11 Ways to Grow Your Wealth

Whether you’re taking the first steps to increase your wealth or protecting the assets you’ve accumulated, our advice will help you flourish.

Here, Kiplinger takes a look at 11 ways to grow your wealth.

Investing: Think big, start small

The best way to turn $100 or $1,000 into, well, more, is to invest it. But too often, people fall into a trap of thinking that you need to have a lot of money to invest. Not true. It’s okay to start small, but you must be methodical about it. Fortunately, it’s getting easier to do that. Begin by following the steps below.

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Start with no money down. Most brokers, including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, E*Trade and Merrill Edge, have stopped requiring a minimum to open a brokerage account. It takes just minutes to open an account online. 

Pay what you can. Set up an automatic transfer to your account — even if it’s $10 every paycheck or once a month, if that’s all you can afford — and invest it. Can’t swing $3,000-plus for a share of stock in Autozone (AZO)? Thanks to fractional trading, you can buy a portion of a share. Although not every firm offers fractional-share trading, you can buy fractional shares of stocks (and exchange-traded funds, too, in some cases) at Fidelity, Interactive Brokers, Robinhood, Schwab, SoFi and M1 Finance, to name a few. 

The minimum amount required for each trade and the number of stocks and/or ETFs available for fractional trades may vary by firm. At M1 Finance and Robinhood, you can buy fractions of ETFs and stocks for as little as $1; at SoFi, it’s $5. At Schwab, the minimum trade is $5, but only S&P 500 stocks — no ETFs — are available. Fidelity and Interactive Brokers allow fractional-share trading for any U.S.-listed stock or ETF for as little as $1. 

Automate investing. At Fidelity and Interactive Brokers, you can set up a recurring investment in a stock or an ETF. (Fidelity allows this for mutual funds, too.) The process is much like your 401(k) contribution, and it can take your wealth-growing ability to a whole new level. “It’s a great way for people to build a portfolio in a disciplined way,” says Rob Garfield, of Interactive Brokers.

The service is free at both firms, and you can choose how often you want to invest — weekly, biweekly or monthly. The minimum for a recurring investment is $10 at Interactive and $1 at Fidelity. Both firms will let you set up either a single or multiple recurring investments. Trades in stocks and ETFs are made during the trading day (although both firms say they try to avoid volatile periods at the market’s open and close); mutual fund investments are after the close. 

Interactive’s recurring-investment services have only been around since late 2022, and Fidelity launched recurring investments in stocks and ETFs in late 2023 (though the brokerage’s automatic mutual fund investments have been available for years). But they’re popular. “We’ve seen a significant uptick” in adoption, especially among young-ish customers, says Josh Krugman, Fidelity’s head of core brokerage.

- Nellie Huang

Keep an eye on investment costs

Wealthy people are often among the most frugal, and they apply that cost-consciousness to their investments, too. The difference between what you earn in an expensive fund, for example, compared with an inexpensive one can mount to six figures over an investing lifetime. 

Of course, you’ll pay more in fees for an actively managed fund than for an index-tracker, and for asset classes that require a higher level of research or trading skills — small-company stocks or emerging-market shares, for example, compared with large, easily traded blue chips. 

But when comparing funds in the same category, a lower expense ratio can make a world of difference. The average expense ratio for stock mutual funds at last report was 1.11% — and 0.55% for stock index funds — according to the Investment Company Institute. For actively managed exchange-traded stock funds, expenses averaged 0.72%; for index-based stock exchange-traded funds, expenses averaged 0.47%.

Say you put $10,000 in Fund A, with an annual expense ratio of 1.5%, or $150 on a $10,000 investment. If your fund returned an annualized 10% (roughly the long-term return for large-company stocks) over a 40-year period, you’d have paid $46,884 in fees and you’d have a total of $247,261, according to calculations from Bankrate. Fund B is similar, with identical returns but expenses of just 0.5%. After 40 years you’d have paid just $20,974 and you’d walk away with $370,365, a difference of $123,104. 

Sales charges, too, can pinch fund investors. But these days, you can find plenty of so-called load funds offered without a sales charge at popular investing platforms, so it pays to check before you buy. For example, the “A” shares of Columbia Seligman Technology and Information, a fund with impressive long-term results, carry a 5.75% sales charge. But you can buy the fund load-free (and for no transaction fee) at Fidelity and Schwab. Roughly half of the 4,500 no-load, no-fee funds available on Schwab’s OneSource list allow for front- or back-end loads, but any such charges are waived on Schwab’s platform, says a spokeswoman.

- Anne Kates Smith

Be a super saver

While “The Secrets of Super Savers” would be a catchy name for a reality TV show, there’s really no mystery to developing good savings habits. Ideally, you need to monitor your spending, start setting aside savings early, put your savings on autopilot and take advantage of all the tax breaks and other incentives available to you. In a 2022 survey of investors’ savings habits, Principal Financial Group identified super savers as those who set aside 15% or more of their salary in retirement accounts or make 90% of the maximum contribution allowed by the IRS. 

A common characteristic among the super savers is consistency. Most started saving in their teens or early twenties and consider it part of their identity. They drive older vehicles and own modest homes, which they fix up and clean themselves. In addition to contributing to 401(k) plans or other employer-sponsored accounts, they take advantage of other vehicles such as brokerage accounts, health savings accounts and 529 college-savings plans. “They’re continually looking for as many ways as possible that they can save,” says Heather Winston, director of individual investor products and solutions for Principal. 

When you’re starting out, finding room in your budget to save for retirement can be a challenge. But recent research from the Investment Company Institute offers encouraging news about young adult savers. The ICI’s analysis found that in 2022, members of Generation Z — typically defined as individuals born between 1997 and 2012 — had two and a half times more assets in retirement plans than Generation X households had when they were the same age (Gen Xers were born between 1965 and 1980). 

Contributing to the trend is the rise in automatic enrollment, according to the ICI. More than three-fourths of large companies automatically enroll workers in their 401(k) plans. Workers who don’t want to participate can opt out, but most don’t. Starting in 2025, companies with new 401(k) plans will be required to automatically enroll workers at a minimum contribution rate of 3% and increase participation by one percentage point each year, up to 15%. 

However, if you want to be a super saver, you should put aside even more than the default contribution embedded in your employer’s plan. In 2024, you can stash up to $23,000 in 401(k) and other employer-sponsored plans, or $30,500 for workers 50 and older. Contributions are tax-deferred if you invest in a traditional 401(k). With a Roth 401(k), contributions are after- tax, but withdrawals are tax-free in retirement. 

Your employer-provided plan isn’t the only implement in your retirement toolkit. More than half of Principal’s super savers also contributed to a Roth IRA, which provides tax-free income in retirement (more on trimming your taxes below). In 2024, you can make the maximum contribution of $7,000 to a Roth — $8,000 if you’re 50 or older — if your modified adjusted gross income (your adjusted gross income with certain deductions added back) is less than $146,000 if you’re single or $230,000 if you’re married and file jointly.

If all of this sounds like a bridge too far, don’t overlook savings incentives offered by Uncle Sam. The Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, better known as the Saver’s Credit, is designed to encourage people with low and middle incomes to begin building retirement nest eggs. Eligible taxpayers can claim a tax credit of up to $1,000 for single filers or $2,000 for married couples who file jointly. The credit is based on 10%, 20% or 50% of the first $2,000 ($4,000 for joint filers) contributed to retirement accounts, including 401(k)s, traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. 

If you qualify, the lower your income, the higher the percentage of retirement plan contributions you’ll get back on your tax return. For the 2024 tax year, single filers and married people filing separate returns with adjusted gross income of $38,250 or less may be eligible for the credit. Married couples filing jointly must have AGI of $76,500 or less, while head-of-household filers must have AGI of $57,375 or less. 

Fund your bad-news account. Even the best-laid plans for a secure retirement can be derailed by unemployment, a serious health condition, or a natural disaster. To avoid tapping the money you’ve saved for retirement, you should have an emergency savings account that covers three to six months’ worth of expenses. If you’re the sole wage earner in your household or work in an industry prone to disruption from economic swings, such as travel and hospitality, you may need to set aside up to 12 months’ worth of expenses. 

The money should be invested in an easily accessible savings account or money market deposit account because this is money you can’t afford to risk losing. Recently, you could earn up to 5% on top-yielding savings accounts, although those rates have begun to decline as the Federal Reserve started cutting rates this year.

- Sandra Block

Cut your tax bill

Taxes, according to the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., are what we pay for a civilized society. But that doesn’t mean you should pay more than you’re legally required to remit to federal and state tax authorities. Unfortunately, the tax code has become more complex, increasing the risk that you’ll overlook money-saving tax breaks. 

Start by reviewing how much tax was withheld from your paychecks in 2023. If you received a big tax refund, adjust your withholding so that less of your paycheck goes to the IRS. Use the extra money to bulk up your emergency savings, pay off high-interest debt, and/or increase contributions to your retirement plans. 

The majority of taxpayers claim the standard deduction. But even if you don’t itemize deductions, you may still be eligible for a long list of tax credits and above-the-line deductions. For example, if you have a child who will start college this fall, there’s a good chance you’ll be eligible for the American Opportunity Credit. This tax credit is available for up to $2,500 of college tuition and related expenses (but not room and board) paid during the year. 

Meanwhile, reducing taxes on investments in your brokerage account is a surefire way to increase your profits or minimize losses. Start by understanding the difference between long- and short-term capital gains. You’ll pay long-term capital gains tax on income from the sale of assets that you’ve held for more than a year, at rates ranging from 0% to 20%, depending on the amount of your taxable income. If you sell stocks, mutual funds or other assets you purchased a year ago or less, the net proceeds will be taxed as ordinary income, with rates ranging from 10% to 37%. 

Clearly, you’re better off selling investments you’ve owned for more than a year, particularly if you qualify for the 0% tax rate. In 2024, you’re eligible for the 0% tax rate if you’re single and have taxable income of up to $47,205, or up to $94,050 if you’re married and file jointly. This tax break can be particularly valuable to retirees who may need to sell assets to meet expenses and are no longer earning income from a job. 

Where taxes and your wealth are concerned, you need to be thinking about how much you’ll pay in the future, too. Contributions to a 401(k) or deductible IRA will reduce your tax bill now, but the money will be taxed when you take withdrawals — possibly at a higher tax rate than you’re paying today. 

For that reason, many financial planners recommend directing at least some of your contributions to a Roth 401(k), if your employer offers one (about 75% of large employers do). As is the case with Roth IRAs, contributions are after-tax, but withdrawals will be tax-free after you’re 59 1⁄2 and have owned the Roth for at least five years. Unlike Roth IRAs, however, there are no income limits — anyone with earned income can contribute to a Roth 401(k).

Your taxable legacy. Contributing to a Roth — whether it’s through a Roth IRA or Roth 401(k) or by converting money in a traditional IRA to a Roth — could also benefit your heirs, assuming you have funds remaining in your retirement savings accounts after you die. And recent changes in the law will make inheriting a Roth even more valuable. 

Before 2020, adult children and other non-spouse heirs who inherited a traditional IRA or 401(k) could take withdrawals based on their life expectancy, allowing the funds to grow tax-deferred for decades. But legislation enacted in 2019 requires non-spouse heirs who inherited a traditional IRA in 2020 or later to deplete the account within 10 years after the death of the original owner. 

In addition, in early 2022, the IRS released guidance stating that if the original IRA owner died on or after the date he or she was required to take minimum distributions, non-spouse heirs must take RMDs based on their life expectancy in years one through nine and deplete the balance in year 10. (Individuals who inherit an IRA before the original owner was required to take RMDs can wait until year 10 to deplete the account.) The IRS waived that requirement in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Requiring heirs to take annual withdrawals could force some individuals to take taxable withdrawals during their highest earning years. 

Adult children and other non-spouse heirs who inherit a Roth IRA will also be required to deplete the account in 10 years, but with a critical difference: They won’t have to pay taxes on the money, and they won’t be required to take minimum distributions, either. Instead, they’ll have the option of waiting until year 10 to deplete the account, which means they’ll be able to enjoy more than a decade of tax-free growth.

- Sandra Block

Pay off debt

If you have high-interest-rate debt, paying it off should be high on your priority list because it drags down on your ability to create wealth. Credit card debt is particularly burdensome because rates tend to run high, and they’re variable, moving upward when the Federal Reserve boosts short-term rates. Average rates for currently held credit cards rose from 16.17% in March 2022 to 24.59% in February 2024. 

Start by reviewing your credit card statement to find out the amount you owe, how much you’re paying in interest and your minimum monthly payment amount. Then consider transferring your outstanding balance to a less costly account. Several card issuers are offering 0% interest rates on balance transfers for anywhere from 12 to 21 months. 

There may be a transfer fee — typically 3% to 5% of the transfer amount — but during the 0% period, your balance won’t accrue any interest, and those savings could easily outweigh the cost to transfer. Make a plan to pay off the balance during the 0% interest period; after it closes, the interest rate will jump up, usually to the credit card’s standard rate. 

Balance-transfer offers like these are usually limited to those with a FICO credit score of 670 or higher. For example, those with a strong credit score can get 0% interest for 21 months by transferring their balance to the U.S. Bank Visa Platinum card. 

If you don’t qualify for a generous balance transfer offer, try asking for a better deal on your current card. More than three- fourths of cardholders who asked their issuer for a lower interest rate were successful, according to a 2023 LendingTree survey. The average reduction was about six percentage points.

Manage student loans. Federal education loans have fixed rates, so changes in short-term interest rates won’t affect current payments. But you can make moves to keep your loan payments manageable. If you haven’t already, consider setting up automatic payments from your bank account to the loan servicer. This helps to ensure that your payments arrive on time, which contributes to a positive credit history and deflects late fees. 

It can also earn you some relief on interest. “Most lenders will offer you a quarter percent — or in some cases a half percent — interest rate reduction as an incentive to pay automatically,” says Mark Kantrowitz, author of How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid. 

Meanwhile, federal student loan borrowers should take note that now that the federal student loan payment pause has ended, and interest is accruing on loans again, you can claim the student loan interest deduction on your federal tax return. Depending on how much interest you pay, that deduction could save you a few hundred dollars or more in federal income taxes, Kantrowitz says. 

Borrowers saddled with student debt can also reduce their monthly loan payment by switching to an extended or income- driven repayment plan. These plans base your monthly payment on income and family size. But with some plans, you may ultimately pay more in interest over the life of the loan because the repayment period will be longer. 

However, with the new income-driven plan, SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education), the balance doesn’t grow from accrued interest as long as you make your payment in full each month. If the payment is not enough to cover the monthly interest on the loan, the government covers the rest of the interest that month. 

- Emma Patch

Build a healthy credit history

A strong credit profile is an important tool as you build wealth. A high credit score can help you nab a lower interest rate on a mortgage and other loans, and it can even affect your auto-insurance premium. 

Paying all of your bills on time is the most impactful move you can make to boost your credit score. To ensure that payments arrive by the date they’re due, you can set up automatic transfers from your bank account. If you already have overdue bills, pay them off as soon as possible. 

Another key credit-score component is your credit-utilization ratio — the percentage of available credit that you use on your credit cards. Keeping the ratio below 30% can help increase your credit score. And avoid applying for multiple credit cards at once. Every application results in a hard inquiry into your credit history, and multiple inquiries that appear on your credit report in a short time can negatively affect your score. 

Note that when you shop for the best rate on an auto loan or mortgage, credit-scoring company FICO counts the multiple inquiries that may result within a 45-day period as a single inquiry, minimizing the impact on your credit score. 

Review your credit report for fraud and errors. Incorrect or fraudulent information that appears on your credit report could damage your credit score, so you should review your reports regularly. At www.annualcreditreport.com, you can request free copies of your reports weekly from each of the major credit-reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion). 

Check your credit reports for errors and signs of fraud, such as unfamiliar accounts that were opened in your name. If you find any problems, you can file a dispute with each company that is reporting the erroneous information by visiting their websites. You should also notify the company that provided the information in question, such as a credit card issuer that is reporting an account you never opened. 

After you file a dispute, the credit-reporting company may contact the business that reported the incorrect information. If the business agrees it reported inaccurate information, it must notify the credit-reporting companies so they can fix your credit history.

Consider a credit freeze. A credit freeze blocks lenders from reviewing your credit file in response to an application for new credit, thwarting attempts by criminals to open loans or credit cards in your name. To place a freeze, you can create an online account with each of the major credit-reporting companies. Go to TransUnion, Experian or Equifax. You can lift the freeze as needed — say, when a potential lender, landlord or employer wants to perform a credit check.

- Ella Vincent

Buy a home (or not)

Homeownership has long been a pillar of building wealth, particularly in recent years. Property appreciation over the past decade has provided most homeowners with more than $100,000 in equity, according to a 2023 analysis by the National Association of Realtors. The largest wealth gains occurred in high-cost metropolitan areas, the NAR said. In the San Jose metro area, for example, low-income earners accumulated nearly $630,000 in equity over the past 10 years, while middle- income earners gained $643,000. 

But those homeowners benefited from historically low mortgage rates and a sharp rise in home values. Today, rising mortgage rates and a low supply of available homes have made owning a home out of reach for many potential home buyers and raised questions about whether homeownership is still a reliable way to build wealth. Although mortgage rates are dipping since the Fed started making cuts, it takes time and likely won't drop to as low rates as were recently seen.

Many financial planners say a home is still a good investment, offering advantages other assets lack. Making a monthly mortgage payment is a form of enforced saving, while providing you and your family with a place to live. A fixed-rate mortgage is a hedge against inflation because an economic environment of rising interest rates will never cause your payments to go up (and payments could go down if you’re able to refinance at a lower rate). And historically, home prices have risen in value, says David Haas, a certified financial planner in Franklin Lakes, N.J. “Homes are expensive, but it would take a pretty deep recession to decrease prices in any significant way,” he says. 

Home buyers also benefit from the ability to buy a six-figure (or seven-figure) asset with a 20% down payment, or as little as 3.5% if you qualify for a down payment assistance program. “It’s the use of leverage in homeownership that makes it so effective as a wealth-building tool for individuals,” says Ralph Bender, a CFP in Temecula, Calif. “When coupled with the benefits of living quarters, it’s hard to beat.”

Jennifer Anders, 35, of St. Augustine, says she and her boyfriend lived on a 35-foot sailboat for nearly four years so they could save up to buy a home. Rocket Mortgage preapproved them for a mortgage and helped them find a real estate agent, and they purchased a 1,500-square-foot, two-story home last September. They are paying an interest rate of 7.32% on their mortgage, but Anders is hoping to refinance to a 15-year mortgage when rates come down. 

“It’s a massive investment, but we want to be here in 20 years, and I think the value of this home will be well worth what we’re putting into it now,” she says.

That said, it’s usually a bad idea to buy a home if you think you’ll need to relocate in a couple of years, because you’re unlikely to recoup the up-front costs. And if you live in a high-cost area, homeownership, no matter how appealing, may be out of reach. Although the outlook for home buyers seems to be improving in 2024, many homeowners are unwilling to sell because they don’t want to give up locked-in mortgage rates of as low as 3%. That has reduced the supply of available homes and driven up competition — and prices — for those that are on the market.

If you’re a renter, you can still build wealth by funneling money you would have spent on a down payment and other home- related costs into retirement accounts and other savings vehicles. 

“I’ve never been a fan of touting homeownership as the primary way for a family or an individual to build wealth,” says Michael Hausknost, a CFP in Long Beach, Calif. “The best way to build wealth is still through saving, especially when you can do so in a tax-deferred vehicle.”

- Sandra Block

Check your insurance coverage

Ensuring that you have adequate insurance coverage is a key part of protecting the wealth you’ve worked to create. Use these general guidelines to check whether your coverage is on track; if you want more help determining your specific needs, enlist a financial adviser or insurance broker to run a review with you.  

Insuring your home. For many people, their home is their most valuable asset, so homeowners insurance is critical. Insurance agents and carriers have tools to help you determine what your policy’s coverage limits should be, factoring in the replacement value of your home and inflation, says Mark Friedlander, corporate communications director for the Insurance Information Institute.

As many homeowners — especially those in California and Florida — are finding out, securing property insurance at a reasonable price is becoming more of a challenge. Given the growing risks from the effects of climate change, including more-intense storms and wildfires, insurers are becoming increasingly selective about who they’ll cover. Some are using sophisticated tools to gauge risk — by reviewing satellite images to check where trees stand on your property and whether you have a trampoline, for example. 

“Insurers are taking a finer-tooth comb to their risk port-folios and making a lot of nips and tucks,” says Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders. 

You may be able to take steps that increase your ability to get insurance and lower your costs. Florida, for example, has a state program that offers homeowners up to $10,000 to help defray the costs of certain improvements to fortify their homes against storm damage. 

A peril that many homeowners overlook is flooding, which is not covered by standard homeowners insurance, Friedlander notes. While 90% of natural disasters involve floods, just 4% of homeowners have flood policies. If your home isn’t in an area designated as a flood zone, the cost of flood coverage “is very reasonable,” Friedlander says. 

If you rent your home, renters insurance to cover your belongings is well worth the price — typically about $15 to $20 a month, says Michael DeLong, insurance research and advocacy associate with the Consumer Federation of America.

Auto insurance. For vehicle liability insurance, Friedlander recommends drivers have $100,000 in liability coverage per person injured in an accident you cause, $300,000 in total liability coverage per accident for bodily injuries, and $100,000 per accident in liability coverage for damage you cause to other vehicles and property. 

Additionally, collision and comprehensive coverage insures your vehicle against damage from a collision with another object or from other causes, such as storms or flooding. If your vehicle is worth less than $5,000, consider dropping collision and comprehensive coverage to reduce your premium; the amount you’d be compensated for in a claim may be too small to make coverage worthwhile. 

Auto insurance premiums have been climbing, up by 20.6% in January 2024 from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. One way to reduce costs is to allow your insurer to track your driving habits via a mobile app or device that plugs into your car’s diagnostic port. If you demonstrate good driving habits, such as obeying traffic laws and braking safely, you may get a reduction in your premium.

Other coverage. You might want an umbrella policy, especially if you have significant assets or are vulnerable to exhausting your standard policies (say, because you have a swimming pool or a teenage driver). 

Umbrella insurance provides coverage if your homeowners or auto insurance claims exceed the liability limits of your existing policies, and it’s usually sold in increments of $1 million, up to $5 million. Generally, the yearly premium ranges from $200 to more than $1,000 for a high limit, with an average of about $380 per year for $1 million to $2 million of protection. 

Finally, financial planner Kara Sherman says not to overlook protecting intangible assets, such as your income. Failing to ensure that you have enough disability and life insurance could imperil the livelihood of you or your family if you pass away or become incapacitated. “Most people don’t look to get coverage beyond what they might have available through their group coverage at work,” says Sherman. You can get preliminary quotes from multiple insurers using websites such as AccuQuote.com, LifeQuotes.com and Policygenius.com.

- Elaine Silvestrini

Hire an adviser

As you accumulate wealth, you’ll probably have a lot of questions: Traditional IRA or a Roth? What’s the best portfolio allocation for my age and risk tolerance? Can I afford to retire early? 

A financial planner can help you answer these questions and prevent you from making decisions you may later regret. But good advice doesn’t come cheap. Many planners use a model known as assets under management, which bases fees on a percentage of the value of your port-folio. 

For example, if your portfolio is valued at $1 million and the planner charges a 1% AUM fee, you’ll pay $10,000 a year for the advice. In exchange, the planner will manage your investments and provide other services, such as tax planning. Typically, the AUM percentage charged declines as your portfolio grows.

This model may work well for individuals who have a large portfolio, but it’s probably not realistic for those who are just starting out (and some planners who use the AUM model won’t provide services for clients who have less than $1 million in assets). 

In that case, a planner who charges by the hour or on a subscription basis is probably a better choice. Firms in the Garrett Planning Network provide this type of service. You can expect to pay between $200 and $400 an hour, and some planners require a minimum number of hours. You can also use the Financial Planning Association’s tool to find planners who charge by the hour. 

Look for an adviser who is a fiduciary, which means the individual must look out for your best interests above his or her own. All certified financial planners are required to adhere to fiduciary standards, so limiting your search to CFPs is a good place to start. 

You should also understand how your planner will be paid. A fee-only planner’s compensation comes solely from the fees charged for advice. A fee-based planner will charge you for advice but may also earn commissions for selling you specific products, such as long-term-care insurance. 

If you have an account at a financial services firm, you may have access to financial planning advice, depending on the amount you have invested. T. Rowe Price, for example, provides clients who have at least $250,000 in their portfolios access to a certified financial planner for a fee of 0.5% of assets. 

If you’re primarily interested in guidance on how to invest your portfolio, you can get low-cost advice from a robo adviser. Robos use sophisticated computer programs to assemble and manage a portfolio, based on your age and risk tolerance. Management fees range from 0% to 0.85% of assets. For example, Vanguard’s basic robo service charges 0.15% of assets, with a minimum investment of $3,000.

- Sandra Block

Note: This item first appeared in Kiplinger Personal Finance Magazine, a monthly, trustworthy source of advice and guidance. Subscribe to help you make more money and keep more of the money you make here.

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