. 7 to Sept. 17, 2023. Multiple quality checks, including screeners, attention gauges, comprehension evaluations, and logic metrics, among others, were used to ensure only the highest quality responses were included.