Frequently Asked Questions

Costs and Fees

What costs and fees are charged for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium?

For Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, you pay no advisory fee and no commissions. With Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, for a one-time planning fee of $300 and just a $30/month advisory fee after that, you'll get access to unlimited 1:1 guidance from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, a digital financial plan that provides a customized roadmap to help reach your goals, as well as interactive online planning tools. Your diversified portfolio is comprised of low-cost exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a cash allocation. Just as if you’d invested on your own, you will pay the operating expenses on the ETFs in your portfolio—which includes Schwab ETFs. We believe cash is a key component of an investment portfolio. Based on your risk profile, a portion of your portfolio is placed in an FDIC-insured deposit at Schwab Bank. Some cash alternatives outside of the program pay a higher yield. See more information below.

If no advisory fee is charged, how does Schwab make money?

We are committed to keeping fees low to help you achieve your goals. It starts with not charging an advisory fee or commissions. We can do that because we earn revenue from other sources as detailed below.

• ETFs: Schwab Intelligent Portfolios invests in Schwab ETFs. This creates revenue for Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., a Schwab affiliate that receives management fees on those ETFs. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios^® also invests in third-party ETFs, and Schwab also receives compensation for providing shareholder services to those third-party ETFs.
• Cash: We believe cash is a key component of an investment portfolio. Based on your risk profile, a portion of your portfolio is placed in an FDIC-insured deposit at Schwab Bank. Some cash alternatives outside of the program pay a higher yield.
• Order Flow: Schwab receives revenue from the market centers where ETF trade orders are routed for execution.

Am I paid interest on my cash? How does it compare to the interest I could earn elsewhere?

Yes, the interest rate on cash balances in the Sweep Program is set on the first business day of each month equal to the seven-day yield (with waivers) for the Schwab Government Money Fund – Sweep Shares (symbol: SWGXX) as determined at the end of the prior month. See Current Interest Rates for more details. Some cash alternatives outside of the program pay a higher yield.

Does Schwab charge an additional fee for rebalancing or tax-loss harvesting?

No, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has leveraged the power of technology to automate these complex tasks. 

Tax-loss harvesting is available for taxable portfolios with $50,000 or more, and there are no additional fees for activating this feature in your account. You must be enrolled for tax-loss harvesting to occur.