Empower Free Personal Dashboard & Up To 4.25% APY Cash Account

Anyone can take advantage of Empower’s robust financial tools (including retirement planning) and interest-earning Cash account, but you’ll need at least $100,000 in assets to access the company’s personalized Wealth Management service.

• Update 4/4/2023: The APY rate increased to 4.25%
• Update 2/18/2023: Personal Capital is now Empower.
• Update 2/7/2023: Their Cash Account APY is increased from 3.90% to 4.10%.
• Update 1/2/2023: Their $100 Visa Gift Card offer has returned. See below. The 6 months free offer has also been extended. Cash Account APY is also now up to 3.90% APY.
• Update 12/1/2022: The 6 months free wealth management offer has been extended to 12/31/2022. The $100 Visa Gift card offers has expired.

Empower.com provides a suite of free financial management tools, an interest-earning Cash account, and robo-advisor services with access to human financial advisors. But with all the portfolio management services out there, what makes Empower stand out? And is it right for you? Keep reading to find out.

FREE Empower Personal Dashboard^™

• View all of your accounts in a single secure location.
• Monitor your investments in real-time.
• Keep track of your net worth.
• More than 17 million customers trust us to help them achieve financial freedom.
• The Empower Personal Dashboard™ provides a smart way to manage and track your financial life.
• Access industry-leading financial tools and receive personal attention from registered financial advisors.

READ MORE: J.P. Morgan Self-Directed Investing Welcome Offer

Empower Cash Account Earns Up To 4.25% APY

The Empower Cash account earns 4.25% APY for Empower Investment Service, Wealth Management, and Private Client clients. This rate now rivals many of the best online savings accounts.

• Aggregate FDIC insurance up to $1.5 million
• Easy to use on the web, or the mobile app
• No fees
• Simplify your family finance with a joint account
• For large withdrawals, wire up to $1M with no fees
• Set up direct deposit for your paychecks
• Link to your checking for monthly bills
• Unlimited number of monthly transfers
• Withdraw up to $100K per day
• No minimum balance

READ MORE: Seeking Alpha Limited-Time Promo Discount

[Currently Unavailable] Empower Offer: 6 Months Free Wealth Management

Empower currently has an offer where you can get 6 months of their Wealth Management service for free. You’ll also get:

• A free Dashboard with a full suite of financial tools
• An in-depth consultation with their fiduciary advisors
• A personalized plan that’s yours to keep for free

[Currently Unavailable] Empower Offer: $100 Visa Gift Card

Empower currently has an offer where you can get a $100 Visa gift card.

• Sign up for our free, easy-to-use financial tools – including our Retirement Planner
• Link your bank and investment accounts
• Receive your free financial analysis after talking with an expert
• Treat yourself with your FREE $100 Visa^® gift card

Empower At-A-Glance

Account Minimum	Financial Tools: $0 Cash Account: $0 Wealth Management: $100,000
Fees	Financial Tools: None Cash Account: None Wealth Management: 0.49% – 0.89% AUM
Available Assets	ETFs, stocks, bonds, private equity
Access to Financial Advisors	Yes
Customer Support	Phone, email

READ MORE: The Motley Fool Promotions For Their Stock Picking Services

Empower Pros & Cons

PROS:

• Free budgeting tools
• Free investment management tools
• Free retirement planning
• Customized financial planning
• Access to dedicated financial planners
• Advanced tax optimization strategy
• Individual securities available

CONS:

• Free services require a phone call
• High account minimum for advisory services
• High Wealth Management fee

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What Makes Empower Unique?

Empower provides three main services: financial tools, a Cash account, and Wealth Management. You can use the platform to manage your finances and earn interest on your deposits without having to pay a dime. If you have $100,000 in assets to manage, and you’re willing to pay the fees, you also have the option to unlock the company’s Wealth Management features.

Financial Tools

Empower provides a 360-degree view of your finances. The dashboard displays all your accounts in one place, such as your various investments, as well as net worth, cash flow, and much more. Other free financial management tools include:

• Budgeting. Automatically organize your spending and savings by date and category and see if you’re going under or over your monthly spending target.
• Savings Planner. See how much you should save to reach your emergency fund, debt repayment, retirement, and other financial goals.
• Retirement Planner. Find out if you’re on track to retire by your target date. You can fiddle around with different scenarios to see what you can do to improve your chances of reaching your retirement goals.
• Investment Checkup. See how well your investments are performing and how they could do better, including ways to increase returns and lower risk.
• Fee Analyzer. Find hidden fees in your mutual funds, investing, and retirement accounts.
• Education Planner. Figure out how much you should be saving right now to cover future education costs.

There is no need to enroll in the company’s paid advisory service for any of the above tools. Simply link your financial accounts to the platform, and you’re good to go.

Empower Cash Account

Cash account holders earn an APY (see rate above) that is higher than most traditional checking and savings accounts, and there is no minimum balance requirement.

With a Cash account, you can wire up to $1 million without fees, set up direct deposit for your paychecks, and pay your bills by linking to your checking. You can make an unlimited number of monthly transfers and withdraw up to $100,000 daily.

The Cash program also offers up to an aggregate of $1.5 million in FDIC insurance coverage. That’s much higher than the standard $250,000 that most banks offer.

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Empower Wealth Management

If you sign up for Empower Wealth Management, you have access to financial professionals who can answer any investment or retirement questions you have. They can help you set up a comprehensive financial plan, evaluate how well you’re meeting your goals, and give advice on what to do when your life circumstances change. As your financial situation and goals evolve, your financial advisor will be there to adjust your portfolio and guide you as needed.

Wealth Management provides a customized Personal Strategy, which is a diversified, multi-asset portfolio of stocks and ETFs, created exclusively for you and your financial goals. It includes portfolio rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and smart weighting.

Smart weighting is a portfolio selection process that invests equally in all sectors, instead of mirroring an index like the S&P 500.

The company also offers socially responsible investing portfolios that feature companies with high ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) standards.

All portfolios are designed by a team of expert strategists. Key contributors include Harry Markowitz, who is famous for his modern portfolio theory, and leading behavioral economist Shlomo Benartzi. Portfolio construction takes into account the following:

Wealth Management clients also get a “Financial Roadmap” with prioritized actionable tasks to achieve all your financial goals. It takes your account and loan information to develop a to-do list and recommendations. As your situation changes, your Financial Roadmap will also change.

Another Wealth Management feature is Smart Withdrawal. This tool helps you spend your retirement savings optimally by staying on top of your budget, minimizing your taxes, and keeping your portfolio in tip-top shape long after you retire.

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Empower Pricing & Fees

The Empower Cash account comes with handy tools for tracking your finances and managing your money. It’s free to open and use.

If you want personalized investment management services, holistic wealth management, and access to financial advisors, opt for the Wealth Management service. It does, however, come with a cost, 0.49% to 0.89% of assets under management (AUM) to be exact:

AUM	FEE
First $1 million	0.89%
$1 to $3 million	0.79%
Next $2 million	0.69%
Next $5 million	0.59%
Over $10 million	0.49%

Wealth management, trade costs, and custody are all included. There are no additional trade commissions.

READ MORE: Public.com Bonus Offer Gets You Free Stock Shares

How Empower Works

To register with Empower, you need to provide your email address, choose a password, and submit your phone number and date of birth. The company requires you to schedule and complete a call with a financial advisor that will cover the platform’s service(s) that interest you.

After that, you can securely link your financial accounts to Empower, such as bank, investment, debt, credit card, home mortgage accounts, and much more. Once that’s done, you can access the platform’s free financial tools and reports.

For Wealth Management members, you will proceed with the intake questionnaire which covers your financial situation and goals, as well as risk appetite. An advisor will review your current investments and your completed intake, then present you with a personal financial strategy.

Wealth Management is offered in three tiers:

TIER	FEATURES
Investment Services ($100k – $200k in assets)	Financial planning Personalized portfolio of ETFs Digital planning tools Human advisors
Wealth Management ($200k – $1 million in assets)	Customized portfolio with individual stocks & ETFs Tax optimization strategies Access to financial specialists 2 dedicated advisors
Private Client (over $1 million in assets)	Private equity investments ($5 mil in assets) Access to wealth & retirement specialists Priority access to Investment Committee & specialists

Financial advisors are available via phone, email, or video chat, Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.

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Empower Education

Daily Capital is the company’s educational blog. It includes hundreds of informative articles and guides on topics like personal finance, investing and market, financial planning, news, and much more. Beginners will appreciate actionable articles like “how to reduce taxable income,” while more sophisticated investors will enjoy Empower’s white paper posts and research.

Customer Support & Security

Empower offers customer support via phone and email, Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm PST. Virtual and in-person (California, Denver, Dallas, and Atlanta) meetings with a financial advisor are also available.

To keep your information safe, login data is encrypted and inaccessible to company employees. The platform utilizes two-factor authentication, bank-level firewalls, and 256-bit AES data encryption. Their website’s encryption is rated A+ by Qualys SSL Labs, which is a stronger rating than most big banks and major brokerages.

In addition, Empower sends daily transaction emails so you can verify your activity, and accounts are protected by FDIC and SIPC insurance.

READ MORE: Bank of America Checking Account Bonus Offer

Empower Disadvantages

As we mentioned at the start of this review, Empower requires an account minimum of $100,000, which makes it inaccessible for most people. Other online financial advisors offer their services with much lower minimums, such as E*Trade ($500) and Betterment ($0).

Empower also charges a high management fee of up to 0.89%. That’s much more than what other leading robo-advisors charge, including Betterment (up to 0.40%) and Wealthfront (0.25%).

Is Empower A Good Fit For You?

Empower Wealth Management is a good fit for affluent investors looking for comprehensive financial planning, qualified financial advisors, and a high standard of service. The large account minimum and high fees, unfortunately, puts the robo-advisor service out of reach for “regular” folks.

That said, if you’re interested in free, powerful financial tools or an interest-earning Cash Account, Empower is a solid option.

Read more: If you don’t have $100k in assets to manage, check out Vanguard, Betterment, or Wealthfront. All three have low or zero minimum balance requirements. See the best robo-advisors here.

READ MORE: SEE THE BEST BANK BONUSES HERE AND THE BEST INVESTING BONUSES HERE.

Empower Personal Wealth, LLC (“EPW”) compensates MoneysMyLife for new leads. MoneysMyLife is not an investment client of Personal Capital Advisors Corporation or Empower Advisory Group, LLC.