Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Get answers to the most commonly asked questions about Schwab Intelligent Portfolios®.
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios FAQs
Getting started
You can open a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account with a minimum of $5,000.
Log in to your account and choose Transfer Money. Select an existing account or add a non-Schwab account for transfers. To add a new account, you'll need your routing and account number. In addition to making a one-time deposit, Transfer Money is also where you can set up a recurring deposit.
You can have the following account types:
- Taxable: Individual, Joint Tenant, Tenants in Common, Community Property, Custodial, Revocable Living Trust
- Tax-Advantaged: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, Inherited IRA, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA
Of course! After considering your options, you can choose a Rollover or Roth IRA account. These rollovers are as simple as contacting your former employer plan administrator or custodian and telling them you want a direct rollover of your plan assets.
Next Steps
- Complete any forms required by your plan administrator or custodian.
- Decide how you want your retirement assets distributed.
- Your Schwab rollover specialist can assist you with questions depositing funds into your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios IRA.
Tips:
- To prevent funds from being taxed, the check should be made payable to "Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., FBO (Your Name)."
- For an easy deposit, give your employer your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios IRA account number and ask them to include it on the check.
- Instruct your plan administrator or custodian to mail the check to: Omaha Operations Center, PO Box 2339, Omaha, NE 68103.
If you need help, give us a call at 866-855-9102 to talk to a Rollover Consultant. If you are currently a Schwab Plan participant, please call 800-724-7526.
First, you should identify if you want to enroll a taxable or tax-advantaged account into Schwab Intelligent Portfolios. You can see the types of accounts commonly used below. You will need to have this information when you are completing the online questionnaire to receive a portfolio recommendation.
- Taxable: Individual, Joint Tenant, Tenants in Common, Community Property, Custodial, Revocable Living Trust
- Tax-Advantaged: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, Inherited IRA, SEP-IRA, SIMPLE IRA
To start the process, log in. Select Open Account in the left rail. You will enter the online questionnaire to build your portfolio. After you answer all the questions, you will receive a portfolio recommendation. On the next page, select Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, and you will begin the account enrollment process. You will be presented with two options—"Open a new account" or "Enroll an existing Schwab account." Select the latter. On the next page, you will have the ability to select the Schwab account you would like to enroll. Once you follow the prompts to review the appropriate disclosures, your account will be enrolled into Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, and your funds will likely be liquidated from your existing Schwab account and invested into your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account within 3-5 days.
Note: If you are interested in a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium® account, you'll first need to enroll in a Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account, and then select "Explore Premium" in the left navigation after login.
Transactions (e.g., account closures) can take up to five business days to process. Processing times are also noted in the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions Brokerage Agreement.
If your goals are long term or haven't changed, it's a good idea to stay the course. However, if you still want to change your portfolio allocation, you can review and update your portfolio by retaking the questionnaire online. After login, click the Profile tab and select Review Profile, and then adjust your answers based on your new risk tolerance.
You can withdraw cash at any time by logging in to your account and requesting a transfer to another Schwab brokerage or Schwab bank account, or to another financial institution. Funds will be available immediately unless the amount that you request to withdraw exceeds the cash allocation in your portfolio. If the withdrawal requires the sale of ETFs to provide the requested cash, the availability of the funds will be delayed until the sale transactions have settled. The processing and settlement takes between 4-6 business days.
After your withdrawal, your portfolio will rebalance as needed to reach its target asset allocation. Your withdrawal may also cause your account to be ineligible for tax-loss harvesting if you have enrolled in the service and your account falls below the minimum.
No, beneficiaries are unique to each account number. You will need to establish new beneficiary instructions for any account you open.
Log in to Schwab.com and navigate to Service > My Profile > Beneficiaries. On this page you can manage your beneficiaries for your eligible accounts.
Costs & fees
You pay no advisory fee and no commissions. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Portfolio construction & ETFs
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a basket of securities that gives you exposure to a particular asset class, industry, commodity, or region. We like them because they offer similar diversification as an index mutual fund but unlike index mutual funds, ETFs can be traded at any time during the day. ETFs also offer exposure to a greater breadth of markets, are more transparent in terms of their underlying holdings, and tend to be more tax efficient and low cost.
Both Schwab ETFs™ and third-party ETFs are filtered through a carefully selected set of stringent criteria. This ensures that all ETFs chosen for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios deliver both diversity and cost efficiency.
These selection criteria help pare down more than 2,000 ETFs to the 51 that could potentially be part of your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account. So, let's examine those criteria and see how that works.
Eschewing risk. Any nonstandard ETFs are eliminated—that is, ETFs that are inverse and leveraged, actively managed, that invest only in one country, or those that have less than three months of history, among other factors.
Size matters. Next, all ETFs without sufficient assets under management are stripped out, because ETFs without sufficient assets are at greater risk of closing.
Monitoring consistency. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios ETFs must closely track the indexes our asset allocation models are based on. This measure is not whether the fund outperforms the benchmark, but rather the degree to which it approximates the index and is a good representation of the asset class.
Low OERs are key. Finally, the selection process focuses on ETFs with low operating expense ratios (OERs) while also meeting the size, tracking, and bid-ask spread criteria. (Source: "ETFs: What They Are and How They Can Fit Into Your Investment Portfolio," Wall Street Journal.)
After the ETFs are chosen, Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM) monitors their performance quarterly. CSIM also reviews the ETF selection annually to make sure the ETFs available for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios continue to meet the criteria described above and can provide consistency and diversity.
Please visit the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Selection Process page for more information and a representative list of ETFs used in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.
Asset allocation is the foundation of every well-constructed investment portfolio and is at the heart of the advice we at Schwab give when advising clients on their total portfolio. Because it is so important, we have dedicated an entire team of Charles Schwab Investment Management (CSIM)–experienced analysts to continually use state-of-the-art research and evolve our approach to creating asset allocations designed to improve outcomes for individual investors.
Learn More:
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios® Asset Allocation White Paper
The appropriate asset allocation differs from person to person depending on their situation, risk tolerance, and time frame for their investing goals. The table below shows a sample asset allocation for three individual investors ranging from aggressive to conservative.
- Investor 1: A 30-year-old who sees herself as aggressive and is saving for retirement. This investor clearly has a long investment horizon (both for starting to withdraw from this portfolio and the period over which she would need to withdraw). The primary goal is capital appreciation (growth), and her investment strategy is Global Aggressive Growth with Taxable Bonds.
- Investor 2: A 40-year-old father whose tolerance for fluctuations in his portfolio value is above average and is using this account to save for the college expenses of his 3-year-old twins. His goal is a combination of capital appreciation, income and being somewhat defensive. His investment strategy is Global Moderate Growth with Taxable Bonds.
- Investor 3: A tax-sensitive 65-year-old retired investor who is living off her portfolio and wants to reduce portfolio volatility. Her primary goal is to generate adequate income starting now, with some potential for capital appreciation to sustain the portfolio over a long term. Her investment strategy is Income Focused Moderately Conservative with National Muni Bonds.
|
Investor 1 |
Investor 2 |
Investor 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Stocks |
86.0% |
57.0% |
25.0% |
US Large Company Stocks |
10.0% |
10.0% |
0.0% |
US High Dividend Stocks |
0.0% |
0.0% |
11.0% |
US Large Fundamental |
15.0% |
7.0% |
0.0% |
US Small Company Stocks |
6.0% |
7.0% |
0.0% |
US Small Fundamental |
10.0% |
5.0% |
0.0% |
International Developed Large Company Stocks |
6.0% |
4.0% |
0.0% |
International Developed Large Fundamental |
9.0% |
5.0% |
0.0% |
International Developed Small Company Stocks |
4.0% |
2.0% |
0.0% |
International Developed Small Fundamental |
6.0% |
4.0% |
0.0% |
International High Dividend Stocks |
0.0% |
0.0% |
11.0% |
International Emerging Market Stocks |
6.0% |
4.0% |
0.0% |
International Emerging Market Fundamental |
10.0% |
7.0% |
0.0% |
US Exchange Traded REITs |
2.0% |
1.0% |
2.0% |
International Exchange Traded REITs |
2.0% |
1.0% |
1.0% |
|
Investor 1 |
Investor 2 |
Investor 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Fixed Income |
5.1% |
31.5% |
60.0% |
US Treasuries |
0.0% |
2.0% |
0.0% |
US Investment Grade Corporate Bonds |
0.0% |
12.0% |
0.0% |
US Securitized Bonds |
0.0% |
3.0% |
0.0% |
US Inflation Protected Bonds |
0.0% |
12.5% |
2.0% |
International Developed Country Bonds |
0.0% |
0.0% |
2.0% |
US Corporate High Yield Bonds |
0.0% |
1.0% |
1.0% |
International Emerging Market Bonds |
0.0% |
1.0% |
3.0% |
Investment Grade Muni Bonds |
5.1% |
0.0% |
49.0% |
Preferred Stocks |
0.0% |
0.0% |
1.0% |
Bank Loan and other Floating Rate Notes |
0.0% |
0.0% |
2.0% |
|
Investor 1 |
Investor 2 |
Investor 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Commodities |
2.0% |
1.0% |
0.0% |
Gold & Other Precious Metals |
2.0% |
1.0% |
0.0% |
|
Investor 1 |
Investor 2 |
Investor 3 |
---|---|---|---|
Cash |
6.9% |
10.5% |
15.0% |
Learn more by visiting this asset allocation white paper.
Cash investments play an important role within a well-diversified portfolio and serve several purposes, including:
- Greater stability
- Liquidity
- Diversification
- Potential inflation protection
A cash allocation provides stability to help mitigate downside risk. Lower portfolio risk can help moderate downturns and keep investors focused on their longer-term goals. Cash allocations are determined according to an investor's risk profile, with the most risk-averse or short-term portfolios holding the highest levels of cash and the least risk-averse or longer-term ones holding the lowest levels of cash.
Cash in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios provides an additional layer of stability in the form of FDIC insurance of up to $250,000 per depositor, as it is "swept" into deposit accounts at Schwab Bank, where it also earns a market rate of interest for highly liquid cash investments.
Portfolio management
An automated system monitors your portfolio closely—this includes:
- Rebalancing as needed: Your portfolio won't trade every day; however, we perform daily check-ins. When an asset class exceeds its allocated portion in your portfolio, the excess ETF shares are sold, and the proceeds are used to buy positions that have fallen below their target percentage; this keeps your portfolio consistent with your Investor Profile.
- Professional oversight: Periodic evaluations are performed to ensure that your asset allocation represents the right mix of risk and return. The ETFs included in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios are also evaluated to ensure that they continue to meet the stringent selection criteria.
- Tax-loss harvesting: If you have an account with $50,000 or more in assets, and you've elected to automate tax-loss harvesting, your account will be tracked daily for opportunities to offset capital gains by strategically realizing losses.
Every portfolio has a target asset allocation—a combination of stocks, bonds, commodities and cash determined by the investor's stated goals, risk tolerance and time horizon. Over time, however, contributions/withdrawals, gains, and losses cause your portfolio to stray from the original target and become unbalanced.
The solution is rebalancing—the act of periodically buying or selling assets to restore your portfolio to its original target allocations. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios automatically rebalances accounts thanks to an algorithm that adjusts your account when an asset class shifts above or below its target range.
Learn More:
Rebalancing and Tax-Loss Harvesting in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
Automatic rebalancing is designed to keep your portfolio's asset allocation consistent over time so that it stays aligned with your intended risk level. When markets are calm, your portfolio may trade infrequently. But when markets are volatile, a portfolio can see multiple rebalancing trades in a short timeframe.
Also, clients with taxable accounts over $50,000 can enroll in tax-loss harvesting to help offset capital gains — up to $3,000 of ordinary income, if your losses exceed your gains for the year. During the recent turbulence, tax-loss harvesting trades also surged. Remember that these trades are a silver lining to your investment losses.
Tax-loss harvesting can help offset capital gains and lower your taxable income by automatically selling an ETF that has fallen enough below the price you paid for it and replacing it with an alternate ETF in the same asset class to keep your portfolio's allocation consistent.
Periods of elevated market volatility highlight the potential benefit of tax-loss harvesting as the number of these trades have historically surged when markets turn turbulent. The goal of the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios algorithm is to maintain a portfolio that closely tracks the investor's strategic asset allocation and captures tax-deductible losses while generally preventing wash sales in your account. As it's a complicated and time-consuming process, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios has automated this process.
Learn more:
Rebalancing and Tax-Loss Harvesting in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios
The Sweep Program is a feature that allows for the cash allocation in your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account to earn interest by being "swept" to an FDIC-insured deposit account at Schwab Bank. 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. You can view the cash allocation on your portfolio dashboard at Intelligent.Schwab.com. You can withdraw cash from your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account at any time by logging in to your account and requesting a transfer.
For taxable accounts, the wash sale rule is a sale and then repurchase of the same security over a 30-day period which disallows the loss for tax deduction purposes. During times of market volatility, trading increases both for account rebalancing and tax-loss harvesting purposes. Because of this, when clients adjust their risk after a trading event has occurred, there could be certain securities within their portfolio that do not trade immediately in order to comply with this tax code. However, the trade instruction remains in the account and is executed as soon as possible.
Learn more
Watch Out for Wash Sales
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium FAQs
Pricing and Minimums
- Minimum amount to start your plan: $25,000
- You may open multiple accounts within your plan to meet different financial goals: $5,000 minimum per account
- 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.
- Commissions: None charged
- 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 cash deposit at Schwab Bank. Some cash alternatives outside of the program pay a higher yield. See more information below.
To enroll in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, you need to have a minimum of $25,000, though these assets may be held across multiple Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium accounts. The minimum for each account is $5,000. If the balance across all your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium accounts falls below the $25,000 minimum, you could be unenrolled from Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium and lose online access to your plan and planning tools, as well as access to a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
- The one-time planning fee of $300 will be charged upon confirming your first CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional meeting.
- A $30/month advisory fee will incur 90 days after confirming your first CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional meeting, billed quarterly. The monthly fee allows you to continue to have access to a CFP® professional, your digital financial plan, and online planning tools.
Working with a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional
A CFP® professional will meet with you to discuss what you've entered into the planning tool, address any open questions you may have, provide personalized guidance, and create a detailed Action Plan outlining the steps to take in pursuit of your financial goals.
While many may call themselves "financial planners," a CFP® professional has successfully completed the CFP Board's rigorous and ongoing certification requirements. A CFP® professional understands the complexities of financial planning and makes recommendations in your best interest.
After you log in, you can use the online scheduler to set up a phone or video chat appointment. If you need to reschedule, simply click the "reschedule" link in either the confirmation email or your online dashboard, and reschedule your appointment for a more convenient time.
While we can't guarantee you'll meet with the same CFP® professional each time, rest assured every member of the team is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. We'll have all of your information at the ready, making it easy to pick up where you left off in your last appointment.
Whether you meet by phone or video chat, the CFP® professional will review the information you entered in the online planning tool, discuss your personal situation, and create a customized Action Plan for you to follow in pursuit of your goals. Ongoing, a CFP® professional will be available to you for annual check-ins or when your goals or needs change.
The initial meeting lasts about an hour. Check-ins last about 30 minutes.
A CFP® professional will contact you by phone at the scheduled date and time. When logged in to Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium you will see a "Join Meeting" button in the Appointment Details section 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting. The button will change to "Meet Now" 5 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. You may then access the virtual meeting room. Since the CFP® professional will contact you by phone, you do not need to connect audio in the video conference session.
If applicable, we recommend involving your partner or spouse. Also, have the documents you used to complete the online planning tool on hand for discussion during the appointment. If you connect to your financial accounts automatically, it may still be helpful to have your documents on hand. Review the checklist so you're prepared to make the most of your appointment. You'll need:
- Investment account statements
- Recent paychecks
- Recent tax returns
- Employee retirement account information
- If applicable: Social Security statements
- Annual statement or policy summary on life insurance: type, premium, coverage expiration dates
- Basic estate planning information such as will, trust, etc.
We recommend meeting with a CFP® professional at least once a year. However, you can schedule an appointment whenever you need financial advice or would like to update your plan.
Financial Planning
At Charles Schwab, we believe every investor deserves a financial plan as unique as they are. Between saving for retirement, kids' college educations, large purchases, and home improvement—it's easy to feel pulled in many directions. A comprehensive financial plan takes into account your entire financial picture and can act as a map for how you might go about creating and reaching your financial goals. Having a plan can help you be more confident that you are prepared to weather the ups and downs along the way.
A comprehensive financial plan is like having a roadmap to help you reach your financial goals. It takes into account all aspects of your financial life—income, expenses, investments, college savings, retirement planning, and more. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium is unique in that it combines personal guidance from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional with our online planning tool.
Planning Tool
Simply open the secure online planning tool and begin by identifying your goals. As you move through the process, you can play with different scenarios to help you see the potential impacts of your choices. You can do it all at your own pace, saving what you've entered and coming back when you're ready. For the best experience, we recommend that you:
- Involve your partner or spouse, if applicable
- Use a laptop or desktop computer
- Have access to all your financial accounts (or you can connect to your existing accounts automatically)
You can get started with the planning tool in as little as 15 minutes. The more thorough and accurate the information you provide, the better a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional can advise you.
Yes, the information you enter in the online planning tool is automatically saved as you go, so you can easily pick up where you left off at any time. Your information will be saved for 60 days from when you start using the online planning tool.
Yes, you can easily and securely link to your existing accounts at over 11,000 financial institutions. The types of accounts you can connect to include brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, 529 accounts, annuities, checking and savings accounts, credit card accounts, and loans.
Portfolios and Accounts
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios offers strictly algorithm-based portfolio management. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium additionally offers comprehensive financial planning with guidance from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and access to online planning tools for a one-time planning fee of $300 and just a $30/month advisory fee after that. There is also a $25,000 minimum investment. 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 cash deposit at Schwab Bank. Some cash alternatives outside of the program pay a higher yield. See more information below.
You can open any of these types of accounts:
- Brokerage: Individual, Joint Tenant with Rights of Survivorship, Tenants in Common, Community Property, Custodial
- Revocable Living Trust: Single Trustee, Two Trustees
- Retirement: Roth IRA, Traditional IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, Inherited IRA
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios uses an advanced algorithm and the professional insight of the Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM) team. You'll get a diversified portfolio composed of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), all handpicked by CSIM. Portfolios are constructed from about 20 asset classes across stocks, fixed income, real estate, and commodities, as well as an FDIC-insured cash component—so they're truly diversified. After the ETFs are chosen, the experts at CSIM monitor their performance on an ongoing basis.
Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. ("CSIM"), dba Schwab Asset Management®, is a registered investment adviser and an affiliate of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"). CSIM dedicates an entire team of experienced analysts to continually researching and evolving CSIM's approach to creating asset allocations designed to improve outcomes for individual investors. CSIM provides portfolio management services for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a portfolio of securities, such as stocks or bonds, and it trades intraday on an exchange. Generally, a low-cost way to build a diversified portfolio, an ETF can provide diversified exposure to a particular segment of the market, to a specific industry, or to a particular geographical region.
Rebalancing is the act of periodically buying or selling assets to restore your portfolio to its original target allocation range. Schwab Intelligent Portfolios automatically rebalances accounts by using an advanced algorithm that adjusts your account when an asset class shifts above or below its target range. Every portfolio has a target asset allocation—a combination of stocks, bonds, commodities, and cash determined by stated goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Over time, contributions, withdrawals, gains, and losses cause a portfolio to stray from the original target and become unbalanced.
Tax-loss harvesting is a strategy that seeks to postpone capital gains by offsetting them with capital losses. Your portfolio(s) will be monitored for tax-loss harvesting opportunities—examining not only a loss itself, but also your cost basis for tax purposes, as well as the amount of time you've held the position. You must have at least $50,000 in an individual Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account to be eligible for automatic tax-loss harvesting, should you choose to enroll.
Tax‐loss harvesting is available for clients with invested assets of $50,000 or more in their account. Clients must choose to activate this feature. The tax‐loss harvesting feature available with Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions is subject to limitations which are described on the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions website and mobile application (collectively, the "Website") as well as in the Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Solutions disclosure brochure and the Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. disclosure brochure (the "Brochures"). You should consider whether to activate the tax‐loss harvesting feature based on your particular circumstances and the potential impact tax‐loss harvesting may have on your tax situation. Please read the tax‐loss harvesting disclosures on the Website and in the Brochures before choosing it. Neither the tax‐loss harvesting strategy nor any discussion herein is intended as tax advice, and neither Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. nor its affiliates, including but not limited to Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., represents that any particular tax consequences will be obtained. For more information please visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov.
The Sweep Program is a feature that allows for the cash allocation in your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios account to earn interest by being "swept" into an FDIC-insured deposit account at Schwab Bank. 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. You can view the cash allocation on your portfolio dashboard.
You can withdraw cash at any time by logging in to your account and requesting a transfer to another Schwab brokerage or Schwab bank account, or to another financial institution. Funds will be available immediately unless the amount that you request to withdraw exceeds the cash allocation in your portfolio. If the withdrawal requires the sale of ETFs to provide the requested cash, the availability of the funds will be delayed until the sale transactions have settled. The processing and settlement takes between 4-6 business days.
After your withdrawal, your portfolio will rebalance as needed to reach its target asset allocation. Your withdrawal may also cause your account to be ineligible for tax-loss harvesting if you have enrolled in the service and your account falls below the minimum. If the balance across all your Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium accounts falls below the $25,000 minimum, you could lose access to your financial plan and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional.
Satisfaction Guarantee
We believe every investor deserves to work with a firm they can count on. At Schwab, our commitment to you is backed by a Satisfaction Guarantee. If for any reason you're not completely satisfied, we'll refund any eligible fee and work with you to make things right. You won't find that kind of promise everywhere. But you will find it here.
Schwab Satisfaction Guarantee: If you are not completely satisfied for any reason, at your request Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. ("Schwab"), Charles Schwab Bank, SSB ("Schwab Bank"), or another Schwab affiliate, as applicable, will refund any eligible fee related to your concern. Refund requests must be received within 90 days of the date the fee was charged. Two kinds of "Fees" are eligible for this guarantee: (1) "Program Fees" for the Schwab Wealth Advisory ("SWA"), Schwab Managed Portfolios™ ("SMP"), Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium® ("SIP Premium"), and Managed Account Connection® ("Connection") investment advisory services sponsored by Schwab (together, the "Participating Services"); and (2) commissions and fees listed in the Charles Schwab Pricing Guide for Individual Investors or the Charles Schwab Bank Pricing Guide.
For more information about Program Fees, please see the disclosure brochure for the Participating Service, made available at enrollment or any time at your request. The Connection service includes only accounts managed by Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc., an affiliate of Schwab. The guarantee does not cover Program Fees for accounts managed by investment advisors who are not affiliated with Schwab or managed by Schwab-affiliated advisors outside of the SWA, SMP, SIP Premium, and Connection services.
The guarantee is only available to current clients. Refunds will only be applied to the account charged and will be credited within approximately four weeks of a valid request. No other charges or expenses, and no market losses will be refunded. Other restrictions may apply. Schwab reserves the right to change or terminate the guarantee at any time.
Security and Privacy
We take your security and privacy seriously. When you interact with our website, we use a number of safeguards to protect your information. We continuously monitor our systems, and we work with government agencies, law enforcement, and other financial services firms to address potential threats. Our sites also use multilayered protections beyond login name and password before granting access to an account. Learn more about our security and privacy measures.
Schwab Intelligent Income FAQs
Common questions
There are no additional fees for the Schwab Intelligent Income feature. To enroll, you must have a minimum of $5,000 per account for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios or a minimum of $25,000 for Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium, though these assets may be held across multiple Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium accounts.
Yes, Schwab Intelligent Income is designed to help you make predictable tax-smart withdrawals across multiple accounts, including taxable, IRA and Roth accounts. Most account types that can be used in Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium can be enrolled in Schwab Intelligent Income, with the exception of Custodial and Inherited IRAs and Joint Accounts.
Yes, Schwab Intelligent Income is a feature of Schwab Intelligent Portfolios and Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Premium.
When the time is right and you need to set up your recurring withdrawal, you decide how much you want distributed and the frequency of the distribution and provide an account—generally a checking or savings account—where you would like the money to be transferred.
You are able to choose the frequency and deposit account to suit your needs. You can set up Schwab Intelligent Income to make withdrawals on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis and are able to direct your withdrawals to the account of your choosing. And of course, you can start, stop, or adjust your withdrawals at any time without penalty.
No, your withdrawals are not guaranteed and due to various factors, you may need to adjust your recurring withdrawal amount to help reach your goal. If you need or would like guaranteed income, please contact us at 855-694-5208 to help find the right product for you.
You will be invested in a diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on your goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Our advanced technology will help monitor and automatically rebalance your portfolio, keep you diversified and on track, and may help to offset your taxes on your investment gains if you enroll in automatic tax-loss harvesting.
When you contact us, we're there 24/7.
Any time you have questions, you can get in touch with a Schwab professional.