SoFi Technologies Inc. (SOFI) is a financial technology (fintech) company founded in 2011. It operates a digital platform offering a range of financial products and services, including loans, savings and checking accounts, and credit cards. The company also offers brokerage services, including a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:robo-advisory service that provides automated, algorithm-driven financial planning with little to no human supervision.

SoFi Overview

SoFi’s robo-advisory service manages customer portfolios of stocks, bonds, and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:exchange-traded funds (ETFs). SoFi does not offer mutual funds, however, investors can use🌊 the company’s large selection of ETFs issued by other companies to build a Roth IRA or other kinds of portfolios.

SoFi, through its subsidiary SoFi Wealth, has assets under management (AUM) of approximately $943.52 million as of July 24, 2024.

SoFi provides 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:discount brokerage services through SoFi Invest, which encompasses two subsidiaries under the following names and focusing on the following services: SoFi Wealth LLC, automated investing and advisory and SoFi Securities LLC, active investing and brokerage. There was a third, SoFi Digital Assets LLC which handled cryptocurrency trading, but had to close accounts by the end of the first quarter in 2024 due to a conflict in banking regulations.

SoFi Invest enables investors to actively trade stocks and ETFs. They also can take a more passive approach and have SoFi manage a diversified portfolio for them with no management fee. SoFi also allows in♏vestors to save for retirement with various retirement account options.

Investors in the United States have access to several 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:tax-advantaged saving plans offered by a broad range of other financia🐼l services companies, including 401(k)s, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and Roth IRAs.

The main difference between a Roth IRA and a traditional IRA is that the former is funded with after-tax dollars. That means that 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:contributions to Roth IRAs are not tax deductible, as they are with traditional IRAs. But unlike a traditional IRA, where withdrawn funds are taxed, a Roth IRA allows investors to withdraw funds tax-free.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Vanguard ﷽Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)

• Expense Ratio: 0.03% (as of April 26, 2024)
• Assets Under Management: $1.7 trillion (as of Aug. 31, 2023)
• One-Year Total Return: 26.04 (as of Sept. 12, 2024)
• 12-Month Trailing (TTM) Yield: 1.32% (as of Sept. 12, 2024)
• Inception Date: May 24, 2001

VTI i𝄹s an ETF that aims to track the performance of the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index, an index composed of thousands of stocks across the market capitalization spectrum and which represents approximately 100% of the U.S. investable equity market. The fund provides broad, diversified exposure to the U.S. equit🅘y market.

Of the ETF’s 3,673 holdings, 67.7% are large-cap stocks, 4.0% are somewhere between mid-cap and large-cap, 13.9% are mid-cap, 6.2% are between small-cap and mid-cap, and 8.2% are small-cap. The average market cap within the fund is $837.8 billion. Portfolio composition is as of July 31, 2024.

A single broad stock fund is normally sufficient for most investors looking to build a long-term portfolio for retirement. A total stock market fund, like VTI, is preferable to an S&P 500 index fund because it offers greater diversification by providing exposure to small-cap and mid-cap stocks in addition to large caps. The iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF (ITOT) and the Schwab U.S. Broad Market ETF (SCHB) are also inexpensive alternatives. But VTI has more holdings, making it more diversified than the other two.

A broad-based equity fund like VTI carries a certain degree of risk, but it also provides investors with fairly strong growth opportunities. For many investors, this ETF may act as the foundation of a well-diversified investment portfolio. However, for those with a very low 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:risk tolerance or who are approaching retirement, a more income-orien🗹ted portfolio may be a better option.

BNY Mellon Core Bond ETF (BKAG)

• Expense Ratio: 0.00%
• Assets Under Management: $1.87 billion (as of Sept. 12, 2024)
• One-Year Trailing Total Return: 9.86% (as of Sept. 12, 2024)
• 12-Month Trailing (TTM) Yield: 3.79% (as of Sept. 12, 2024)
• Inception Date: April 22, 2020

BKAG is a passively managed ETF that aims to track the performance of the Bloomberg US Aggregate Total Return Index, a broad-based benchmark that gauges the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market. The fund provides investors with broad exposure to the overall U.S. bond market.

BKAG has a 0% 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:expense ratio. Of the fund’s 4,716 holdings, 43.42% are Treasuries, 25.31% are agency fixed-rate bonds, and the remaining holdings are bonds or other debt securities issued by entities operating in the following market sectors: banking, consumer noncyclical, technology, electric, communications, energy, consumer cyclical, and capital goods. Portfolio composition is as of Aug. 31, 2024.

Broad-based bond or fixed-income funds are generally less risky than equity funds. However, bond funds don’t provide the same growth potential, which means generally lower returns. They can be useful tools both for risk-averse investors and as part of🀅 a portfolio diversification strategy.

Consistent with 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:modern portfolio theory, risk-averse investors will find that investing in both a broad-based 🌳bond fund and a broad-based equity fund provides diversification. It is an approach that tends to maximize returns while minimizing risks.

Traditional wisdom suggests that the precise mix of stocks and bonꦺds in a long-term portfolio should follow the 60/40 rule—60% stocks and 40% boꦚnds—and that the proportion of stocks to bonds should shrink as the investor ages.

But conventional wisdom has changed, and many financial advisors and prominent investors, including Warren Buffett, are now recommending that holding a higher percentage of stocks throughout an investor’s career can greatly enhance potential returns while only marginally increasing the risks. Investors should always consider their own financial needs and appetite for risk before making any investment decision.

The Bottom Line

A Roth IRA offers investors certain tax advantages. Roth IRAs are unique in that they are funded with after-tax dollars and are not taxed when the funds are withdrawn at a later date. In short, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:funds invested in a Roth IRA can grow tax-free✤. After opening a Roth IRAไ, the types of investments chosen will depend on the individual investor’s risk tolerance and how much time and energy they have to research various investments.

For investors with little time and energy, one option is to go with a few large and diversified funds, allocating part of their money to a broad-based stock fund and another part to a broad-based bond fund. These large, diversified funds also may create a solid foundation for many investors who do not have the extra time and energy to evaluate other, sometimes riskier, investment options involving investments in individual companies or specific niches of the market, such as small-cap stocks.